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President Darryll J. Pines sent the following email to faculty and staff this afternoon: Today, I write to you with an update to the previously announced budget mitigation plans aimed at lessening the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our university. Upon a review of the temporary salary reduction portion of the mitigation measures, we are implementing a revision to exclude any portion of salary supported by sponsored awards.
Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin sent the following email to the campus community today: I am writing to you today to share some updates regarding the academic calendar for the fall semester and winter term.
A new start-to-finish view of a neutron star merger—the most complete such process ever observed—rewrites the way scientists understand these events. A UMD-led study of the event was published today in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the three years since the landmark detection of a neutron star merger from gravitational waves, an international team of researchers led by University of Maryland astronomer Eleonora Troja has been continuously monitoring the subsequent radiation emissions.
The Big Ten Conference announced the first week of the 2020 football schedule with dates, times and television coverage in addition to selected Friday games for the season. Maryland opens the 2020 season at Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, a game that will air on the Big Ten Network. It will be the Terps’ first-ever trip to Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.
For a millennium, the Atlantic cod has played a vital role in feeding societies, developing markets and facilitating trade for coastal and inland communities throughout the Atlantic. Now, armed with a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers from the University of Maryland Department of Anthropology and collaborators from the University of Alaska, the University of Iceland the University of Akureyri will examine how this fish and other Atlantic species have evolved, as well as their changing relationship with humans and the environment.
University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines and Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin sent the following email to faculty today: Our students have asked the administration several times if we would be willing to cancel classes in honor of Election Day. In discussion with deans and other unit heads, the general consensus was that this might disrupt both in-person instruction and virtual learning.
University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines sent the following email to faculty and staff today: In my short time as president of the University of Maryland, we have all faced challenging moments—from the two pandemics of COVID-19 and the long-festering wounds of racial injustice, to the challenges of starting classes both virtually and in-person. As we proceed with the fall semester, I now ask you to turn your attention to people who need our help.
University of Maryland scientists have developed a method to determine the structures of large RNA molecules at high resolution, overcoming a challenge that has limited 3D analysis and imaging of RNA to only small molecules and pieces of RNA for the past 50 years.
The Review Committee for the Pepsi Enhancement Fund is seeking proposals for program funding for the Spring 2021 semester. A $50,000 fund, provided by PepsiCo, will underwrite the cost of programs that broadly affect the campus population.
Comedian Hasan Minhaj will headline Student Entertainment Events’ (SEE’s) 2020 Homecoming Comedy Show at the University of Maryland on Oct. 29.
In two zoom sessions this fall, the University of Maryland will provide an overview of its Elevate Project to upgrade computing systems used for everything from registering for classes to tracking university finances and filling out timesheets. Over the coming years, the project will transition the university from older mainframe systems—many of which were designed more than 20 years ago—to a modern cloud-based solution.
Fourteen Terps student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19 during the most recent round of on-campus screening, Maryland Athletics announced today. Ten were already in quarantine.
As anti-vaccination discourse ramped up on Facebook over the last decade, it coalesced around the argument that refusing to vaccinate is a civil right, according to a study including a University of Maryland public health researcher that was published in the American Journal of Public Health.
University of Maryland entomologists have discovered that a gene critical for survival in other insects is missing in mosquitoes. A related gene evolved to take over the missing gene’s job of properly arranging the insect’s segmented body.
Thirteen Terps coaches and Athletic Director Damon Evans have volunteered to take additional pay cuts, Maryland Athletics announced today. Every Terrapin head coach who receives supplemental pay has agreed to up to an additional 10% voluntary pay cut, on top of the university-imposed base pay salary reduction. Evans will take an additional voluntary pay cut of 10% from his supplemental pay.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $1 million to a University of Maryland-led team of researchers to develop a quantum network to interconnect quantum computers, an important step toward development of a quantum internet.
Dr. Sacared Bodison, interim director of the University Health Center, sent the following email to the university community yesterday: Testing continues to be an important tool we are using to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
President Darryll J. Pines sent the following email to the university community today: We knew we could count on 2020 to be a significant year for American democracy, marked by both the decennial census and a presidential election. We, as a nation, did not anticipate two pandemics in 2020—that at the same time we would battle a global public health crisis and confront racial injustice that has plagued our nation throughout history.
All University of Maryland students, faculty and staff are invited to attend a unique series of virtual Presidential Distinguished Forums featuring renowned experts working at the forefront of today's most pressing issues. The forums are part of university President Darryll J. Pines’ new course, “Grand Challenges of Our Time,” taking on the topics of COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, voter access and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jewel M. Washington, assistant vice president for human resources, sent the following email to the campus community today: Now that our fall semester is well under way, I am writing to provide an update on several important topics.
The University Health Center is hosting Flu-Palooza Week through Friday to encourage students to get vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu viruses and the virus that causes COVID-19 will likely spread this fall and winter, making it more important than ever to get vaccinated from seasonal flu.
A new $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant will support University of Maryland-led research on how family-school collaborations that build on the strengths of multilingual families and teachers might improve math learning for multilingual students.
The 2020 Homecoming Committee is seeking nominating students for the Spirit of Maryland Award. The award is presented annually, in lieu of a traditional homecoming king or queen honoree, to two members of the senior class who through their achievements have most exemplified the "spirit" of the University of Maryland.
Rapid economic growth, geopolitical turmoil, trade tensions, a global pandemic and widespread flooding are all contributing to concerns about China’s ability to feed its population of 1.4 billion. New research from the UMD Department of Geographical Sciences and Beijing Normal University is helping to gauge the severity of the problem and validate information reported by China.
The Scripps Howard Foundation has pledged up to $1.5 million to establish a fellowship program in honor of journalist and news executive Roy W. Howard, open exclusively to journalists who have completed studies at the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University and the University of Maryland.
The University of Maryland’s updated 2020 football schedule, which features nine games against conference opponents, was released today by the Big Ten. Maryland opens its 2020 season on Oct. 24 with its first-ever trip to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern. The Terps begin their home slate the following week against Minnesota on Oct. 31, before traveling to play Penn State on Nov. 7.
The Department of Resident Life sent the following email today to students living in residence halls: The health and safety of our community is our fundamental priority. We are committed to on-going work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) will award grants this fall to student organizations working to increase civic engagement and improve voting accessibility for the 2020 elections.
Jeff Hollingsworth, vice president for information technology and chief information officer, and Georgina Dodge, vice president for diversity and inclusion, sent the following email to the campus community today: We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive learning environment for our limited in-person instruction this semester, and virtually for remote instruction and rich co-curricular activities.
Dr. Sacared Bodison, interim director of the University Health Center, sent the following email to campus today: Thank you for being attentive to your health and the health of others in our community. Testing is a critical component for managing the spread of COVID-19. While many universities are not offering free testing in an ongoing way, at the University of Maryland we feel it is an essential strategy and tool to help keep our community as safe and well as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic is fueling xenophobia against Chinese Americans, with parents and youths reporting racial discrimination and damage to their mental health, according to a new study from University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore County researchers. This study, the first to examine online and in-person instances of perceived racial discrimination due to the novel coronavirus, was published online this month in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
First Look Fair, one of the most popular fall traditions at the University of Maryland, is for the first time going virtual. The event, hosted by the Stamp Student Union’s Student Organization Resource Center, will host more than 400 student clubs and organizations, departments and corporate sponsors so students can gather information about what interests them, learn how to get involved, and connect with other students with similar interests.
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