The National GEM Consortium’s GRAD Lab is coming to UMBC on Saturday, September 19, 2015. This page will serve as the host website for the event. Please stay tuned and visit regularly for updates, as the program content develops.
FREE WORKSHOP FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL PREPARATION
The GEM Getting Ready for Advanced Degrees (GRAD) Lab is a program for people who are considering graduate study in STEM fields. While most of the participants in the national GEM GRAD Lab programs are undergraduates in their junior and senior years who are seeking graduate admission at either the M.S. or doctoral level, UMBC also invites freshmen and sophomores who want a head start, M.S. students who are seeking tips for Ph.D. admission, and career professionals who are considering a return to school to earn any graduate STEM degree. Special invitations are further extended to undergraduate students who attend institutions within the University System of Maryland, and students who participate in programs such as NSF’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native American Scientists (SACNAS), and McNair scholars.
The 2015 GEM GRAD Lab at UMBC will be principally sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The GEM GRAD Lab at UMBC follows the 2015 PROMISE AGEP Summer Success Institute (continuing PROMISE theme for 2015-2016: #ThinkBigDiversity), and is part of the AGEP’s programming to encourage diverse STEM students to prepare for and apply to graduate school.
Co-sponsors include Penn State University, Binghamton University – State University of New York (SUNY), the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park, University of Virginia, and Howard University. The Intel Foundation is a national sponsor for the GEM GRAD Lab.
Here are basic facts for the GEM GRAD Lab at UMBC:
Time and Location
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2015
Time: 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Location: The Engineering Building Lecture Hall & Atrium (ENGR 027 – Lecture Hall 5)
Directions and Parking: UMBC Guide/Directions, Google Map Street View Image, Google Map Coordinates: 39.254657, -76.713960
- Parking Lot 8: Participants driving personal cars (right in front of the Performing Arts building on Hilltop road)
- Parking Lot 22: For buses.
Follow the signs! We will have several for parking and to get to the building.
Please follow the link to see the parking map of the UMBC campus.
Parking map: http://about.umbc.edu/files/2012/08/2015-2016-Parking-Map.pdf
Lodging
If you are arriving on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015, and checking out on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, please consider our preferred hotel, The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, http://hotelarundel.com/, which has a special UMBC rate of $139/night + tax for this event. The UMBC room rate (for two queen beds or a king bed with a sleeper sofa) is available until Friday, September 4, 2015.
AGENDA
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Registration, Pre-Survey and Continental Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 9:30 PM | Welcome and Greeting from UMBC:
Renetta G. Tull, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost, Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs; Co-PI University System of Maryland PROMISE AGEP; Co-PI University System of Maryland LSAMP • Segment from UMBC’s President, Freeman Hrabowski, Ph.D., via video • Remarks: K. Jill Barr, J.D., Senior Assistant Dean, Graduate Enrollment Management, UMBC |
| 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Workshop 1: Why Graduate School
• Howard G. Adams, Ph.D., Former Executive Director of GEM |
| 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Workshop 2: How to Apply
• Renetta G. Tull, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs, UMBC |
| 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch & Graduate Fair
Graduate School Opportunities: UMBC, University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland Baltimore, Towson University, University of Virginia, Penn State University, Binghamton University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Workshop 3: How to Fund Graduate School
|
| 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM | Workshop 4: Voices from the Field
• Introduction: Janet C. Rutledge, Ph.D., Vice Provost & Dean for Graduate Education, UMBC . Moderator: Acklyn Murray, GEM Fellow, Computer Science, Howard University . Kenneth E. Newsome, M.S., Electrical Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory . Rhea Thompson, Doctoral student, Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES), University of Maryland College Park . Hector Medina, M.S., Doctoral student, Mechanical Engineering, UMBC |
| 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM | Closing (raffle and surveys) |
| 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM |
Networking |
Registration
Registration is now open. Please register here, via the GEM program’s official process: https://egem.gemfellowship.org/events/ViewEvent.aspx?contextID=10167
Please note that all student participants must register via the website above. The PROMISE AGEP is not able to take a list of students nor email notifications in lieu of the registration process that is outlined within the link above. Thank you for following this procedure.
Registration is free. To share this page and its contents, feel free to use the shortened version of the URL: http://tinyurl.com/UMBC-GEMGRADLab
Transportation
- Frostburg students: To reserve a bus seat you must email Wendy Wilson in the Office of Graduate Services at wwilson@frostburg.edu
- College Park students: Contact Taifa Simpson, Director, LSAMP in the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering for bus information, tsimpson@umd.edu.
- Penn State students: Contact Wayne Gersie, Director, Multicultural Engineering Program, Office of Engineering Diversity, wgersie@engr.psu.edu
- Binghamton students: Contact Shanise Kent, Director of Diversity Programs & Initiatives, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering & Applied Science, Binghamton University
- UMES students: Contact Tracy Bell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, tdbell@umes.edu
- Howard students: Contact Kamla Deonauth Ph.D., Director, Graduate School, Howard University
The Graduate Fair
The lunch activity will include a graduate school fair that will feature colleges and universities who are interested in talking with students about applying to their graduate programs. Schools that are interested in sharing their graduate programs with guests are invited to reserve a table at the “Lunch & Graduate Fair” by emailing promisestaff@gmail.com, with the subject “GEM GRAD Lab Lunch Fair.” This free table space is limited. Priority will be extended to co-sponsoring schools, and institutions within the University System of Maryland.
The PROMISE AGEP is led by UMBC, the University of Maryland Baltimore, and the University of Maryland College Park. All of the universities within the University System of Maryland are part of the PROMISE AGEP. Read more about PROMISE AGEP: Maryland Transformation (AGEP-T) here: https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/about/about-promise-the-agep-for-maryland/
Official Flier: 2015 GEM GRAD Lab at UMBC
PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP 2003-2018 
UMBC is approximately 7 minutes away from BWI airport. Cabs from BWI to UMBC are under $20. The Penn Line (MARC train) travels between Washington, DC and UMBC on Saturdays, however, the first Saturday train doesn’t leave DC until 9:02 AM, arriving at BWI at 9:37 AM. A cab ride is fairly short, and you would be able to arrive around 10 AM if you choose this option.
MARC: Train schedule: http://mta.maryland.gov/sites/default/files/Penn_Weekend_090515.pdf
DC Metro: http://www.wmata.com/
Howard University students who choose this route:
Step 1:
————
– Green line @Howard to Branch Ave
… stop at Gallery Place
Or
– Yellow line @Howard to Huntington
… stop at Gallery Place
Then
Step 2:
———–
– Red line to Glenmont
… stop at Union Station
Step 3:
———–
MARC 9:02 AM: Union Station to BWI.
Arrives BWI station at 9:37 AM
[NOTE: Stop at BWI, *not* Baltimore Penn Station.]
LikeLike
You don’t need a parking pass on weekends! For your convenience we have parking lot 8 designated for participants driving personal cars (right in front of the Performing arts building on hilltop road) and parking lot 22 for buses. Follow the signs! We will have several for parking and to get to the building.
Please follow the link to see the parking map of the UMBC campus.
Parking map: http://about.umbc.edu/files/2012/08/2015-2016-Parking-Map.pdf
Let me know if you have any additional comments.
I look forward to see you all on Saturday, September 19th.
LikeLike
The space(s):
Engineering Atrium photo: https://media.glassdoor.com/l/e0/c3/15/a5/engineering-building.jpg
Engineering Lecture hall photo (lights low): http://gaim.umbc.edu/files/2011/04/foertsch.jpg
Engineering Lecture hall side view (with lights on): http://www.umbc.edu/window/images/win_baltforum_story.jpg
Engineering Lecture hall top view – left: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CD7sfYfUMAEzIRi.jpg
Lecture hall top view – right: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QrN8iJU8S04/hqdefault.jpg
Buses:
Penn State, Howard, UMES, Frostburg, UVA
[Note: Parking is free at the hotel; there is free garage parking for cars, and free open lot parking for buses in the back of the hotel. There is also free parking on UMBC’s campus on Saturday. Yara has posted a map and information for parking on campus here in the comment section.]
Food at/near the hotel for Friday:
The hotel has two restaurants in-house, Grillfire and Vivo: http://hotelarundel.com/dining
Walking distance, across the path – 1 minute:
Bagels N Grinds: Bagel/coffee/sandwich shop across the path, in front of the hotel: http://www.bagelsngrinds.com/, Hours: 5:30 AM – 7:30 PM.
Rangoli (Indian Cuisine): http://www.therangolirestaurant.com/
Walking distance, around the corner – 5 minutes: The SHOPS at Arundel Preserve
Exit the hotel, make a right out of the lot, make a right onto Milestone Parkway, go toward the traffic light at Arundel Mills Blvd. Cross the street. The following shops are in that shopping center:
Squisito Pizza & Pasta
Red Parrot (Asian Cuisine)
Starbucks
Five Guys (Burgers)
Maiwand (Afghan Cuisine)
Listing: http://www.arundelpreserve.com/the-shops.cfm
Driving distance, Arundel Mills Mall and shops along the way – 5 minute drive:
http://www.simon.com/mall/arundel-mills/about
http://www.simon.com/mall/arundel-mills/stores/categorygrid/dining-fun
Continental breakfast, boxed lunch, and a snack will be served on Saturday at the event.
LikeLike