02-02-2025 Edu - Flipbook - Page 7
The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, February 2, 2025 7
Ask Margit, from page 1
More than a trip abroad, from page 5
marketing classes through the Brown School of
Business and Leadership. The students will also
visit the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. in
advance of the trip and following their return,
where they will present technical posters that
they create based on their experiences.
During the week-long visit, students will be
exposed to French culture, language immersion and interaction with representatives from
French corporations, including Sodexo Live, OL
Groupe, Michelin World Headquarters, Maison
Georges Duboeuf and Brouchier Soieries Silk
House. This leads to increased self-awareness,
improved critical thinking, and even work
opportunities, notes Col. C. Reid Nichols,
USMC (Ret.), M.S., M.B.A., D.B.A., assistant
professor of business administration for the
Brown School of Business and Leadership at
Stevenson University.
The focus of this year’s trip, Nichols notes,
is food service through Sodexo, which provided
the food for the Paris Olympics and is contracted by Stevenson for food service on campus.
Sodexo leaders will share innovations in the
food industry that were implemented for the
Olympics and talk about lessons learned.
Students will also visit and hike at the
Beaujolais winery, learn about the industry and
agriculture rules, and taste the newest, young
wines. They will tour Paris, take a cooking class,
visit a cathedral and even have some time for
their own exploration.
ships in these sessions and create a tight-knit
community.”
Gitter adds that for those students who are
retaking the course and pass it, a $1,000 scholarship – equal to the cost of the course – can be
awarded. “We call it a second-chance initiative,
and so far, we have awarded over 20 scholarships. The scholarship can be especially helpful
for those students on the margins succeed and
ease some of the racial disparity in the field.”
Supplemental instructors receive training
and are overseen by a manager who helps them
craft lesson plans and materials. They are paid
$20 per hour and also gain public speaking and
leadership skills. “It’s a great, meaningful experience for the instructors, and we find that peerto-peer supplement instruction is very effective
for our students,” Gitter says.
To better support student success and retention, Goucher College created a Learning to
Learn class for students on academic probation
to help them improve their academic standing.
Kimberly Meisel, director of academic advising
and support, explains that students work on
academic skills such as note taking, studying
strategies and time management, as well as
soft skills such as goal setting, improving their
growth mindset and becoming motivated selfdirected learners.
Meisel adds that those on academic probation – students with a GPA under 2.0 – are
required to take the class.
“The class also doubles as a therapy session
for some students, as they share stress-coping
mechanisms with each other. Many times, students who are struggling academically think
that they are the only one doing so. When
they take this class, they see that they are not
alone in their struggles. We have a lot of firstgeneration students – I was a first-generation
student myself – and they may not have others to confide in or feel like maybe they don’t
belong in college. This class teaches them that
it’s OK to ask for help, and it can help with their
self-confidence,” Meisel says.
While the program is somewhat new,
Goucher is already seeing positive results with
85% of students who were enrolled in LL 110
and passed the class improving their academic
standing. Of these students, 55% returned to
good academic standing, and 30% moved from
academic probation to academic warning (less
serious). Also, students who passed LL 110
earned on average nearly 70% more credits
than they had previously, and all students that
participated in the LL 110 class saw their cumulative GPA rise.
One of the key elements of the class is to
demonstrate how the skills they have learned
are being used in other classes. For example,
students show how the note-taking skills they
learned are being utilized in another course
they are taking.
“At the end of the class, students pen a
‘Letter to the Next Class,’ where they reflect on
what they have learned. Sharing this with future
students helps break the stigma of asking for
help and see the class as a growth opportunity,”
says Meisel.
across the university can build credentials while
pursuing their degrees. “Through this microcredential, students can highlight understanding to prospective and current employers that
complement their studies,” she says, adding that
the certificates offer new students a gateway to
receiving a degree, as the certificate courses also
count toward a graduate degree in the specific
discipline. “Overall, we believe the certificate
will help students build skills to address the
multi-faceted concerns of the coming years
and signal their expertise to employers. Truly,
knowledge that works.”
Larrison points out that the DEI certificate
program is unique to the state. “It builds off
work being done across the state and provides
students with the skills needed to thrive in
the workplace,” she says. “Our program builds
on the knowledge and expertise of faculty
who have worked extensively in Maryland government. In addition, for several years now,
the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center
for Public Policy, in collaboration with the
Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, offers
working professionals an eight-week Equity and
Leadership course. Across the board, we strive
to serve the needs of Marylanders at varying
stages of their professional journey.”
These Saturday courses have been fully online
since the pandemic, so students are able to complete the courses from their home.
According to Lehning, the School of Social
Work has made other efforts to make the program more flexible, including launching a fully
online M.S.W. program in fall 2023. “This program is for students in the Maryland and DC
region who would like to complete the MSW
program part-time by taking online classes (the
majority of which are synchronous and offered
in the evenings),” she says. In addition, the
existing MSW program was reconfigured as a
hybrid program in fall 2022, meaning that students now have a mix of in-person and online
courses during their time in the program. The
majority of courses taught in the evenings are
fully online.
Other changes made to the programs
include revising the MSW curriculum so that
students select either the Clinical or Leadership,
Policy, and Social Change concentration. “Our
previous curriculum was much more complicated, which meant students had less ability to
take courses on the days and times that work for
them as they balance their many responsibilities,” says Lehning.
The School of Social Work has also enhanced
its scholarship and fellowship options, so that
students have more financial support during
their time in the program (and therefore may
not need to try to work full time). “Our fellowship programs focus on areas of high need for
social workers, including public child welfare,
behavioral health, and school mental health,”
says Lehning.
According to Lehning, the changes being
made were both a response to students’ requests
and changes in educational trends overall.
“We have greatly increased student oppor-
tunities to provide feedback, including through
surveys and Q&A sessions,” she says, observing
that it has become increasingly clear that many
students need more flexibility.
“There are limits to what we can do,”
Lehning continues, “since graduate social work
education requires a significant time commitment to complete coursework and gain realworld experience through practicum placements. But we value student suggestions and
are open to making changes to better meet
their needs. In addition, this is a trend in MSW
education, as many students who would like
to become clinical or macro social workers are
often not able to focus only on school – most
of them are working, and many of them have
childcare or eldercare responsibilities.”
With only three MSW programs in
Maryland (UMB, Morgan State and Salisbury
University), they are all working to be more
flexible for their students, Lehning observes,
pointing out, for example, that they all now
offer an online program. “And as the largest
school of social work in the state with three program options (Baltimore, Universities at Shady
Grove in Montgomery County and online), we
can offer a greater variety of course and practicum options to meet the needs of students,”
she says.
Lehning observes that making social work
education more flexible and accessible benefits
the profession overall. “There is a huge need
for clinical and macro social workers, and as a
school we want to train a diverse group of students that bring many different experiences and
backgrounds to the program and to the profession,” she says. “If we do not figure out ways to
make the program more accessible to students,
then the profession may lose out on their future
contributions.”
“I just always wanted to go to Australia and see the marsupials,” says Attia Robinson, who now attends Towson U.
students on our campus, who, many times, have
not left the United States or even the state of
Maryland.”
Last academic year, graduate and undergraduate students went to Spain, Zambia, Denmark,
Colombia, London, Greece and Ghana for experiential learning and community service opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students. In Ghana, for example, graduate
students spent two weeks conducting clinical
trials in pharmaceuticals, offering vaccines,
checkups and testing to the local community.
Undergraduate students took courses on global
problems and local solutions, working mostly
in service opportunities. In Colombia over one
month, students lived with host families, fully
immersed in the culture and language. They
took morning courses and spent afternoons in
the community, learning how to make local food,
taking dance lessons and attending workshops
on cultural traditions. This year’s programs will
include Ghana, Italy, Colombia, Netherlands,
Belgium, Zambia and Greece. Future plans
include adding Asia to the offerings.
“The idea is that we want to create these
unique experiences for students, so that when
they graduate, they're ready for not just the state
that they live in, but the world that they live in,”
Broussard explains.
Stevenson University is also offering study
abroad experiences for students. In March, 11
students will travel to France, as part of their
300-level international business, management or
“The 101st senator,” helped pass the Civil
Rights Act of 1957, Civil Rights Act of 1960
and Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“It was as if we taught ourselves civics.
We were curious, eager to learn, and so
often we were part of history. And it was
a tremendous history. So much happened,
so much changed. My generation was there
for most of the big events, and we pushed
for change more than those who came
before or after us.
“Many people today don’t really know
what’s going on. They react to it after the
fact. It’s as if whatever took place occurred
without their involvement. Knowledge is
power in a democratic society,” concludes
Mfume.
Those who pay attention to politics and
elections, it seems, learned from someone in their family. When it is important
to those we respect, it forces us to learn.
Discussions during meals make us curious,
even to join in. And to do that, we had to
learn about the issues being discussed.
How do you know if the information
you have is fair and unembellished? Often,
we don’t. However, the League of Women
Voters (and it’s not just for women) has
always provided fair, reliable and impartial
information. This past election, in addition to the presidential, congressional and
the city elections, there were a dozen or so
questions, most of which were unfamiliar
to me. To learn more, I went to the League
of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) and its
program: Vote411.org.
Nonpartisan information is what you
want. For each ballot question, there is
a description, the pros, the cons and a
considerations. The same is true for those
running for office. You get information on
where they stand on different issues. All
this means that when you get to the polling
place, you will know, in advance, how you
plan to vote.
Students of all ages should ask their
teachers or professors to have a class on
civics, on voting, on citizen responsibilities.
If you’re in high school or college, have an
event and invite as speakers your local representatives. Provide information on voting. Most schools elect student government
representatives. It’s part of how we learn.
Our next big election is in two years, so
make sure you are registered to vote if you
are eligible. If you’re in high school, you
can also work for campaigns of people you
want to support. It’s up to you to become a
good citizen. Start today.
Baltimore Public Schools, was present and
also met with the students directly. It was
an opportunity for them to see how citizens can change what happens to them, to
change how the local government responds
to input. In addition to their testimony,
they created an Instagram campaign and
did research about healthy meals and how
other cities’ school lunches worked. Their
teacher, Ms. Carr, was excited to use this as
an opportunity for the class.
“I hope more schools will create classes
like Ms. Carr’s at ACCE. In addition, all of
us should provide other opportunities for
students to get involved. It’s important for
them and for our country’s future.”
Kweisi Mfume (mfume.house.gov)
remembers sneaking into the 5th Regiment
Armory to hear John F. Kennedy speak
before he became president. “I sat in a corner, not a chair, and just listened. You were
compelled to listen. Then, when he was
murdered in 1963, it took a couple days for
me to understand what had happened. As
kids, all we knew was someone important
had died.”
Mfume grew up in Baltimore around
Division Street, close to where Thurgood
Marshall was born and lived until he moved
to New York City to work for the NAACP.
In a way, Mfume followed Marshall. He ran
for the U.S. Congress to represent the 7th
District of Maryland, then left after nine
years to become the President and CEO of
the NAACP.
“I met Parren J. Mitchell during the
summer of 1968, right after Martin Luther
King was assassinated. He was campaigning unofficially for Congress, challenging
the Democratic incumbent, and lost. He
changed my life. He sat me down and
talked to me as if he were a parent, an
uncle, a caring, older wise man. He was my
political godfather, and I admired him so
much. That was my first brush with politics. Two years later, Mitchell ran again and
won by 38 votes, becoming the first African
American Congressman from Maryland,
the same 7th District of Maryland seat I
represent today. He was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus
and won his seat seven times more. When
he was ready to retire, he called me and –
while he could not, and would not, endorse
me because his nephew was in the race – he
said, ‘I think you should run.’ I did and I
won.”
Parren Mitchell’s brother, Clarence
Mitchell, Jr., activist and chief lobbyist for
the NAACP for over 30 years and known as
Student success, from page 1
Adobe stock
Creating a path, from page 1
by government and nonprofit organizations
serving the public. The first group of students
began their studies last fall.
According to Jennica Larrison, Ph.D.,
executive director and associate professor in
the school of public and international affairs,
there has been an increasing awareness in
Maryland of the importance of the critical
role DEI plays in society and the workplace.
“As the most diverse state on the east coast,
Maryland clearly recognizes equity and inclusion as key elements to the state’s success,” she
says, adding that the governor’s phrase, “Leave
no Marylander behind,” clearly articulates this
belief. “Local, county and state initiatives to
integrate understanding and implementation
of these core values have developed,” Larrison
continues. “These range from internal practices
within organizations to counties creating offices
to oversee these efforts, such as Montgomery
County’s Office of Racial Equity and Social
Justice to the state’s corporate diversity guidelines.”
Larrison adds that DEI within the workplace cannot be addressed as a “one-off ” concern but rather requires a proactive and continuous effort to ensure diverse representation,
cultural competencies, equitable policies and
more. “In order for citizens and the economy
in Maryland to thrive, DEI has to be integrated
into the workplace effectively,” she says.
According to Larrison, the DEI certificate, along with UB’s certificates in Nonprofit
Leadership, Essentials in Conflict Resolution,
and Global Engagement provide opportunities
for both current and new students to address
the issues facing business and government leaders in the 21st century.
One of the advantages of the program,
Larrison points out, is that current students
UM School of Social Work Offers
Customizable Programs
While the University of Maryland’s School
of Social Work has been offering Saturday
courses for many years in order to provide as
much scheduling flexibility as possible for its
students, these courses are becoming much
more popular with students, often filling up
before many weekday courses, reports Amanda
Lehning, M.S.W., Ph.D., associate professor
and senior associate dean for academic affairs.
