January 25, 2024
Dear campus community,
Welcome to the spring 2024 semester! I hope you are all off to a great start.
When I look back at 2023, I think of all we have accomplished together as a community. We awarded grants to 50 multidisciplinary projects tackling grand challenges, which have already engaged nearly 10,000 people on our campus and around the globe to advance the public good. We launched a new round of teaching innovation grants to support the development of instructional technologies that provide more effective, engaging and inclusive learning experiences, and prepare our students to navigate a technology-rich world.
We continued to advance the infrastructure of our campus with new spaces for innovative research and enhanced learning. We invested millions of dollars to support student and employee success, including innovative new teaching methods, need-based scholarships, mental health resources and employee compensation and recognitions.
This collective work is a testament to our shared commitment to move our university Fearlessly Forward. Now, as we look at the semester ahead, let’s ask ourselves three important questions:
- How can we, as a community of scholars, researchers and learners, create new cross-campus collaborations that address society’s most pressing issues?
- How will we shape our new Center for Community Engagement and continue our work to Do Good to enhance educational outcomes, social justice, quality of life, inclusive economic development and civic engagement in communities near and far?
- How should we adapt our approaches to teaching and learning—through grants, curricular updates and multidisciplinary exploration—to grow and support the next generation of diverse innovators, leaders, creators, entrepreneurs and artists?
Since our founding, the University of Maryland has been an institution of change and progress. And as a public research institution of higher education, we are here to serve the public—demonstrating the value of higher learning and discovery, dedicating ourselves to the art and science of education, and creating the next generation of global leaders.
Here’s to a semester—and year—of service to create solutions for a more equitable, sustainable and resilient world.
Sincerely,
Jennifer King Rice
Senior Vice President and Provost
She/Her/Hers