Chancellor's Report to the Board of Regents on Dec. 20
Report to the USM Board of Regents
Chancellor Jay A. Perman
University of Maryland Global Campus | December 20, 2024
Thank you, Madame Chair. I know that, for many of us, this meeting is the last item between work and winter break. And so my holiday gift to you is a comparatively brief Board report. Please note that I said comparatively.
UNIVERSITY EXCELLENCE
Let me begin with our host today, UMGC, where there’s much to celebrate. The university has won a significant grant from the Gates Foundation to model strategies for reaching underserved students, and another from the U.S. Labor Department to expand apprenticeship pathways to careers in technology.
The university has launched a more flexible MBA, and—honoring its roots—a program granting college credit for military service experience. UMGC’s students just took 1st, 2nd, and 4thplace in a regionally popular cyber competition. Almost a clean sweep, Dr. Fowler. Congratulations.
Moving across the System, Bowie State has announced a new tuition-free program to help 75 Maryland teachers earn National Board Certification, focusing the effort on Black male teachers. Pres. Breaux, you know how important this initiative is to implementing Maryland’s K12 Blueprint. Thank you for your leadership.
College Park is celebrating the third-largest gift in Maryland Athletics history—$18 million from alumnus Stephen Schanwald: $10 million will go to the Athletics Department; $8 million will endow the Smith School’s Sports Management Program and fund student scholarships. Congratulations, President Pines.
UMB has received more than $2 million in city and state funds to support 35,000 square feet of flexible lab space in its BioPark. The project is at 4 MLK—the tower now opening in West Baltimore. The space will help Maryland researchers move their ideas to the marketplace and fortify the state’s competitiveness in life sciences innovation. Regent Anderson, thank you for your vital support at Commerce. And congratulations, President Jarrell.
Let me mention those last two schools again. On the latest NSF survey of research productivity, the combined R&D expenditures of College Park and UMB—linked in the survey as one research enterprise—reached $1.4 billion. That’s 18th among all U.S. universities and 11th among publics. And it represents a lot of world-changing discovery. Thank you both.
Coppin State has joined Baltimore City’s Live Near Your Work program, encouraging employee homeownership in nearby neighborhoods. Grants to employees start at $50,000 to help cover down payments and closing costs. I know this program well from my time at UMB, and it was a game-changer—for our employees and for our neighborhoods. Thank you, Dr. Waterman.
Towson University is one of only 22 U.S. universities to be designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in cyber operations by the NSA. The university has also won the NSA designation for its programs advancing cyber defense education. Congratulations, President Ginsberg.
UBalt has inked a new partnership with the Funding Innovation Studio to improve access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs—founders of color and women. Part of the famed LabCentral ecosystem, the studio dismantles systemic barriers in fundraising and capital deployment. Congratulations, President Schmoke.
UMES is also celebrating a new partnership. The university is the latest partner in United Airlines’ Aviate program, which helps student-pilots earn advanced certifications, accrue flight hours, and land jobs with the airline. Congratulations, President Anderson.
I want to group our HBCUs together for a moment. The college-resource site OnlineU studied the return on investment among the country’s historically Black institutions, with an examination of actual college costs and graduates’ salaries over time. For overall ROI, Bowie came in 2nd nationwide and Coppin, 6th. For first-year salaries, Coppin was 2nd; Bowie, 7th. Among small HBCUs with the best alumni salaries, Coppin took 2nd, and UMES, 7th. There’s a lot to be proud of here, and I thank our HBCU leaders.
Salisbury University held its biannual Shore Hatchery competition, inviting entrepreneurs to vie for $100,000 in prize money. The top award went to Marins Med for its specialized prosthetic device improving functionality for amputees. In its 11-year history, the Hatchery’s award winners, together, have recorded profits of $35 million a year and have created nearly 1,200 local jobs. Thank you, President Lepre.
Frostburg State is once again honored by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. Its Most Engaged Campus designation recognizes its success in student voting rates. Frostburg’s work in civic engagement has never been more important. Thank you, Mr. Delia.
At UMBC, an interdisciplinary team has won a $3.4 million NIH grant to explore alternatives to health interventions—in a bid to curb overreliance on clinical medicine. Partnering with a major Medicaid health plan, the team will build a machine-learning model to identify patients with social stressors—like food insecurity or unstable housing—and determine how best to connect them with long-term social supports. Thank you, President Sheares Ashby.
UMCES is leading a bilateral collaboration with China, aimed at cutting nitrous oxide emissions. A delegation of UMCES researchers met with their Chinese counterparts at Zhejiang University to begin drafting the Hangzhou agreement, accelerating progress on U.S. State Department commitments regarding greenhouse gas reductions. Incredible leadership, President Miralles-Wilhelm.
Turning to our regional centers, the USM at Southern Maryland hosted 150 Maryland Corps members contributing a year of paid service to the state. The governor’s Service and Civic Innovation program nurtures personal and professional growth, while targeting talent to areas of greatest need. It’s a terrific idea: Bringing young people to Southern Maryland, where some might stay and do a world of good. Congratulations, Dr. Abel.
The USM at Hagerstown held its annual Feaste & Frolic fundraiser, which netted $116,000 for student scholarships. It’s the first time that total gifts have ever exceeded $100,000. Congratulations, Dr. Ashby.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department named USG a Center of Excellence for its work in driving local entrepreneurship—one of only five organizations in the agency’s first-ever cohort. The designation unlocks resources that will help USG support small companies looking to do business with Treasury. I was honored to join you, Dr. Khademian.
FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
Before I close, I want to acknowledge Dr. Justin Dunmyer and Dr. Shoshana Brassfield of Frostburg State, who went to some effort to come out here today and speak during public comment.
I’m fortunate to have met with the leadership of Frostburg’s Faculty Senate a few times since last summer, when the university announced its plan to close a $7.7 million structural deficit. I’ve been grateful for the candor and counsel of both Dr. Dunmyer and Dr. Brassfield.
As you’re aware, part of the plan to restore Frostburg’s financial stability involves faculty retrenchment. It’s not an action any of our universities takes lightly. It’s not an action the System takes lightly. But it is necessary—together with several other cost-cutting measures now in progress.
I thank Frostburg’s faculty for its participation on the team responsible for shaping this budget plan. And I thank them for their leadership on the committee charged with identifying departments and fellow faculty members for retrenchment. As difficult as these decisions were, they were made by the people with the greatest stake in them. This is shared governance in action.
It’s during times of challenge that university policies must be followed faithfully and faultlessly. They were. It’s during crises that communication with the university community must be two-way, transparent, and frequent. It’s been all of those things. Still, I understand that fidelity to the process doesn’t ease the pain of those affected by retrenchment. And I’m sorry.
The System has offered financial relief to Frostburg to minimize as much as possible the impact of cuts on the university’s people. I meet monthly with Frostburg’s leaders to monitor progress on budget objectives and outcomes. And this Board has been supportive of the university since being briefed last July on the plan to restore fiscal health.
And that is the plan: To restore fiscal health. In a shrinking higher ed landscape—with two dozen U.S. colleges closed this year alone and a projected 80 more by 2029—I want to be very clear that the System is supporting Frostburg expressly so that the university can regain full strength to serve its students, its region, and its state.
Frostburg is a model among anchor institutions, contributing enormously to the economy and the vitality of Western Maryland. That indispensable role—that very real value—is what we’re protecting. Because Frostburg State is too important, to too many people, to do anything less.
________________________
Regents, presidents: As we look ahead to 2025, I thank all of you for your uncompromising dedication to the students and the state we’re so proud to serve.
Madame Chair, this concludes my report.
# # #
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
