{"id":14673,"date":"2023-08-23T17:03:28","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T21:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=14673"},"modified":"2026-07-13T21:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T01:13:16","slug":"this-is-a-team-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/this-is-a-team-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is a team effort\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
President Heidi M. Anderson (center) poses for a group picture with her cabinet during Monday’s Opening Session Event at the Student Services Center: (left) Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Experience Latoya Jenkins; Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Robert Mock; Vice President for Administration and Finance, Anastasia Rodriguez; Vice President for University Relations David Balcom, Vice President of Athletics and Recreation, Tara Owens, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Rondall Allen; and General Counsel, Matthew Taylor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was a celebratory atmosphere on Monday as University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi M. Anderson<\/strong> opened the 2023-24 school year with her annual University Opening Institute event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there was a lot to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anderson, now in her sixth year at the helm of UMES, opened the event addressing the mix of new and returning administration, staff, and faculty members about some of the recent accomplishments and upcoming initiatives at the institution geared towards offering students greater opportunities to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what our mission is; bringing students in and getting them across the finish line so that they can soar above and beyond,\u201d she said. \u201cWe cannot do that without the help of all of you here, and that, to me, is reason enough to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Members of the audience participate in a dance segment during Monday’s Opening Session Event at the Student Services Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Anderson shared information on some of the highlights focused on expanding the university\u2019s reach, including the announcement of international initiatives such as the CIEE Frederick Douglas Global Scholars Grant, pipeline initiatives such as the NASA MUREP Program<\/a> as well as a partnership with Ohio-based Educational Solutions Charter School, legislative initiatives at the federal and state level, and the arrival of the first cohort of the STEM STARS<\/a> program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on academics, Dr. Rondall Allen<\/strong>, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, announced initiatives involving the onboarding of new chairs and faculty, the hiring of new retention specialists for each of the four undergraduate schools, and new academic programs set to begin at this fall, including new online modalities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen also discussed the implementation of a One Stop on-call program that offers support to students and their parents to address questions centered on admissions, financial aid, student accounts, and the registrar\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want our staff to be able to focus on some of those more complex issues,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what we do best because we\u2019re a family and we are able to get those things done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anastasia Rodriguez<\/strong>, the Vice President of Administration and Finance, presented information on the latest infrastructure, auxiliary, and facilities projects, including a focus on sustainability initiatives. She also shared information on the completion of a massive IT project centered on improving bandwidth speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur campus connectivity has been greatly enhanced,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other reasons for celebration included the announcement of UMES\u2019s third consecutive year of increased new student enrollment<\/a>.  So far, more than 825 freshmen and 176 transfer students have been admitted ahead of the start of classes. The final enrollment numbers will be confirmed following the end of the add\/drop period in mid-September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are now at 2,400 students enrolled and counting,\u201d said Latoya Jenkins<\/strong>, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience. \u201cWe know we have some work to do, and we will make this a bigger class than last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event concluded with featured guest speaker Dr. Mildred Garcia<\/strong>, former president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and incoming president at California State University, who stressed the importance of serving what she referred to as \u201cthe new majority\u201d of students of color; the first in their families to attend college, in order to ensure their success.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
UMES President Dr. Heidi M. Anderson (left) conducts a fireside chat with guest speaker Dr. Mildred Garcia, former president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and incoming president at California State University, during Monday’s Opening Session Event at the Student Services Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI know I was one of those, as I was a first-generation college student coming from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn,\u201d she said. \u201cI know you serve these students well. These students, like you, are my North Star. They have been my passion, and they have been my life\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anderson said the collaborative nature she has emphasized since her arrival in 2018 has helped UMES achieve its status of being a Top 10 public HBCU. \u201cThis is a team effort. When I came here six years ago, I told everyone, \u2018Together in excellence affirming our mission,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAll the things we\u2019re celebrating and that we do day-in and day-out involves teamwork, and it\u2019s more prevalent today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a celebratory atmosphere on Monday as University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi M. Anderson opened the 2023-24 school year with her annual University Opening Institute event. And there was a lot to celebrate. Anderson, now in her sixth year at the helm of UMES, opened the event addressing the mix of new…Read more \u2018This is a team effort\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":14679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-14673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14673"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=14673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}