We invest in people and communities
We invest in people, their well-being and advancement, and the conditions that support their ability to fully participate and thrive in our community, state, and world.
Fearlessly Forward Initiatives
Terrapin Commitment
In a bold effort to increase affordability and access to the state’s flagship institution of higher education, the University of Maryland launched a new investment in need-based financial aid providing up to $20 million annually for students from the state of Maryland.
Terrapin Commitment
The Terrapin Commitment program is the largest single-year investment in need-based scholarships in the university’s history. The program will begin in January 2023 and ensures that tuition and fees are fully covered for Pell eligible, in-state students, who are enrolled full time and have unmet financial need. The program will dramatically reduce the financial barriers to obtaining a higher education for Marylanders.
Salaries and Student Stipends
Several significant increases in compensation recognize the value of the UMD workforce and the efforts of the talented faculty and staff who power the university’s academic, research and service missions.
Salaries and Student Stipends
In 2022, with support from the state, UMD boosted salary/wage outlays for employees by over $80 million. Over 8,000 UMD employees received two cost-of-living adjustments and two merit raises, resulting in an average salary increase of over 9%. Further investments have raised the minimum stipend for its 2,700 graduate students by 26.4% in the past year, and by 51.6% over the last four years. Meanwhile, 3,700 hourly student workers, primarily undergraduates, will benefit from the recently announced $15 minimum wage on campus, a 20% jump in pay set to take effect several years ahead of the state’s timeline.
FAMILE
Faculty Advancement at Maryland for Inclusive Learning and Excellence (FAMILE) is a diversity initiative aimed at increasing faculty diversity by adding over 100 new tenured or tenure-track faculty in departments and units across campus based on demonstrated diversity objectives.
Employees' Family Care Needs
With many employees taking on extra responsibilities to care for loved ones during the pandemic, providing additional resources for family support, child care and elder care services became a priority for the university.
Employees' Family Care Needs
In early 2021, University Human Resources launched a suite of family care benefits for faculty, staff and graduate assistants. The cornerstone is the Care@Work program by Care.com, which provides eligible individuals with access to a free premium Care.com membership and two options for subsidized backup care for children or adults/elders. Employees can also access a comprehensive web page with information on campus child care resources, elder care and social networks for parents and guardians.
Investing in Staff
The university is actively seeking to improve the work life of its staff and support an inclusive community of excellence where all can fully participate and succeed.
Investing in Staff
Over the summer, they were invited to offer ideas for improving work life at UMD.
- Over 2,400 staff members replied to a short, anonymous survey.
- Almost 400 engaged in campus conversations hosted by the Center for Leadership & Organizational Change
- 328 offered suggestions via “idea booths” at end-of-year celebration activities.
Data from these activities are being analyzed and will be shared with campus leadership in mid-October, and then more broadly with the campus community. The Invest in People and Communities Pillar Committee will develop recommendations and action items based on this valuable community input.
New Cultural Centers
Five vibrant, welcoming cultural centers are being designed to uplift, affirm and honor the diverse histories and experiences of students who identify with the Latinx, Native and Indigenous, disability, bi- and multiracial, and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American communities.
New Cultural Centers
They will be located in Cole Field House, with opening anticipated in summer 2024. A steering committee includes a cross-section of student leaders, faculty and staff representing the communities being served, and an advisory committee consists of MICA, Stamp Student Union and Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs leadership.
Mental Health
Efforts are underway to increase staffing and redefine the delivery of mental health services for students, including developing a rapid access treatment team and a care management team, minimizing barriers to care for marginalized communities, implementing a unified and flexible model of treatment, and enhancing wellness resources.
Mental Health
In addition, consultations with students have resulted in a new counseling services mandatory fee. The Campus Mental Health Coalition was created, and the T.E.R.P.S. (Training to Evaluate, Respond to, and Prevent Suicide) for Terps program launched in Fall 2022. A mental health task force is examining what mental health support currently exists, identifying gaps and recommending next steps in a report due April 1, 2023.
Faculty Supports, Evaluations, and Rewards
The university seeks to align faculty workload; policies and procedures for appointment, promotion and tenure; and appointment, evaluation and promotion of professional-track faculty with its commitments to people, excellence and diversity, equity and inclusion. The recommendations gathered from hundreds of faculty members at seven Provost’s Dialogues and the work of several task forces will be written into faculty evaluation and workload policy revisions.
TerrapinSTRONG
Launched in 2021, this innovative onboarding program and its follow-on orientations in academic colleges introduce new faculty, students and staff to what it means to be TerrapinSTRONG: to engage diversity, acknowledge the university’s history, show Terrapin pride and take action to advance equity, inclusion and social justice. Participants complete the program by identifying three ways they will take action to learn more about our history, engage in a tradition, and/or join a community on campus.
Strategic Commitment Goals
Goal 1
Lead the nation in living a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in all we do.
Goal 1
Lead the nation in living a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in all we do.
Objectives
- Ensure every member of our community has access to safe and inclusive campus communities.
- Introduce every new student, faculty, and staff member to our Terrapin history, traditions, values of diversity and equity, and ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive campus where every member feels they matter and belong.
- Invest in the capacity of our students, faculty, and staff to learn, teach, work, lead, and engage in dialogue across difference, leveraging diversity and inclusion as central in all we do.
- Create an actionable and sustainable plan to tackle issues of social justice, equity, and antiracism, both locally and globally, through our research, education, and outreach.
Goal 2
Become a connected, coordinated, and effective community of care that supports the success and well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
Goal 2
Become a connected, coordinated, and effective community of care that supports the success and well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
Objectives
- Take action to ensure the financial health of students, faculty, and staff through fundraising, advocacy for additional need-based aid and better wages and benefits, and investments in career readiness and workforce development.
- Provide innovative and excellent services in areas critical to staff, faculty, and student well-being such as mental and physical health, financial planning, skill development, work-life support, language development, and housing.
- Connect all Terps locally and globally through enhanced technology, coordinated networks, and accessible communications.
Goal 3
Align evaluations, rewards, and incentives with our goals and values.
Goal 3
Align evaluations, rewards, and incentives with our goals and values.
Objectives
- Reenvision faculty promotion systems to promote and reward inclusive excellence; impactful research, service, and civic engagement; and innovative activities that advance the common good.
- Act together to create a workplace where staff thrive through new opportunities to learn, lead, and advance and are recognized for their talents and contributions.