We invest in people and communities

The Terrapin Commitment program began in January 2023 to increase affordability and accessibility to the state’s flagship institution of higher education for students from Maryland. The goal of the Terrapin Commitment grant is to reduce the gap between a student’s total financial aid package and the actual cost of a UMD education.

Since its inception, the Terrapin Commitment has been able to support more than 5,700 students with over $31 million in financial aid, cutting the gap in unmet need in half.

From President Pines’ inaugural initiative to expand mental health services staffing to the recent successful completion of the Mental Health Task Force, UMD has consistently prioritized the mental health and well-being of our campus community. 

In 2024, the Mental Health Task Force, made up of students, faculty and staff from across campus, reported their findings. Overall, they found that UMD has a wide array of existing mental health and well-being programs, services and resources already underway—and we have made significant strides in this area.

As a result of their work, UMD launched a new mental health website that is a collection of mental health and well-being resources available to our community on a variety of topics, including crisis support, counseling, academics, wellness and connection.

Many additional investments and accomplishments in 2024 include: 

• The RADical Health resilience training first-year transition program, a new comprehensive mental health and well-being web portal, and a new Implementation Advisory Committee.

• The new Initial Access Team of 8 clinicians provided more rapid access to treatment, doubling intakes per week and significantly decreasing wait times.

• The Mental Health Emergency Assessment and Response Team (MHEART) became fully activated. It consists of four new clinicians who respond with UMPD to mental health emergency calls. 

• The Embedded Clinician Team pilot program was launched with three embedded clinicians covering four colleges and schools. 

• A newly hired physician leads an expanded and integrated care model that includes addiction medicine, therapy, and psychiatry for substance use treatment.

In addition, improvements have been made in the areas of case management, primary care assessments and follow-up service.

The university has been working with several task forces, workgroups and the University Senate to enhance key areas of importance for faculty, such as workload, evaluation and promotion, and leadership and professional development.

The Office of Faculty Affairs, along with several workgroups, task forces and the University Senate, have made major accomplishments in key areas for both professional track and tenure track faculty:

• Formed an APT Policy Review Committee to work on revisions

• Formed the inaugural PTK Advisory Group to advise the Office of Faculty Affairs on matters related to PTK faculty

• Created a proposal for an Instructional PTK Faculty Workload policy to be moved through the University Senate

• Created a series of PTK Administrative reforms regarding compensation, contracts and appointments

• Developed of an Interim policy on Faculty Professional Conduct

In addition, several new professional development opportunities include a leadership development program for chairs and directors, faculty forums on topic-of-the-day issues, and a peer network for PTK faculty.

The university also developed and launched a new series of programs and resources to support supervisors, including a new supervisor orientation, supervisor hub and toolkit and Excellence in Supervision program. The three-part Excellence in Supervision program aims to maximize supervisors’ effectiveness in leading the work of others. Through this program, supervisors will learn how to create positive work environments and experiences, and foster growth, success, care and inclusive excellence.

The University of Maryland has launched and sustained several staff-focused initiatives centered around recognition, career advancement and professional development.

The Terrapin Innovation Award and MVP Award program continued its success from the inaugural year with a record-breaking number of nominations. With over 230 nominations, the committee identified 25 award winners across 12 university divisions to be recognized for their fearless leadership and impactful contributions.

The university also developed and launched a new series of programs and resources to support supervisors, including a new supervisor orientation, supervisor hub and toolkit and Excellence in Supervision program. The three-part Excellence in Supervision program aims to maximize supervisors’ effectiveness in leading the work of others. Through this program, supervisors will learn how to create positive work environments and experiences, and foster growth, success, care and inclusive excellence.

Our focus in these areas is the result of feedback we heard directly from our staff through a survey, idea booths and campus conversations. The findings from community input activities are summarized in this brief.

The university continues to make investments in graduate student education and life in collaboration with the leadership of the Graduate Student Government, the Graduate Assistant Advisory Council, and other student groups. Recognizing the value of shared governance, we are committed to working with graduate students to develop policies, structures and processes that lead to improvements and shared successes.

Notable accomplishments from 2024 include:

• Improved mutual expectation process for GAs

• Expanded Graduate Student Success Team

• Launched Fellowship Stipend Gap program

• Continued enhancement of career support 

• Enhanced collection of disability data for graduate students to better advocate for services and support

The university also recently expanded its parental accommodation policy and is in the process of constructing a new graduate housing facility, slated to serve about 750 individuals with below-market housing options beginning in 2026-27.

In 2024, TerrapinSTRONG announced it would be expanding to include additional educational opportunities. The TerrapinSTRONG onboarding program has also been expanded to include information around academic freedom, tenure, free speech, shared governance, and more.

The second annual TerrapinSTRONG Symposium, a collaboration between the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Faculty Affairs, and University Human Resources, which provided over 165 faculty and staff the opportunity to learn together around the topic of inclusive leadership.

The cultural centers will offer central spaces in Cole Field House on campus welcoming all members of the community. In 2024, the design process was completed, and community members were engaged to provide feedback. The cultural centers are anticipated to open in fall 2025.

In March 2021 University Human Resources launched a suite of family care resources for faculty, staff, and graduate assistants to assist them with balancing work and family responsibilities. The cornerstone of these resources is the Care@Work program which provides eligible faculty staff and graduate assistants with access to a free premium Care.com membership. Care@Work also provides enrolled employees with two options for subsidized backup care for children, adults, or elders when their regular care is unavailable.

In 2024, University Human Resources developed videos on essential topics such as Retirement Selection, Family Care Plans, and Medicare Part D. UHR also introduced and coordinated several impactful initiatives: 

• Benefit Power Hours covering Open Enrollment, Tuition, and Family Care topics

• A revamp of tuition remission processes

• Coordination of the Health and Wellness Fair

• Hosting numerous retirement and financial wellness seminars

A dedicated Family Care Point of Contact is now available to consult with employees, addressing individual needs and guiding them to support services both within the University’s benefits program and through external organizations.