I hope you have all had a safe and healthy, if not a little cold, 2022 so far. As always, our advancement teams across the System have been doing great work in fundraising. Our USM campuses have reached 74 percent of the $322.6 million goal for this fiscal year - a fantastic accomplishment. I would like to specifically congratulate our HBCUs, which have done exceedingly well. Bowie State University set an ambitious goal of $6 million and they are at 60 percent of their goal and Coppin State University has raised more than $3.5 million, or 142 percent of their goal. Lastly, the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore has also exceeded their goal of $3.5 billion, raising over $4 million. Most of the other USM campuses are on track to reach their fundraising goals and the Foundation is proud to support them in these efforts.

As we celebrate Black History Month, I’d like to point you to a few stories in this newsletter about Black USM leaders who are making history. The Baltimore Sun recently named USM Regent Dr. Michelle Gourdine and Coppin President Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins to its 25 Black Marylanders to Watch list and named University of Baltimore President Kurt Schmoke as a Living Legend. Meanwhile, UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski was named to the National Academy of Engineering, a rarity for a non-engineer. These individual honors, as well as many stories about our HBCU’s progress, show how diversity is integral to the USM’s success.

The meeting kicked off with a presentation from Tom Riford, Commerce Assistant Secretary and Executive Director of the Maryland Marketing Partnership. Tom spoke about the Maryland Open for Business initiative, a business attraction advertisement campaign that aims to improve the State's business image, and to lift awareness and positive perception of Maryland as a business location. The campaign targets C-level business executives, young professionals and college students nearing graduation, consultants influencing location decisions, and advocates throughout the country. Tom showed the group a series of three advertisements that are currently running on YouTube that tell the story of Maryland and are targeted toward attracting businesses that have shown interest in moving. In addition to these videos, the campaign runs print advertisements and digital advertisements, and tells their story at trade shows across the world. In FY21, the campaign reached 349 million people and the Open for Business website had 2.3 million annual visitors. Recently, Governor Larry Hogan submitted 131 "green bag" appointments to the Maryland State Senate. Leonard Raley and Foundation Board Director and Owner and Founder of Route One Apparel Ali von Paris were both named to the Maryland Marketing Partnership Board.

Next, Chancellor Jay Perman spoke to the group about positive advances within USM. In 2020, the USM's base operating budget was cut and since then, leadership at the System has been working to restore these cuts which have affected students, faculty and staff, and research enterprises, among other things. Leadership's efforts were successful and the USM is slated to receive an 11.5 percent increase, which will restore the base budget cut and will support new funding for important initiatives. The Chancellor noted that there is still a need for more funding, especially so that the System can support underrepresented students as well as students who are susceptible to debt burdens.

Investment Committee Chair Larry Boggs delivered a positive investment report and commended Chief Investment Officer Sam Gallo and his team for taking measures to protect the portfolio in an ever-changing financial environment.

Foundation President and CEO Leonard Raley provided an update on fundraising across the System. Before the meeting adjourned, Chair Bonnie Stein informed the group that $60,000 in funds raised or allocated to the Directors Fund would support “last dollar” scholarships at USM institutions.

Gina Hossick serves as the Executive Assistant to Leonard Raley, President and CEO of the USM Foundation and Vice Chancellor for Advancement of the USM.

A few of my responsibilities include providing administrative support, managing Leonard’s calendar, scheduling meetings, taking meeting minutes, and offering professional customer service to our institutions throughout the System. I also gather and track compliance materials from our campuses that are required by the Board of Regents. A typical day is hard to describe because there never is a typical day.

After working five years on the Foundation side and now in my 14th year on the Advancement side, what I enjoy the most are the people I work with. We have tremendous respect for each other. Many of us have worked alongside each other for many years. As a result, we’ve created a strong and supportive team. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I continue to learn from Leonard. We share a mutual trust and respect for each other. 

I met my husband in high school. We have two adult children and two beautiful grandchildren (boys) who’ve stolen my heart. We also have a dog and a cat. We’ve lived in Bowie for 32 years. My husband and I both enjoy working on home improvements, exploring coastal towns of Maryland, and riding our tandem bike. Some of my hobbies include hiking, quilting, and cooking. I’ve been playing Bunko with the same group of friends for 23 years and been part of a book club for 20 years, Babes & Books. I grew up in a large Italian family – loud, crazy and unconditional love. Family is always in the center of everything I do.

Coppin State University received a multi-year grant from Schwab Advisor Services in partnership with the Charles Schwab Foundation. The grant will help establish registered financial programs for Certified Financial Analysts or Certified Financial Planners. In turn, the programs will provide faculty development and curriculum that will produce education pathways for students to explore careers in wealth management, establish a community-focused center, and create a Minority Registered Investment Advisor Mentorship Program. Ultimately, CSU hopes that this grant will help increase diversity in the financial services industry and improve the wealth gap in underrepresented communities.

The University of Maryland, College Park received a $4.75 million gift to its Department of Mathematics from Emeritus Professor Michael Brin and his wife Eugenia and the Sergey Brin Family Foundation. The gift will establish the Brin Mathematics Center, which will expand mathematics and statistics research, education programs, workshops, summer programs, and more. The Brins are generous donors to the university and have made significant gifts to support the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Computer Science, the Russian program, and the School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Bowie State University was selected as a participant, along with two other HBCUs, in a new STEM Scholarship Program by Penn National Gaming, Inc. The program will dedicate more than $4 million over five years to BSU, Norfolk State University, and Wilberforce University in order to provide STEM scholarships and internship opportunities to students. Penn National hopes to promote social and economic equality, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and to provide real-life technical skills development to the recipients of their internships and scholarships.

In November, the University of Maryland, College Park received a $2.5 million gift from the Clarvit family to fund art and education resources at the university. The first $2.25 million of the gift are from Nancy and Chuck Clarvit and will be used for faculty and research opportunities, arts programming, scholarships, technology, renovated studios, and an outdoor exhibition space within the Department of Art. $225,000 from Alison Clarvit will establish the Clarvit Family Maryland Promise Scholarship for incoming education majors who demonstrate financial need. The scholarship also supports TerpsEXCEED, an inclusive program that provides students with intellectual disabilities and autism the opportunity to participate in a college experience for two years, culminating in a certificate. In addition, the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation promises to match $125,000 of Alison Clarvit’s gift.

UMBC received a $900,000 grant from the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to develop and implement a new, short-term biomanufacturing training program. The program will be offered at the Universities at Shady Grove and will be adapted from curriculum that was developed at Texas A&M University. UMBC hopes that this program will help educate students in biomanufacturing and will ultimately strengthen the workforce, where there is a need for skilled workers in biotech.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Dentistry and Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine were awarded a combined $5.3 million grant from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health to study new ways to treat migraines. The grant will allow professors at both universities to combine their science and clinical expertise to pursue new approaches to migraine pain relief and prevention.

Frostburg State University received a grant for $1.48 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the Western Maryland Advanced Technology Center at FSU Innovation Park. The grant will help establish a Waste-to-Value Center of Excellence, a Remote Work Center, the Renewable Energy Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program and the Center for Advanced Product Design and Manufacturing.

Coppin State University was selected as one of six HBCUs by Complete College America (CCA) to take part in a new Digital Learning Infrastructure initiative. CCA will work with the selected institutions to reimagine how colleges and universities can build digital cultures that promote learning and student success and will collaborate on a design project focused on building an integrated framework for digital learning at HBCUs. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the project.

More than 40 nursing undergraduates at Towson University finished their coursework early and began working in health care this past December, continuing a trend from 2020, when two-thirds of TU’s nursing graduates exited their programs early to begin working to combat COVID surges. Towson University is the largest provider of undergraduate health care professionals to the state of Maryland.

The University of Maryland (Baltimore and College Park) ranked among the top 10 research institutions in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey, placing 10^th among public institutions in research and development and 16th overall nationally for FY 20. The University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland, College Park are joined together as one institution in the ranking with combined research expenditures of $1.1 billion.

In November, Camden Street in downtown Salisbury was renamed Chuck Wight Street, in honor of Salisbury University President Chuck Wight. The street is situated where SU's downtown campus sits and is symbolic in that it honors the work President Wight has done to bring the university and the city closer together. When Wight became president in 2018, one of his priorities was to foster mutually positive community relationships.

The National Security Agency Program Management Office has designated the University of Maryland Global Campus as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, further validating UMGC's high-quality cybersecurity programs. UMGC has been given a "CAE-CD" designation, which places the university among a select group of institutions nationwide. The designation is given to regionally accredited institutions that offer cybersecurity-related degrees and show significant community involvement, academic activities, and institutional practices in cybersecurity, among other qualifications.

The Baltimore Sun named USM Regent Michelle Gourdine and President of Coppin State University Anthony Jenkins to their list of 25 Black Marylanders to Watch. The 25 honorees are people whose fortitude, leadership, artistry, and efforts uplift Baltimore and Maryland. Jenkins was recognized in “best in education,” and was commended for taking the reigns as president just as the pandemic was altering student needs in higher education. Gourdine was recognized in “best in health” for her role as senior vice president of population health and primary care at the University of Maryland Medical System, and for her goal to ensure equal access to information, vaccines, and therapeutics.

In addition, The Sun released a list of five Living Legends, honoring those who are still doing work to uplift the state, but who have been at the top of their game for some time. President of the University of Baltimore Kurt Schmoke was named to the list for his community-centered work at the university such as the Second Chance College Program, an education initiative inside Jessup Correctional Institution, and the arrival of the Baltimore Police Department Education and Training Center.

In December, Bowie State University launched the public phase of their largest-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign, BSU BOLD: The Campaign for Excellence, which seeks to raise $50 million by December 31, 2025. A catalyst for the campaign was philanthropist McKenzie Scott’s historic $25 million gift, given to the university in December 2020. In addition to Scott, lead campaign donors include BGE, Penn National Gaming, Adobe, and the Maguire Foundation. BSU hopes that in addition to gifts from major entities, there will be support from individual alumni, family, and friends of the university.

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski was named to the National Academy of Engineering, which is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. It is not often that a non-engineer is elected. Hrabowski was selected for his role in developing a national educational model for students from diverse backgrounds to excel in engineering and science at UMBC. Under his leadership, UMBC has become the nation’s number one producer of Black undergraduates who go on to complete Ph.D.s in natural science and engineering. UMBC houses the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which aims to increase the diversity of STEM leaders by providing students from underrepresented groups with pathways to academic research.

In February, UMBC reached the nation’s highest level of research performance and was placed into the doctoral universities with very high research activity (or R1) category by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. UMBC is one of 146 R1 institutions in the nation, and one of three in Maryland. In addition to UMBC, the University of Maryland, College Park, and Johns Hopkins University are R1 institutions. The classification is based on a number of factors, including students who earn doctoral degrees, productivity in research, and research

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Peter Goodwin was chosen as one of 52 executives selected for Leadership Maryland's class of 2022. Leadership Maryland is an Annapolis-based nonprofit that runs an eight-month professional development program for executives that allows them to learn about issues surrounding Maryland's economic development, education, health services, criminal justice system, environment, diversity, and more. Leadership Maryland President and CEO Renée M. Winsky noted that this year's class was one of the most selective in history.