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Reflecting on the First Year of the UMB Global Hub
On Nov. 16, Global Hub staff from the Center for Global Engagement and International Operations met to reflect on the year since the Hub was launched in November 2022. The Global Hub retreat – held during International Education Week – brought together staff based in the U.S. and also those based in Malawi, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Looking at website data and usage trends over the last year, the Global Hub has been very effective in streamlining the international travel review and approval process, has developed new procedures for international procurement and payments, and supported a faster and more thorough international MOU development and signing process. The group also discussed challenges and opportunities for growth, including encouraging more use of the UMB Global Footprint map and creating greater awareness of the Global Hub on campus.
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Three UMB students who are part of the 2023 Alicia & Yaya Fellows in Global Aging Research presented their work Nov. 28 at the 46th Annual Medical Student Research Day.
They were part of a group of seven from the School of Medicine who studied healthy aging in Costa Rica, a nation experiencing a rapid aging process due to increased life expectancy and declining birth rates. The students' projects this past summer aimed to understand the aging and demographic transition process in Coto Brus, a rural municipality in the country, and identify opportunities for future interventions. Projects included:
- Experience of Aging in Indigenous Communities: A Qualitative Study of the Ngäbe-Buglé Community in Coto Brus, Costa Rica by Melissa Rallo (above)
- Examining Physical Activity and Life Expectancy in an Aging Population in Costa Rica by Lillianna Pedersen (bottom left)
- Identifying Influenctial Factors on Perceived Social Support in Aging in Rural Costa Rica by Christine Wan (bottom right)
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For more than 25 years, the UM School of Social Work has been a pioneer in global education, offering students a unique opportunity to explore health care practices and mental health in the state of Kerala, India, in partnership with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences. The program began in 1997 and has continued to evolve, making a lasting impact on students and faculty alike.
“The University of Maryland School of Social Work’s global course to Kerala, India, is a transformative education experience that transcends traditional classroom learning,” said Joan Pittman, PhD, MSW, LCSW-C, SSW clinical professor who leads the India course. “This initiative fosters a deep understanding of global health care practices and mental health and expands students’ cultural humility and interprofessional knowledge.”
The global course — Interprofessional Exploration of Health and Mental Health in Kerala, India — is a three-credit immersive experience that takes place every other year in January. The course unfolds in two stages. It starts with three fall classes, where students from social work, nursing, and other disciplines engage in in-depth discussions and collaborative projects, setting the stage for their travels to India.
The course will be offered again in January 2025, with applications opening this August.
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Aging Research Leads to Global Collaborations
Two groups shared their aging research at the Gerontological Society of America's 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa in November.
Costa Rica
Last spring, the Alicia & Yaya Initiative in Global Aging Research brought together two aging researchers: Amanda Lehning, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and associate professor at the UMB SSW, and Carolina Santamaria-Ulloa, PhD, full professor and researcher at the Universidad de Costa Rica's Health Research Institute. They worked together from March to July at UMB, then traveled to Costa Rica for an aging conference at the end of July.
At the conference, Lehning and Santamaria-Ulloa presented a poster titled "Access to Universal Health Care in Costa Rica and Higher Levels of Stress and Social Isolation in the U.S. May Explain Lower Survival among U.S. Frail Older Adults."
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Japan
Takashi Yamashita, PhD, Professor of Sociology & Gerontology at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) presented "Development of an International Gerontology Education Course between the U.S. and Japan, in the East meets West: Innovative Approaches to Gerontology Education and Training Symposium."
The presentation shared work from a partnership in gerontology between UMB and UMBC with Flavis Lilly, PhD, former Vice Provost of Academic and Student Affairs and Vice Dean of the UMB Graduate School; Diane Martin, Associate Professor at the UMB Graduate School and Director of the Geriatrics & Gerontology Education and Research (GGEAR) Program; and Mio Kamijo, International Student Advisor in UMB's Center for Global Engagement.
Students in the Global Health Aging in Japan course traveled to Japan for a two-week program that visited 13 sites and two cultural sites. Applications are now open for the 2024 course.
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Apply Today for Global Health Aging in Japan Course with Summer Travel
Application Deadline December 8 at 5 p.m.
A faculty-led travel experience, the three credit Global Health Aging in Japan course explores and analyzes how broader cultural norms and social institutions of contemporary Japan shape individuals’ experiences of growing older, life-stage transitions, and intergenerational relations through a life course perspective.
The course is informed by an interdisciplinary gerontological approach integrating visits to and engagement with academic, business, health and medical, policy and socio-cultural sites in Japan. Students will participate in a two-week faculty-led travel experience in Japan during the summer, tentatively scheduled for June 8-22, 2024.
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CVD Researchers Sharing Work at International Typhoid Conference in Rwanda
The 13th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonelloses will be held December 5-7 in Kigali, Rwanda. Researchers and experts from across the globe will gather to exchange the latest findings and research on typhoid, paratyphoid, and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella disease.
UMSOM’s Center for Vaccine Development & Global Health (CVD) will be there in force, presenting research on typhoid and Salmonella vaccines. Presentations include Dr. Scott Baliban, who will share his work on the potential of a maternal vaccination strategy against nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) using a vaccine developed at CVD. Post-doc fellow Garima Bansal will discuss work developing two live attenuated non-transmissible invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) vaccine candidates that may be used in future clinical trials as potential live oral vaccines to prevent iNTS. Other CVD speakers will present on methods to assess TCV effectiveness, antibody responses to trivalent Salmonella conjugate vaccine (TSCV), and clinical development of TSCV. The Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium (TyVAC) team led by CVD will also host a symposium focusing on the full public health value of typhoid conjugate vaccines
This conference serves as a key opportunity to advocate and coordinate a global response to typhoid and other invasive Salmonellosis through partnership, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. CVD is proud to have so many young investigators sharing their work.
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SON Dean Yolanda Ogbolu Discusses Changing Health Care Needs and a Changing Workforce
December 6 at 2 p.m.
On the Dec. 6 Virtual Face to Face, UMB President Dr. Bruce Jarrell will sit down with the School of Nursing Dean, Dr. Yolanda Ogbolu, a member of the CGE Advisory Committee.
In her fifth month as dean, Ogbolu will lay out plans to meet the health care needs of Marylanders with innovations in nursing education and a focus on reducing health care disparities. She will also discuss her personal relationship with Baltimore and the ideas she’s brought home from research abroad.
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Puzzle Map Unveiling Celebrates International Education Week
The Center for Global Engagement (CGE) celebrated International Education Week on Nov. 16 by unveiling an artwork display on the third floor of the SMC Campus Center. But it isn't an ordinary piece of art: It is an image of a world map that is the world’s largest puzzle, with 60,000 pieces, put together by Gina Dreyer, associate director of international services.
Dreyer has been puzzling since she was a toddler, getting her start with a floor puzzle of the United States. It’s no surprise that her interest in geography and putting together puzzles of maps sprung from there.
“When I learned in October 2022 that there was a 'world’s largest puzzle,' thanks to my social media algorithm, I had to have it immediately. I had no idea where I was going to display it when I was done,” Dreyer said. “Then one day in September, I got off the elevator on my way to work, and the light bulb went off, there was a big, empty wall on the third floor of the Campus Center! I was thrilled and began my campaign to get it approved to go up.”
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CGE Launches Focus on Fulbright Initiative for Students
The Center for Global Engagement is excited to launch its Focus on Fulbright Initiative to increase UMB’s representation in this prestigious international program. CGE will host webinars and workshops for students interested in applying in 2024 for the 2025-2026 competition. Students must apply through UMB, and CGE will provide application advising and feedback.
For more information, watch an informational webinar presented by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
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J-1 Scholar Orientation
December 6 at 11 a.m.
Join the Office of International Services to review the rules for maintaining J-1 Scholar status, as well as other topics about getting to know the UMB campus.
Once you register for the event, you will receive the Zoom link.
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U.S. hosted more than 1 million international students in 2022
There were more than 1 million international students in the U.S. during the 2022/23 academic year, marking a 12% increase on the previous year and a near-return to pre-pandemic levels. UMB international student numbers increased 13.5% from 297 in 2021/22 to 337 in 2022/23.
The Open Doors 2023 report on international educational exchange showed new enrollments exceeded pre-pandemic levels with more than 298,000 international students starting programs last year.
The figures mark the fastest growth rate in more than 40 years but stopped short of returning to pre-pandemic numbers, with 1,057,188 students in 2022/23, compared to approximately 1,094,000 in 2018/19.
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External Global Events & Opportunities | |
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Apply for Global Health Awards at CUGH Annual Conference
Deadline December 15
The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) will hold its Global Health Conference March 7-10, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Applications for the CUGH-Pulitzer Center Global Health Video Competition are due by Dec. 15.
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About Us
The Center for Global Engagement is the university-wide hub for interprofessional global health and education. The Office of International Services within CGE provides immigration and other support services to UMB's international scholar and student community.
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