Campus Closure June 7, 2011

Update (2:40 a.m., Wednesday, June 8)

Crews have successfully restored power to most of campus. Campus will be open as of 3 a.m. today.

Resident students who need additional information should call 443-612-0100. University Health Services and University Counseling Services remain closed. For any campus emergency, please call the UMBC Police at 410-455-5555.

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Update (7:50 p.m.)

The campus remains without power. Continue to monitor the UMBC website and the text alert system for updates.

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From Lynne Schaefer, Vice President for Administration and Finance

The UMBC Campus experienced a campus-wide power outage at approximately 2:30 p.m. today. During the course of ongoing electrical work a surge protector at the central plant tripped, which triggered an automatic shutdown of the electrical grid. We are assessing the system prior to restoring power.

The campus is closed effective 3 p.m. and evening classes are cancelled.

Generated power is being reestablished in Schwartz Hall, Biological Sciences, Sondheim and Engineering.

Resident students continue to be housed in a residence hall with generated power. Students who need additional information should call 443-612-0100. University Health Services and University Counseling Services remain closed.

UMBC Transit will operate until 4:30 p.m. today.

For any campus emergency, please call the UMBC Police at 410-455-5555.

Watch the UMBC homepage later this evening for updates. We will also send out an e2campus alert.

Bob Mumma Named Fourth Head Baseball Coach in School History

Bob Mumma has been promoted to head baseball coach at UMBC, Director of Athletics Charles Brown announced.

“Bob Mumma bleeds black and gold,” Brown said. “He was an outstanding student-athlete for the Retrievers, earning All-Conference honors and national recognition as an Academic All-American. After playing professionally in the White Sox organization, he came back to UMBC and has been a dedicated assistant coach. He deserves an opportunity to skipper the Retrievers. I am looking forward to seeing him lead our baseball program back to prominence.”

Mumma succeeds John Jancuska, who coached the Retrievers from 1978-2011. Tom Rider (1967-75) and Hal Sparks (1976-77) are the only other coaches to pilot the UMBC baseball team in the program’s 45 years of varsity competition.

“I am extremely excited to have this opportunity,” Mumma said. “Other than trying to be a Major League player, it was my dream to be a head coach, and once I got into coaching, this was where I wanted to be a head coach.”

Read the full press release here.

Power Restored to Majority of Campus

The majority of buildings on campus now have power. The Stadium, Facilities Management and the Warehouse may not have power restored until Wednesday, due to serious damage to a large amount of electrical cable.

Also, power to residence halls, University Counseling Services and University Health Services will not likely be restored until late Monday. Resident students should call 443-612-0100 for more information. If you have a emergency, contact University Police at ext. 5-5555.

Read more details about the power outage here.

Power Outage Update

Update 3: Monday, June 6, 3 p.m.

From Lynne Schaefer, Vice President, Administration and Finance

I want to update you on the latest news regarding the status of the remaining buildings on campus without power.

Electrical contractors have been working continuously to replace damaged underground cabling. This is a difficult and painstaking process that is, unfortunately, taking longer than anticipated. As a result, we do not expect to have power in residential buildings (including University Health Services and University Counseling Services) and True Grits by late tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7. The buildings will be brought up one at a time, beginning early in the day.

Resident students should call 443-612-0100 for more information. If you have an emergency, contact University Police at 410-455-5555.

Thank you for your continued patience.

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Update 2: UMBC is open effective 11 p.m. Sunday, June 5.

The majority of buildings on campus now have power. The Stadium, Facilities Management and the Warehouse may not have power restored until Wednesday, due to serious damage to a large amount of electrical cable.

Also, power to residence halls, University Counseling Services and University Health Services will not likely be restored until late Monday. Resident students should call 443-612-0100 for more information. If you have a emergency, contact University Police at 410-455-5555.

Thank you again for your patience.

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Update 1: Sunday, June 5, 2011

From Lynne Schaefer, Vice President, Administration & Finance

I am writing to give you an update on the campus power outage, and to provide more information about the cause of the outage. If all goes as planned, we expect that campus will be open tomorrow. Please check the UMBC website or myUMBC for updates tomorrow morning.

On Thursday, June 2, at about 8:30 p.m., a switch at the power substation at the athletic field complex failed and caught fire. The failure of this switch caused an overload to the main campus power transformer at Central Plant, and the transformer exploded and caught fire, causing the power failure. No one was injured in this incident, and it was not the result of foul play.

Facilities Management immediately went to work to locate and obtain a new, larger transformer, sufficient to prevent future such outages. Crews have been working around the clock to provide temporary power to critical areas, and to restore power as quickly as possible. Our Emergency Operations Center was activated to ensure the safety and security of our community, and to manage efforts to deal with the following issues:

**Coordinating additional police support from the Baltimore County Police Department.

**Coordinating support for campus academic units where research and other important work could be adversely affected by power disruptions.

**Maintaining temporary generated power to critical infrastructure locations on campus.

**Relocating over 200 students into one residence hall on generated power and providing meals to those students.

**Protecting the IT network.

**Working with Chartwells to minimize the impact on their operations and inventory.

Facilities Management is in the process of powering up each building on campus, with the goal of having power in almost all buildings by this evening. The Stadium, Facilities Management and the Warehouse may not have power restored until Wednesday, due to serious damage to a large amount of electrical cable. This power outage certainly has been a really major challenge for the campus. BGE has expressed great surprise at our progress, given the significant amount of damage we sustained.

Also, power to residence halls, University Counseling Services and University Health Services will not likely be restored until late Monday. Resident students should call 443-612-0100 for more information. If you have a emergency, contact University Police at 410-455-5555.

I also want to take this opportunity to encourage you, if you haven’t already, to sign up for E2Campus, our emergency alert text-messaging system that gives us the ability to notify you regarding any campus-related emergency. The system is compatible with mobile phones, Blackberries, smart phones, satellite phones, e-mail, wireless PDAs and pagers. Normal text-messaging rates apply. There are no additional charges. Please sign up for this important service today at http://my.umbc.edu/go/alerts.

We know the past few days have been difficult for many of you, and we have really appreciated your patience and goodwill as we have worked together to solve problems and toward restoring power. Please remember to check myUMBC and the UMBC homepage tomorrow morning for updates.

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Friday, June 3

From Mark Sparks, Chief, UMBC Police

As announced to the campus last night, UMBC has experienced a power failure that has severely limited campus operations. UMBC is currently closed and we hope to be able to reopen by Sunday evening.

Our first commitment is to the safety and security of our community, and we ask that you do not come to campus during the power outage. Services are extremely limited and buildings are not accessible. If you have an emergency need to be on campus, you should call UMBC Police at
410-455-5555.

UMBC Transit has suspended service until the campus regains power.

Resident students with questions should call 443-612-0100.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time. We will continue to update you as information becomes available.

Fiscal Year Updates

From Valerie Thomas, Associate Vice President, Human Resources

As the new fiscal year (July 1) approaches, I want to share some updates with you.

First, the temporary salary reduction will not extend into FY 2012. All regular faculty and staff who are on payroll as of June 30, 2011—and continue to be employed by USM at the beginning of FY 2012—will receive a one-time $750 payment. UMBC contingent II employees will also receive this payment. It will be included in the paychecks on July 22, 2011. This payment will not be added to the base salary and is not included in retirement calculations. The payment for USM faculty and staff working less than 100% FTE will be prorated.

Also, you may have heard news reports about the state’s voluntary separation plan; after months of study, however, the USM has decided it is unable to establish such a plan that would be cost-effective for FY 2012.

If you have any questions, please contact me at ext. 5-2337.

John Jancuksa Resigns as UMBC Baseball Head Coach

After coaching at UMBC for a school-record 34 years, baseball head coach John Jancuska has resigned, UMBC Director of Athletics Charles Brown announced.

Jancuska amassed a 673 career victories, led Retriever teams to five NCAA Tournament appearances and was named Coach of the Year in all four of UMBC’s conferences at the NCAA Division I level. He was inducted into the UMBC Athletics’ Hall of Fame in 2010. During his tenure, Jancuska produced 19 seasons with 20-plus victories in addition to 39 All-Region players, five All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans and 21 professional baseball players.

“For a 23-year-old to get the opportunity to achieve his dream of being a head baseball coach, it was an incredible blessing,” Jancuska said. “And to be able to watch it grow, not only the athletic program, but the university has been a tremendous gift.”

“John has been the face of the program for 34 years,” Brown said. “He achieved great success on the playing field and produced hundreds of fine young men who have benefitted tremendously from John’s positive influence. He has run the program with professionalism and integrity. His positive impact on our department is very much appreciated.

Jancuska, who resigned from the position for personal reasons, will remain with the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation in 2011-12, teaching courses in the physical education program.

UMBC Dining Services Hours for June

The Commons Building

Au Bon Pain: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Outtakes: Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Jow Jing: Monday-Thursday 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Skylight Room: Monday-Friday: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

The Administration Building

The Coffee Shoppe: Monday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Welcome Recently Hired Staff to UMBC

To our recent staff new hires and re-hires:

We are delighted you have chosen UMBC as your place of employment, and we welcome you to the campus community.

Each new employee comes to UMBC with a unique set of skills, abilities and talents. You have the opportunity to contribute directly to UMBC’s success and our primary objectives: (1) to be one of the best public research universities in the nation; (2) to be a major resource for Maryland and greater Baltimore; and (3) to create a campus community that finds enrichment in cultural and ethnic diversity.

Again, welcome to UMBC, and we hope that your experiences here are rewarding.

Denise Albright, MIPAR
Caroline Coronado, Career Development Center
Kristin Drabyn, Intercollegiate Sports Administration
Jaclyn Gloger, Residential Life
Amanda Knapp, Office of Undergraduate Education
Brenna Rollie, Intercollegiate Sports Administration
Laura Sahm, Shriver Center

Library Request for Information on Scholarly Publishing

The library is evaluating interest in digital repositories among faculty. We would appreciate you taking 5 minutes to complete this survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYDD93V. For more information, contact Michelle Flinchbaugh, ext. 5-6754.

Legislative Auditors on Campus

From President Freeman Hrabowski

We received word this week that representatives from the State Office of Legislative Audits are scheduled to begin their audit of the campus on Tuesday, May 31.

The auditors will be on campus for approximately six (6) months reviewing records and processes for the period covering October 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.

To conduct their review, the auditors will be randomly contacting individual departments to review financial records (e.g., purchasing card, payroll and cash receipt documentation). The Audit Information Sheet accompanying this memorandum is provided as a general guide for your reference in working with the auditors, should you be contacted.

Your cooperation with the auditors in helping to facilitate their reviews is greatly appreciated. I know that everyone continues to work very hard to strengthen operations across the campus, and we welcome the opportunity to work with the legislative auditors to find ways to be even more proficient in our work.

If you have any questions regarding the audit, contact Sharon Doherty-Ritter, in Management Advisory Services, at doherty@umbc.edu or ext. 5-1620.

Thank you.

UMBC Audit Information Sheet

Why Are We Audited?

• UMBC is a State-supported institution and subject to audit by the Office of Legislative Audits (OLA)
• The OLA audits all State agencies, including USM institutions, on a 2-3 year cycle, as directed by statute.
• UMBC may also be audited by USM internal auditors, Federal or State agency auditors, and external CPA forms.

What Should We Do When An Audit Begins?

• The campus community will be notified via mail and e-mail when the audit is set to begin.
• Each department should notify Management Advisory Services (MAS) via e-mail to Sharon D. Doherty-Ritter (doherty@umbc.edu) when the auditors begin working in their area.
• The auditors will follow up on the status of prior audit exceptions. You should have already implemented corrective actions if your department was part of a prior audit exception. Contact MAS if you are not sure.
• The auditors may audit functions, programs and departments that they have not looked at in previous visits. Be aware that you may be audited, and please be as cooperative as possible.
• Meet with the auditors working in your area to let them know you are interested in the audit. Request that any findings related to your area be discussed with you to ensure the following:
• They have not missed something that may be important to the process being reviewed.
• They speak to the most knowledgeable employees.
• You have a chance to offer input they may not have considered.
• You are aware of the exceptions in your area.
• Keep MAS apprised of any findings communicated to you by the auditors. UMBC is committed to taking a proactive approach to addressing audit exceptions. The sooner we are aware of them, the better.
• The auditors will hold an exit conference with the campus when the audit is completed to discuss their findings. Departments with audit exceptions will be invited to attend.
• Contact MAS with any questions you may have regarding the audit on how to respond.
• Relax – consider the audit an opportunity to strengthen operations rather than criticism of you, your department or UMBC.