UMD: University Of Maryland Joins Nationwide Taskforce On Higher Education And Opportunity

Press release from University of Maryland - College Park:

March 22, 2021

  The Taskforce brings together leaders from across American higher education, including public, private, two-year, and four-year institutions that represent 2.5 million students nationwide. Taskforce members are focused on three key goals: ensuring student success despite widespread financial difficulty, partnering with local communities, and reimagining how higher education is delivered.   Schools will take individual and collective action to meet the shared mission of the Taskforce through new goals set regularly. Member institutions are now launching the first round of initiatives to prepare the graduates of 2021-2023 for success in the post-pandemic economy. In the coming months, Taskforce members will develop programs to support local communities, and additional programs will follow to reimagine the future of higher education and prepare students for work in a post-pandemic world. To help meet the Taskforce's goal of positioning students for success, Maryland will initially focus on supporting transfer students. In Fall 2020, nearly 40% of new students at UMD were transfer students, often from community colleges across the state. Through established programming in the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the university has seen success in onboarding transfer students by offering specialized services and support, and will explore replicating and expanding this at other colleges and schools on campus.   “I wish for all students - no matter where they start their path in higher education - to have the opportunities and support they need to successfully finish their degree at the University of Maryland,” said Darryll J. Pines, University of Maryland President. “I am encouraged that plans are in development to help transfer students transition smoothly to UMD and support them through graduation."   UMD and Taskforce member partners are driven to act by the challenges caused by the pandemic, income inequality, the changing nature of work, and levels of unemployment among recent college graduates nearly double those seen in the 2008 recession. The impact of this crisis is falling unevenly across groups and disproportionately impacting students from disadvantaged communities, despite their educational background. The Taskforce will provide greater opportunity to students and communities, while reimagining higher education's contribution to society and sharing insights with the broader education community.   Taskforce membership will continue to grow to diversify and scale impact with a focus on action – uniquely positioning the Taskforce in the higher education space. Current members include:    ●        Mark Becker, President of Georgia State University ●        Gene D. Block, Chancellor of University of California, Los Angeles ●        Seth Bodnar, President of University of Montana ●        Bob Brown, President of Boston University*

This press release was produced by the University of Maryland - College Park. The views expressed here are the author’s own.