About PROMISE

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Under the GSPD umbrella and building on a legacy of more than 20 years, PROMISE events ⓟ are organized with minoritized scholars in mind – with input from students from historically excluded populations in content and design,  PROMISE events build academic skills, social supports, and career networks. While there is intention in ensuring PROMISE events meet the needs of scholars from historically excluded populations, they are open to all graduate students and postdocs and PROMISE whole-heartedly welcomes participants from all backgrounds and disciplines. PROMISE at UMBC is a part of a PROMISE network across the University System of Maryland and hopes to provide a community of learning and support from the day you arrive on campus to the proud day you depart for your next career stage.

In your time here, we hope you come to rely on PROMISE to be a “third space” where you feel safe, supported, and championed. We hope you join us for coffees and games, seminars on preparing for a career as a faculty member, building teaching and public speaking skills, enhancing your writing and writing productivity, and learning to network to build a community of peers and mentors effectively. You can learn about the latest offerings and workshops on our myUMBC page. We frequently partner with the Graduate Student Association, the Black Graduate Student Organization, the Latinx & Hispanic Graduate Student Association, and the Nigerian Graduate Student Organization, to mention a few.

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Flagship Events

Besides monthly workshops, some of the PROMISE’s flagship events include:

  • Dissertation House: A multi-day intensive writing workshop with one-on-one coaching to help you make significant progress on your proposal, thesis, or dissertation
  • The Annual PROMISE Research Symposium: An event that honors the work of underrepresented graduate scholars throughout the University System of Maryland
  • Fall Harvest Dinner: A community-building event that brings the whole PROMISE group together for a warm meal and sharing of stories.
  • Summer Success Institute (SSI): A professional development conference hosted by PROMISE program volunteers from across the University System of Maryland that serves as a platform to highlight researchers from underserved backgrounds and facilitates networking opportunities for current graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty across the State to propel their careers.
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Fall Harvest Dinner

PROMISE has a long history not just here but through the University System of Maryland. PROMISE was initially developed as part of a state-wide alliance through an NSF Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant. For additional history on the 2003-2018 AGEP programming, visit PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP  website.

PROMISE for PostDocs

In 2018, PROMISE received NSF AGEP funding to diversify postdoctoral scholars and transition them into tenure-track faculty positions at AGEP PROMISE Academy Alliance (2018-23). In 2023, PROMISE was funded by NSF’s Eddie Bernice Johnson. INCLUDES Initiative: Re-Imagining STEM Equity Utilizing Postdoctoral Pathways (RISE UPP). This effort will be in alliance with seven other University System of Maryland institutions. We are thrilled to offer a community, career support, skill building, and inspiration in this vital part of their academic journey. You can learn more about this program at the RISE UPP PROMISE Academy Alliance website. You can register for events by going to my.umbc.edu/groups/gspd.

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PROMISE Engineering Institute (PEI)

Our Mission is to Encourage Discussions about Research & Teaching Motivations for Faculty in STEM as well as to Improve Diverse Faculty Preparation to Increase Faculty Retention

Our program aims to:

  • Showcase diverse candidates who seek engineering faculty positions to eliminate the “there aren’t any diverse candidates to hire” response that permeates faculty hiring committees
  • Provide students and postdocs with comprehensive research and pedagogical skills, supplemented by development of national and international professional networks to counter the “we can’t find any qualified candidates” response, and to fill the gap of the “it’s not just what you know, but who you know, and who knows you” adage
  • Support targeted engineering faculty placement initiatives, supplemented by development of “toward tenure” activities for campuses in the east-west network
  • Build tiered PROMISE networks of engineering faculty from all races and ranks that connect within and across departments from institutions in the network to combat issues of “lack of a welcoming environment,” “lack of collegiality,” and “lack of mentoring for diverse faculty.”

Collaboration:

The PROMISE Engineering Institute network is led by UC Davis and UMBC. The overall network will be led by the “west coast branch” at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). The program will keep its original partners and will extend offerings to engineering stakeholders at 8 additional schools within the University of California (system) with Colleges of Engineering. These include: UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Riverside, UC Merced, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. Similarly, the “east coast branch,” led by UMBC (via sub-award) will extend offerings to the engineering colleges in Maryland and the surrounding area, with emphasis on Morgan State University (an HBCU), Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). UC Davis and UMBC are both Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), and this collection of universities within this east-west network, have additional MSIs which include a subset of schools with Department of Education designations for HSI and HBCU.

 

Champaining Diversity

The Graduate School at UMBC and PROMISE view diversity as a central part of our vision for creating the best, most effective academic community to push this country forward through outstanding teaching and excellent research, creative scholarship, fieldwork and contributions to society through professional work.

Explore how we champion and support diversity by connecting graduate students to: