Matlab 2008a has been made available on OIT's GL and Research Systems (both Linux and Solaris). The license has also been renewed and updated for another year.
The default 'matlab' is still 2007a on these systems until the end of the semester, but you can use 2007b or 2008a directly as follows:
2007b can be run directly out of AFS via - /afs/umbc.edu/software/matlab/r2007b/bin/matlab
2008a can be run directly out of AFS via -
/afs/umbc.edu/software/matlab/r2008a/bin/matlab
The Windows version of 2007b is installed in OIT supported labs and the software is available via MyUMBC. The Windows version of 2008a will be available in the labs after this semester wraps up. It should be available via MyUMBC in the next week or so.