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PROMISE Resources for UNDERGRADS who are interested in graduate school

The material on this website is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0202169.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

The latest announcements are listed on the PROMISE Forum. Topics include : Ph.D. Completion, Job announcements, Working Students, Seminars, etc. Stay connected by clicking here.

Visiting? Sign the PROMISE Guest Book

• PROMISE Newsletters ONLINE here!

Please send accomplishments, honors, awards, and any information that will benefit all three campuses to the Newsletter Editor, Shanna Smith, in the UMCP PROMISE office (promise@gradschool.umd.edu).

• University Counseling Center - UMBC Graduate Groups Forming Click here to view.

• Photo albums comprised of pictures taken at many of our primary events since the summer of 2004 have been compiled and posted here and in the PROMISE Photo Album. Includes photos from: UMBC/UMB Graduate Research Conference, UMB Reflections, PROMISE display in San Juan, Puerto Rico! Community Building Retreats at Coofont (Berkeley Springs, West Virginia) and more.

Lending a helping hand, working together.

It's the PROMISE way.

What is PROMISE?

PROMISE is Maryland's Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate. It is a multi-campus AGEP (pronounced "A-GEP"), an alliance of the three public research universities in Maryland:

• University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
• University of Maryland College Park (UMCP)
• University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB).

Led by UMBC, PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP is dedicated to the increasing the number and diversity of Ph.D. graduates, particularly in the sciences and engineering who go on to academic careers.

Broadly, students can participate in PROMISE regardless of their status (full-time, part-time), ethnicity, discipline, or source of funding. Narrowly, students who are underrepresented will be strongly supported as they utilize the services and resources of PROMISE; these students can be encouraged to consider PROMISE to be one of their major mechanisms of support.

PROMISE is one of many AGEP (Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate) programs. From Massachusetts to Puerto Rico, Colorado to Texas, there are more than 25 AGEPs in states throughout the U.S. PROMISE is sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Division of Human Resource Development, part of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

Read more about PROMISE and the staff on the About Us page

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Where will you see PROMISE?

You will see PROMISE at conferences of the Mexican American Engineers and Scientists, the Society of Hispanic and Professional Engineers, the American Indian Society of Engineers and Scientists, and the National Society of Black Engineers (just to name a few). We look forward to meeting you and talking with you.

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PROMISE met prospective graduate students at the Universidad Metropolitana (UMET), San Juan, Puerto Rico in October 2003. Dr. Renetta Tull, PROMISE Program Director, served as a judge for the XIV Undergraduate Research Symposium and participated on the Graduate School Panel. Thanks to UMBC graduate student Mileidy Gonzalaz (Biology) for joining Dr. Tull in Puerto Rico and meeting with future PROMISE students. UMET is an NSF Model Institution of Excellence.

Dr. Renetta Tull presents PROMISE as part of her talk, "Collective Responsibiliy: A Sample of Graduate School Alliances that Prepare Graduate Students of Color for the Professoriate", at the "Assessing the Need for a Faculty of Color Network", National Society of Black Engineers Conference, Dallas, TX, March 18, 2004. [Photo credit: Dr. Earl B. Smith, Prairie View A& M University]

Remembering our dear Jessica

In loving memory of PROMISE Peer Mentor Jessica Soto Perez, who epitomized:

"The Spirit of PROMISE".

Please join us as we honor Jessica's life. PROMISE sends condolences to her family, her extended friends both here in the US and in Puerto Rico, her lab members and friends in the TRC building, her department (Chemical and Biochemical Engineering), and to her beloved alma mater, the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez.

• Read more about Jessica, Contribute to the "Jessica Fund", and join us in remembering her through some of our favorite photos.

2006-07 Workshops & Seminars*

• September, 2006: Fall Opening Meetings
• October 13, 2006: Tri-Campus Seminar @UMBC
• November 17, 2006: Fall Harvest @UMCP
• December 15, 2006: Reflections @UMB
• January 22, 2007: Research Symposium
• February, 2007: Spring Opening Meetings
• March 3-5, 2007: Retreat (formerly known as Coolfont) - Offsite, Rocky Gap Conference Ctr.
• April, 2007: Reflections@UMB
• June 15, 2007: Tri-Campus Seminar @UMBC
• August 16-18, 2007: Summer Success Institute

  * Details for all PROMISE Tri-campus Workshops and Seminars are found by clicking this link and connecting to the PROMISE Forum.

• Funding & Jobs (faculty positions, assistantships, etc.)
• Conferences & Professional/Social Events
• Professional Development: Success Seminars & Teaching Workshops @ UMBC, Workshops @ UMCP, Workshops@UMB
• Ph.D. Completion: Ph.D. Completion Project & Dissertation Support Forum

2006 PROMISE SSI. A warm thank you is extended to our special guests from NSF and AGEP National: Dr. Roosevelt Johnson and Dr. Wanda Ward. Thanks to our speakers: Guaranteed 4.0 Learning System, Barrett Whitener, Christopher Jones, Juan Gilbert, Kelly Mack, Maria Mercedes Franco, Angela Grant, Kimberly Raines, Sonia Arteaga, the "Follow Your North Team", and special featured Speaker: Dr. Randal D. Pinkett, President of BCT Partners and Winner - Donald Trump's "The Apprentice", NBC-TV

Winners from the UMB/UMBC Graduate Research Conference (first place in their categories!)

April 18, 2006

• Jocelyn Reader, UMB PROMISE
• Yared Amanuel, UMBC PROMISE, BD Fellow
• Kami Okusaga, UMBC PROMISE, Peer Mentor
• Elisabeth Arevalo, UMBC PROMISE, Peer Mentor

Congratulations to all of the PROMISE students who submitted abstracts and to those who participated!!

Temitope Akinsade (UMBC)
Yared Amanuel (UMBC)
Olusegun Aranmolate (UMBC)
Elisabeth Arevale-Guerrero (UMBC)
Alicia Alba (UMBC)
Kimberly Barnett (UMB)
Charisse Carlin (UMBC)
Sonnet Davis (UMBC)
Phil Dyer (UMBC)
Mileidy Gonzalez (UMBC)
Asli Hassan (UMBC)
Robert Holder (UMBC) - Official Photographer!
Alicia Howard (UMBC)
Nikisa Jordan (UMBC)
Kelly Kitchens (UMB)
Michael Johnson (UMBC)
Waseem Juakiem (UMBC)
Jason Nappier (UMBC)
Olukayode (Kami) Okusaga (UMBC)
Patricia Ordonez (UMBC)
Tommy Piggee (UMBC)
Jocelyn Reader (UMB)
Erica Richards (UMB)
Jameelah Roberts (UMBC)
Zaker Siraj (UMBC)
Akelia Wauchope (UMBC)
Calvin Williams (UMB)

Winners from PROMISE Research Symposium (01/23/06, Agenda and List of Presenters)

All participants received certificates, all winners received plaques and monetary prizes ranging from $100 to $250.

Biomedical/Health, Chemical and Life Sciences Orals: 1st: Erica Martin Richards (UMB), 2nd: Kimberly Raines (UMB), 3rd: Kimberly Barnett (UMB)

Biomedical/Health, Chemical and Life Sciences Posters: 1st: Sean Vasitis (UMB), 2nd: Mileidy Glonzalez (UMBC), 3rd: Jocelyn Reader (UMB)

Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, Education and Humanities Orals: 1st: Rodney Harrell (UMCP), 2nd: Kaylen Tucker (UMCP), 3rd: Sonia Arteaga (UMBC)

Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, Education and Humanities Posters: 1st: Marsha Sargeant (UMCP), 2nd: Jamie Castilla Monzo (UMCP), 3rd: Alycia Marshall (UMCP)

Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering Orals: 1st: Yves Ngu (UMCP), 2nd Gwendolyn Rhodes (UMCP)

Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering Posters: 1st: Patricia Ordonez (UMBC), 2nd Jason Nappier (UMBC), 3rd: Nichole Nelson (UMCP)

Visit the PROMISE CAMPUS WEBSITES

PROMISE @ UM College Park

PROMISE @ UMBC

PROMISE @ UMB

• View Dr. Freeman Hrabowski's speech to students at UMBC's Graduate Horizons program, part of PROMISE's cultivating new students activity. Dr. Hrabowski is the President of UMBC and is a Mathematician of the African Diaspora; he was also a keynote speaker at the 2003 Conference for the National Society of Black Engineers. Be Inspired! Hear and see Hrabowski speak! [Reguires Quicktime software, download].
• From the PROMISE Balanced Approach to Graduate Education Lecture Series "Reflections: Looking Back to Move Forward" (Spring 2004 at UMB, J. Pegues - Coordinator, J. Warnick - Co-PI) revisit the advice about reflecting and overcoming obstacles from our featured Speaker, UMB Ph.D. student and accomplished author, Pam Love.

Gloria Anglon (UMCP), Sean Vasitis (UMB), and Shahza Somerville (UMBC) chat after Reflections "Looking Back to Move Forward/Sankofa" at UMB, Spring 2004.

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PROMISE Accolades (Award winners, Ph.D. Candidates)

UMBC PROMISE Peer Mentors Sylvester Mosley and Robert Alexander discuss PROMISE with graduate students from UMB at the UMBC/UMB Graduate Research Conference, April 2004.

Graduate Students who are Future MARYLAND Doctors of Philosophy: Yves Ngu (Electrical Engineering - UM College Park), Angela Grant (Math - UM College Park), and Robinson Kuis (Physics - UM Baltimore County) spend some time together at the SREB Compact for Faculty Diversity Teaching and Mentoring Institute, held in Miami, FL, Nov. 2003. PROMISE Co-PI Dr. Johnetta Davis (UM College Park), UM Baltimore PROMISE Coordinator, Jill Pegues, and UM Baltimore PROMISE Peer Mentor Lemuel Russell (Toxicology) were also in attendance. [Photo Credit: AL-BJ Images Photography.]

Future MARYLAND Doctors of Philosophy (Left to right) : Lemuel Russell (University of Maryland Baltimore - Toxicology), Jessica Soto-Perez (University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) - Chemical Engineering), and Aisha Sexton (University of Maryland College Park - Biological Resources Engineering) _______________ THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: UMBC and UMCP Graduate Students Joel Meyn, Daniel Chapman, Mario Sanchez, and Deatrick Foster walk the road at the PROMISE Community Building Retreat at Coolfont.  [Photo Credit: Yves Ngu.] _________________________