President’s Letter
Category: President's Page
Dear UB Alumni and Friends:
It is important for each of us take those moments in life to measure and appreciate our successes, keep our challenges in perspective and then move forward. For most of us, personal reflection and self-awareness takes the courage to ask those probing questions that can help assess our status in life at that moment: How am I doing at work, in school? Where can I go from here?
The University of Baltimore has been asking questions like these of its students and alumni for more than 90 years. That’s a big part of our job—to help individuals find that extraordinary part of themselves and turn that talent and passion into personal and professional pursuits—the kind of pursuits that can transform our life and the lives of others.
Right now, UB is engaged in its own process of self-discovery and assessment that comes with institutional reaccreditation. Every 10 years, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education works with universities to ensure they meet 14 standards of institutional and academic excellence. In the spring, UB will welcome MSCHE reaccreditation representatives for a three-day conversation with the campus community. This conversation will be bolstered by the significant campuswide effort to prepare for the review and an in-depth dialogue about our efforts to be forward looking, adaptive and robust. At the same time, we are also working on a new strategic plan; this plan will culminate with UB’s 100th anniversary in 2025. We are constantly striving to innovate, improve and, I believe, inspire—something the UB community does with excellence.
I hope that you find this issue of the University of Baltimore Magazine inspiring, too. In this issue’s cover story, we explore the artistic passion of young students from the Baltimore School for the Arts and elsewhere. Turn the page to learn how UB has created a college home for these young artists through a new specialization, Performance Studies: Baltimore. This new course offering is the result of a partnership among the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, the Everyman Theatre and the Hippodrome Foundation—a partnership that illustrates UB’s strengths in developing student passions into careers. These young artists will find answers to the question of how their artistic appetites can lead to a rewarding college experience and future employment. That’s the power of UB.
As always, I thank you for your support of the University of Baltimore.
Sincerely,
Kurt L. Schmoke
President, University of Baltimore