From the President

On the threshold of The University of Baltimore’s 100th anniversary in 2025, our community is doing much more than looking back. You’re one of us—a truly special group of learners, leaders, builders and thinkers—if you’re leaning into the exciting feeling that the University’s best days are ahead of us. As we prepare for our Centennial (much more on that soon!), it’s clear that the ties that bind us together, our past, present and future, come from your intrinsic belief in the institution.

It starts with the ways that UBalt resonates with our alumni, friends and supporters. Looking back over the years gone by, an essential truth becomes clear: the University gives determined people a unique opportunity to become everything they want to be, and often even more.

There are certain things that live in the bedrock of a school like ours. For the University of Baltimore, our lasting truth is that we transform lives.

Today, we’re rapidly putting the pandemic in our rearview mirror, thanks in part to your generosity. We showed a tremendous can-do spirit when we pivoted from in-person to online learning. For three years, we did much more than cope in this global crisis. We changed, we grew and we consistently met the needs of our community. There’s a grit—a resiliency, if you will—in our everyday efforts. And, even better, we don’t lose the lessons we learn during tough times—we use them to fortify the core of our foundation.

So, we’ve identified what makes us strong. But more importantly is how and why we stay strong.

UBalt stands out as the region’s institution of choice for career advancement, skills enhancement and personal and professional success, due to a pair of long-held institutional values: accommodation and innovation. The thought leaders and practitioners who preside in our classrooms, and inside our issues-driven centers, clinics and institutes, deliver an education that meets students and constituents where they live.

When you come through our doors, or find us out in the world, you’ll see us working on society’s most pressing issues—and not just in the context of “solve the problem and move on.” We are doggedly looking ahead to what’s next? At the same time, we’re reflecting on how we got here. Is there a better way for an institution to anticipate the future?

When it comes to “the why,” you might imagine there is no simple way to address these core motivations, as they manifest themselves throughout our schools and out to the places where we make a lasting impact. But allow me to offer you one important insight:

The University of Baltimore was founded by folks who wanted to give others a chance. That’s all—a chance. To realize a dream. To build a better life. To make things better, stronger, primed for success, for generations to come.

That’s why you’ll find our University leaders creating and bolstering academic programs in emerging fields like data privacy, negotiations and conflict management, digital design and infrastructure equality. We’re tracking trends across a wide statistical range, from demography and infrastructure needs, to the ways that people communicate in modern times in law, business, the arts and humanities, and public service. We’re a small, tight-knit campus, focused on humanity’s critical challenges, and an impressive amount of our academic research, appearing in highly-rated publications across the country, shows our commitment to real-world engagement.

At the start of this message, I said that UBalt’s incredible story is largely one of belief. So much of that power comes from you. Your generosity is a testament to our shared commitment. A covenant, of sorts. I believe, without hesitation, that it is profound.

The FY2022 Annual Report shows us the strength of connection between our students and our donors. Here, we are shining a light on the resourcefulness of the faculty, staff and administrators who bolster these essential bonds every day. They are bonds we can—and will—build on for the next 100 years.

Thank you for your belief in the University of Baltimore.

Sincerely,

KURT L. SCHMOKE
President, The University of Baltimore

 

From the Board Chair

I am pleased to share our Fiscal Year 2022 progress with you. We began the year with great optimism that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic might soon be behind us and the communities and economic sectors most impacted would recover before long. We did recover for the most part; however, we ended the fiscal year with a new set of economic challenges. Despite the changing economic environment, The University of Baltimore moved forward and regained a sense of normalcy. Students returned to campus, determined to work hard to achieve their goals.

I am proud that The University of Baltimore Foundation is able to provide support for UBalt and maintain its ongoing commitment to provide sustainable funding to the University that promotes long-term financial stability. This partnership between UBalt and the Foundation is critical to student success but cannot be sustained without our donors, whose FY22 contributions totaled $5,590,421. I am deeply grateful for our donors’ generous support for the University and its students.

The total amount of support provided to the University and its four schools in FY2022 was $4,013,113—$2,147,652 from the endowment and $1,865,461 from spendable fund accounts. This includes $1,671,083 in funding for 608 student scholarships, as well as additional support for professorships, experiential learning and other programs.

Highlights from FY2022 that we cover in the Annual Report include:

• the establishment of special funds to support career development
• the growth of undergraduate scholarship funds that allow UBalt students the flexibility to define their own journeys
• the continued development of equitable and inclusive programs that support the diverse communities that make up the UBalt student body.

On behalf of the University of Baltimore Foundation, we thank you for your sponsorship. We greatly appreciate your interest in the University and its students. We hope that you are inspired by UBalt’s commitment to students and the broader community.

Sincerely,

NINA K. YUDELL, B.S. ’81, MBA ‘82
Chair, The University of Baltimore Foundation Board of Directors