With Honors

Posted on by Don Willett in BNoted

Three UBalt alums named to 2024 cohort with other influential leaders

BY JOCELYN T. SLAUGHTER

Loren Nelson
Photo of Loren Nelson by Kirk McCoy/The Baltimore Banner

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’’’ Nonprofit leaders lean into this question with their purposeful work in their communities by seeking to provide transformative societal change even while they metamorphosize as individuals.

Three University of Baltimore alumni—Tonaeya Moore M.P.A. ’20; Loren Nelson, B.A. ’21, M.S. ’24; and Derrick Whiting, B.A. ’23 were recently recognized by The Baltimore Banner for having answered Dr. King’s question. Each was honored as one of the local news outlet’s 2024 Emerging Leaders during a ceremony in May.

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Tackling Chronic Absenteeism One Layer at a Time

Posted on by Don Willett in BNoted

BY MADDIE WELLS

student with large stack of books on head

In 2005, University of Baltimore School of Law Professor Barbara A. Babb and Senior Fellow Gloria H. Danziger saw the need for a different approach to chronic absenteeism among Baltimore City Public School students. Forgoing traditional punitive methods to treat students’ absences, they created what is now called the Tackling Chronic Absenteeism Project (TCAP)—formerly the Truancy Court Program, or TCP—to understand and treat underlying issues, foster long term academic success and strengthen ties between schools and the community.

As the TCAP team likes to say, addressing chronic absenteeism is like “peeling an onion.” A student’s low attendance rate is often just the first layer—a sign that children and their families are struggling with problems like bullying, an undiagnosed learning impairment, food insecurity, illness or substance use in the family, the loss of a parent or caregiver, housing instability or neighborhood violence.

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From Classrooms to Communities

Posted on by Don Willett in BNoted

A collaborative approach to service learning at UBalt

BY JESSICA SILLERS (NEÉ JONAS), MFA ’13

person holding a drawing of the number 9This spring, a new Service Learning Fellowship launched, allowing faculty and students to make an even bigger impact outside the classroom. Funded by the University System of Maryland, the program provides faculty with stipends to deepen community engagement through their coursework.

The fellowship’s inaugural semester featured four classes across multiple disciplines, in which students logged at least 15 hours of service work with a community partner through collaborative projects. They also completed “significant and structured reflection” that tied their classroom learning to their service experience.

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Safety First

Posted on by Don Willett in BNoted

Addressing the ever-changing nature of drug threats to communities

BY ANNA RUSSELL

Illustration of a person helping another up through a capsule

In 2016, the chief of staff of the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, Jeff Beeson, presented Roger Hartley, dean of The University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs, with a partnership idea that would benefit both institutions.

The regional HIDTA—established 30 years ago under the White House’s National Drug Control Policy—was searching for a new fiduciary body to provide oversight of its grant process. The program provides funding and resources to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, along with drug treatment and prevention programs, to reduce drug trafficking and
production.

“When I approached Dean Hartley and explained that our job was to manage these federal grants and projects aimed at improving community safety, he also immediately saw the value in a collaboration,” said Beeson.

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