Making the World More Hospitable, One Guest at a Time:

Making the World More Hospitable, One Guest at a Time:
UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management Program Awarded Marriott Foundation Grant
The commercial student kitchen at The
Universities at Shady Grove will soon
be gleaming with state-of-the-art equipment,
thanks to a very generous grant from The J.
Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.
The $240,000 grant will be distributed over
five years to create a new Marriott Hospitality
Center on the Rockville campus to be used by
students in the University of Maryland Eastern
Shore’s highly regarded Hotel and Restaurant
Management Program.
The funds will improve facilities with the
installation of new stoves, ovens, grills and
freezers. The addition of a culinary teaching
station, complete with an overhead LCD
television with video capacity, and industry
hardware and software designed to simulate
hotel and restaurant operations will provide
professors and students with exciting
instructional tools.
“I was thrilled when the call came that we had
received the grant,” says Judy Streeter, Program
Director of the UMES Hotel and Restaurant
Management Program, adding, “the upgraded
facilities and instructional materials will enhance
student learning by bringing ‘real world’
activities into their curriculum. Not only will
they learn, but they can do – that’s what we are
in the hospitality business: we’re doers.”
The improvements are expected to be completed
over winter break and during the summer of
2010. Already, new software has been introduced
to students and will continue to be added
throughout the school year.
The Universities At Shady Grove
www.shadygrove.umd.edu
Fall 2009
From left to right, Dr. Stewart Edelstein, Executive Director, USG, Anne Gunsteens, Executive Director of The
J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, Gains Hawkins, Vice President of Development for UMES, Judy
Streeter, Program Director for UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management at USG, and Dr. Ernest Boger, Chair
Person of UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management Department.
UMES students mixing up a winning recipe with the support of the Marriott Foundation Grant.
301-738-6000

2
News & Notes - Fall 2009
The Cure to
Health Care Chaos:
Professor John J. Callahan Prescribes Health
Systems Management Studies
With health care reform and
expansion of health care currently
under discussion, an increasing number
of students are finding that a Bachelor
of Science degree from the University
of Baltimore (UB), Health Systems
Management program at USG gives them
a distinctive advantage in the industry.
That is precisely the message that the
program’s director, John J. Callahan,
Ph.D., wants to convey to them. Professor
Callahan has more than 25 years of public service with the federal
government, as well as a master’s degree in regional planning and
his Ph.D. in social science from the Maxwell School of Public
Administration at Syracuse University.
As Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget for the
Department of Health and Human Services from 1995 to 2001,
Dr. Callahan brings to his students a wealth of experience.
A resident of Annandale, VA., Dr. Callahan has lived in the
Washington D.C. region since 1969, along with his wife and
three children, now grown. He also has five grandchildren.
“Health care
is a superior
good – people
want it, value it
and know they
have to have
it...”
The Health Systems Management
program at USG caters primarily to
working adults, and for that reason
is offered exclusively on Saturday
sessions, with an on-line component
available as well.
“Many of our students are working
fulltime with families to care for, yet
despite their full plates they have a
real commitment to their studies.
They do it with an incredible
amount of dedication and fortitude and they bring to class an
abundance of day-to-day knowledge,” Dr. Callahan says. A large
percentage of his students already work in health care and are
seeking advancement in their fields or in a concurrent field.
Students in the Health Systems Management program are
exposed to all aspects of health care and learn to take off their
student hats and think as managers from the moment they enter
the classroom, Dr. Callahan explains. With the job market today
in the health care industry better than almost any other sector of
the economy, he says graduates of the program are well equipped
for future challenges.
“Health care is a superior good – people want it, value it and
know they have to have it. In addition, it is a field that is
continually evolving. That makes it both compelling and
interesting at the same time,” Dr. Callahan says.
Student Leader Muhammad
Waqar Reaches Out to USG
Classmates:
Making Every Voice Heard
At just 21 years of age, senior Muhammed Waqar of Silver
Spring is already a mover and shaker at The Universities
of Shady Grove, where he is the USG Student Government
Association president for the 2009 – 2010 academic year. In the
spring of 2010, he expects to earn a B.S. degree from the Robert
H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland,
College Park with a major in International Business and a minor
in International Development and Conflict Resolution.
Waqar, along with his parents and younger twin brothers, left
Pakistan four years ago to settle in
Montgomery County. In his native
country, he explains, there are no clubs
or activities available to college students
– students attend classes and then
return home. As a result, “I wanted to
embrace the whole college experience
in America,” he says. During his
two years at Montgomery College,
he plunged into a wide range of
extracurricular activities through which
he met faculty and administrators.
“It’s a great way to network and get to
know a campus,” Waqar points out.
When he enrolled at USG in 2008, “I was looking for
opportunities to get involved,” he says. After becoming a
program representative for the Smith School, he later applied
and successfully interviewed to become USG student government
council president.
“USG is a unique campus – I want to get everyone together and
involved on campus as much as possible and for each student to
have a voice,” he says.
He is committed to establishing an on-line USG Student
Council newsletter and holding open office hours so that council
members can meet with students to address their concerns. While
Waqar himself is a fulltime daytime student, he wants campus
programming to also include USG’s diverse population of parttime,
weekend and night students. His ideas include coffee socials
for Saturday students; weekend movie nights for those students
with children; and even Bollywood-style dance lessons in the
campus fitness center to help raise funds for charity and encourage
interest in Indian and Pakistani cultural life.
After graduation, this committed and energetic young man plans
to work for a Washington D.C.-based non-profit before ultimately
attending law school. Wherever he goes, Muhammad Waqar is
certain to leave an indelible mark.
The Universities At Shady Grove www.shadygrove.umd.edu
Growing Smarter and
Healthier:
New Programs at The Universities at Shady Grove
Focus on Education and Public Health
This fall, The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) introduces three
new academic programs designed to help students find meaningful
careers in the vital fields of education and public health.
Public Health Science:
An exciting new Bachelor of Science degree
in Public Health Science has been designed
by the University of Maryland, College
Park exclusively for the Shady Grove
campus. With the realization that today’s
public health challenges require more
depth and understanding of the biological
underpinnings of disease, this program was
developed especially for students to keep
abreast of a rapidly changing field, with small
classes and ready access to faculty.
Jennifer Todd, Ph.D., Program Director of
Public Health Science at USG, says the program will provide rigorous
coursework and have equally rigorous expectations, with students
required to have a science foundation before enrollment. “It is an
exciting option for the many community college students enrolled in
science classes but not necessarily sure of their next step,” she explains.
The B.S. program in Public Health Science gives an overview of the
field, including epidemiology, environmental and global health and
emergency preparedness. Students will be able to work in a variety of
areas, both public and private, or continue on to graduate or health
professional programs.
Science Education:
At the request of the Montgomery County Public Schools system,
the University of Maryland, College Park has developed a certificate
program at USG in Elementary and Middle School Science Education,
joining USG’s highly successful M.Ed program in mathematics
education. This new post-baccalaureate 18-credit evening program in
science education is designed to help elementary and middle school
teachers learn scientific content as well as gain an understanding of how
their students best learn that material, explains Program Director Janet
Coffey, Ph.D.
“Elementary and middle school teachers may not have a lot of course
background in the sciences. This program is designed to fill the gap and
provide a fundamental understanding of concepts and how science is
practiced so they can pursue scientific inquiry in the classroom,” Dr.
Coffey says.
Early Childhood Education:
Towson University is now offering their full-time Bachelor of Science
degree in Early Childhood Education in a part-time format, to better
serve the needs of para-professionals in the school system and child-care
workers throughout the Montgomery County region who need to continue
to work while pursuing their degree, explains the Program’s Director, Nancy
Wiltz.
With evening, weekend and on-line classes available, “We’re trying to be as
creative as we can to help out our students,” says Wiltz.
At USG, this part-time professional education program prepares students to act
as advocates for young children—from birth through eight years of age—and
create and facilitate developmentally appropriate environments and material for
them.
Green Parking Garage?
Yes, It’s Possible At The Universities At
Shady Grove
It may sound like an oxymoron, but the first new parking
garage at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) features an
environmentally friendly design in keeping with a campus-wide
philosophy that supports thoughtful stewardship of the earth.
The six-level garage, which opened in August of this year, adds
600 parking spaces to the campus and is located at the corner
of Darnestown Road and Traville Gateway Drive.
“It was only natural that when we had to build a garage
because of increased enrollment, we did it as green as possible,”
explains Jessica Nardi, USG’s Sustainability Coordinator.
The garage includes designated prime parking spaces for
hybrid, carpool vehicles and bicycles, to promote fuel-efficient
transportation. It was also built with recycled materials and
incorporates LED lighting with daylight sensors to reduce
power requirements. A white concrete top deck and solar
shading over the windows in the elevator tower reduce heat
buildup. The elevator uses more pulleys than the typical
structure, and requires less energy to operate. In addition, a
rainwater capture system collects water to irrigate the newly
planted green spaces and surrounding landscaping.
One of the most interesting features, says Nardi, are the large
symbolic icons cut out of recycled metal placed on every level
3
continued on back
301-738-6000

4
News & Notes - Fall 2009
USG Students Get A Jump-Start On Success:
For many incoming transfer students at The Universities at Shady
Grove (USG), facing new academically rigorous challenges
in upper level courses can be daunting. USG now offers several
innovative programs to ease the transition and help pave the way to
a successful academic future.
On the day before this year’s fall classes began, a
group of new University of Maryland Baltimore
County (UMBC) students participated in USG’s
first Student Success Conference. Initiated as a
community service project by Robert Dietzen,
a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow at UMBC, the
conference was organized in conjunction with
USG’s Center for Academic Success. Titled,
“Jump-Start,” it included workshops on time
management strategies, textbook reading and
note-taking techniques. It also included a session
on what students could expect in the classroom
and a panel discussion with other USG students
who shared their own experiences on campus.
As a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow who is currently
studying for a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education
at UMBC, Dietzen was placed at USG to complete
the service component of his fellowship. Dietzen, 32,
returned to the Baltimore region after two years as a Peace Corps
volunteer in Albania, where he taught English as a second language.
In the fall of 2008, he decided to look at the experiences of transfer
students at USG and conducted a series of surveys to assess their
needs.
The objective, Dietzen explains, is for students to better utilize
the many resources open to them at USG. With the Center for
Garage, continued
of the garage, each one representing a different environmental
theme. Depicting earth, water, green construction, recycling,
energy and solar power, the accompanying text explains the
importance of these elements to the campus. “Since we are a
higher education facility and believe strongly in sustainability,
we wanted to provide more information and make it
academic,” she explains.
Employing Montgomery County-based companies, the garage
was designed by DNC Architects of Rockville and built by
Coakley-Williams Construction of Gaithersburg. Mindful of
the importance of environmental leadership on campus, this
new green structure is an appropriate partner with the adjacent
Camille Kendall Academic Center, the largest green higher
education building with LEED Gold certification in the state
of Maryland.
Learning How Best To Learn
Robert Dietzen, working
hard to ensure student
success at USG
Meet with program directors
to learn more about the right
degree program for your
career and education goals.
60+ High Demand
Upper-level Undergraduate
and Graduate Degree
Programs
Nine Universities,
One Convenient Campus
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9636 Gudelsky Drive
Rockville, MD 20850
www.shadygrove.umd.edu
or 301.738.6000
The Universities At Shady Grove www.shadygrove.umd.edu
Academic Success already on the campus, the goal is to connect
incoming students with the appropriate help available to them and
overcome their hesitancy to seek help.
With the success of the conference in mind, Marsha Youngblood,
Ph.D., Associate Director of the Center for Academic
Success, is looking to expand summer programming
for other incoming students. “Some students find
it hard to find time during the school year to
participate in workshops,” Dr. Youngblood says.
For Professor Tom Stanton, Ph.D., Program
Director of the University of
Maryland, College Park Biological Sciences
Program at USG, providing a new class to ensure
student success was vital. This semester, UMCP
is offering a one-credit supplemental study course
titled “Strategies for Success in Chemistry and Life
Sciences,” uniquely geared for first semester students
at the Shady Grove campus. Meeting for an hour a
week, students in the class participate in customized
workshops on accelerated learning strategies
conducted by staff from the Center for Academic Success.
Further into the semester, Dr. Stanton works with the
students to help them develop critical thinking and
problem-solving skills to deal with complex material.
“The class is a wonderful model – Tom Stanton’s leadership in this
has been really invaluable,” says Isabell Cserno, Ph.D., CAS
Coordinator, adding, “We go to school for years and years, but
many of us never learn how to learn. This kind of help can make all
the difference in being a successful student.”
Take Charge of Your Future
Please join us for an
OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, October 24, 2009 | 9 am - 12 pm
Save time — pre-register for the Open House by going to
www.shadygrove.umd.edu/pre-registration
301-738-6000