Signs displaying the core values of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) are visible throughout the UMB campus, but with commitment-filled calendars and demanding deadlines, students, staff, and faculty may not have time to give the seven guiding principles much thought.
From left, Oksana Mishler, clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and vice president of the Faculty Senate, and Kristy Novak, assistant director of graduate clinical placements for the University of Maryland School of Nursing, student and academic services, and president of the Staff Senate.
How to bring UMB’s core values — accountability, civility, collaboration, diversity, excellence, knowledge, and leadership — into the forefront of day-to-day life at the University was the topic of the latest installment of this year’s President’s Symposium and White Paper Project, exploring actionable strategies for institutionalizing core values.
Speaking at the Oct.9 event at the SMC Campus Center, Kristy Novak, MS, assistant director of graduate clinical placements for the University of Maryland School of Nursing, student and academic services, and president of UMB’s Staff Senate, and Oksana Mishler, RDH, MS, clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and vice president of the Faculty Senate, shared how UMB successfully implements its core values.
“With how busy we are, either studying or working or teaching,” Novak said, “I doubt that we all often get the opportunity to actually reflect and think about how those core values are interwoven into the things that we do on a daily basis.”
The President’s Symposium and White Paper Project, a joint initiative of the President’s Office and the Office of Interprofessional Student Learning & Service Initiatives, engages faculty, staff, and students from all of UMB’s professional schools and academic programs in a yearlong conversation on a topic that is of interest and importance to the University and its community. This year’s topic: actionable strategies for institutionalizing the University’s core values.
“In all these core values, they’re here for a reason,” Mishler added. “They're not here just to be on campus for you to look and pass by all these core values. They’re actually a framework, and they guide our University initiatives.”
The core values also guide UMB’s hiring practices, enrollment processes, and curriculum development, Mishler said. “In all these core values, they shape our campus culture. And we have lots of University initiatives guided by our core values.”
Mishler provided several examples of where UMB’s core values are evident in various aspects of the University community, from the Diversity Advisory Council, which provides recommendations to President Jay A. Perman, MD, that promote the University’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, to the UMBrella Group (UMB Roundtable on Empowerment in Leadership and Leveraging Aspirations), which works to support the success of women at UMB, to the Community Engagement Center, which seeks to build collaborative relationships with its West Baltimore neighbors, hosting outreach programs and providing services.
The next installment of the President's Symposium: Core Values, will take place Nov. 4 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the SMC Campus Center. It will examine the differences and interconnectedness of core values, culture, and organizational climate.
For a recap of the Oct. 9 symposium, see the video below.