Coming Soon.
STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING A COMPETITIVE GRADUATE SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENT
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., Friday March 18th, 2025
Dr. Linda C. Macri
Director Academic and Professional Development, The Graduate School
University of Maryland, College Park
Linda Macri is the Director of Academic and Professional Development in the Graduate School and has directed the Graduate School Writing Center since 2014. From 2005-2013, she served as the director of the Academic Writing Program in the English Department. She earned a PhD in English Literature with a focus on rhetoric and composition at the University of Maryland and her undergraduate degree, also in English Literature, from Columbia University. She is a former co-chair of the Consortium on Graduate Communication. At the Graduate School, she offers a range of workshops for graduate students about effective academic communication.
MAKING THE JOURNEY ABOARD: OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES EDUCATION ABROAD STUDY
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., Friday March 18th, 2025
Coming Soon.
Co-Presenter: Ms. Asia King
Program Manager for Global Learning Abroad
Educational Abroad Program
University of Maryland, College Park.
Asia King is an international education enthusiast who has worked in global education for five years. She manages a portfolio of semester and short-term study abroad programs at the University of Maryland, particularly working with faculty and staff in BSOS, SPHL, EDUC, JOUR, IAP, and AAP. Asia also supports the Maryland-In-Barcelona and Maryland-In-Rome programs. Previously, she focused on subject matter areas both in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and International Student and Scholar Services. Asia completed her B.S. in Business Administration and her M.S. in Communication both from North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on improving international education with a DEI lens. She first began her journey as a global citizen through a summer intensive language program in Costa Rica. Since then, she has traveled to over twenty countries and enjoys connecting to cultures through food, music, and community. In her free time, Asia enjoys competing in Catan qualifiers, learning new languages, or listening to podcasts on personal finance.
Co-Presenter: Ms. Joy Gursky
Global Learning Advisor
Educational Abroad Program
University of Maryland, College Park
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Having studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal, and Paris, France as an undergraduate student, Joy Gursky is passionate about promoting cross-cultural understanding and empowering young people to learn from the global community. Joy has supported measures related to higher education in a number of ways, including personally raising over $50,000 for student resources through cold calling at her undergraduate institution, launching the first alumni engagement program at a community college, and helping to recruit over 1,000 students for study abroad programs at her alma mater. She arrived at the University of Maryland after two years of teaching English to middle schoolers on the outskirts of Paris, France. Joy is a first-generation college student and a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship alumna. She received her B.A. in global studies and French from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Although she misses living on the beach, she is excited to continue expanding access to global learning opportunities for all.
Funding Opportunities at the Maryland for McNair Scholars
4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m., Friday March 18th, 2025
Coming Soon.
Mr. Christopher Perez
Associate Director, Office of Graduate Diversity and Inclusion
University of Maryland, College Park.
Christopher Perez is a PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at University of Maryland. He has held positions in the Rawlings Undergraduate Leadership Fellows program in the School of Public Policy, as well as in the Colleges of Journalism and of Arts and Humanities. His research focuses on cases in which LGBTQ individuals have successfully petitioned for political asylum in the United States and media narratives that emerged from 1980-2000. Mr. Perez holds a master’s degree in American Studies from Penn State Harrisburg, and he is also a McNair Scholar from New Mexico State University where he earned two bachelor’s degrees in English and Women’s Studies.
Managing Stress for Success in College
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., Friday March 18th, 2025
Coming Soon.
Dr. Kimberly Bethea
Assistant Director, Counseling Center
Director, Learning Assistance Service
University of Maryland
Dr. Kimberly Bethea has a sincere passion for supporting students in their academic pursuits. Working as an educator for over twenty years, Dr. Bethea has served students at the middle school, high school, community college, and university levels. She currently works as the Assistant Director of the Counseling Center and Director of the Learning Assistance Service where her primary responsibility is providing programs and services that empower all UMD students to be successful in college and beyond.
Dr. Bethea is recognized as a Certified Learning Center Professional – Level 3 by the National College Learning Center Association and has been certified by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Throughout her career, she has made presentations at local, regional, and national conferences including the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Maryland Student Affairs Conference, and the National College Learning Center Association. She has also presented numerous workshops on learning and study strategies, metacognition, and mathematics learning and pedagogy.
Dr. Bethea earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Mathematics Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a Master of Science degree in Mathematics from Howard University in Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Jackson State University in Jackson, MS. Her professional interests include the transition from high school to college, college student success, professional development, and learning strategies.