“AI has the morality of a hammer,” an opinion piece by UMA Lecturer of Data Science and Machine Learning Rocko Graziano, was recently published in the . It explores the question is AI is capable of morality, or is it simply a reflection of the people who create and use it? Graziano challenges the idea that artificial intelligence can—or should—hold ethical responsibility, arguing that the real issue lies in human hands. As AI continues to shape everything from hiring practices to newsfeeds, its biases mirror our own. to explore why the future of AI isn’t about making machines moral—it’s about making better choices ourselves.

Anne Fensie, a lecturer in the UMA CIS and EDU programs, successfully defended her dissertation titled Faculty Beliefs about Adult Learner Memory and Associated Factors: An Exploratory Study on Wednesday December 4, 2024.

Anne is a doctoral candidate in the University of Maine Higher Education program and studies the applied science of adult learning in distance education.

Zach Rollins, a student in the Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems program, became the first UMA recipient of the Catch a Rising Star Award, which recognizes outstanding undergraduate students for their academic achievements, involvement and potential in the student affairs profession. The award includes a scholarship to support future academic and professional endeavors.

Benjamin Bucklin, a Student Services Coordinator in the UMA Office of Academic and Career Advising, a NASPA member, and leader of ±«˛Ń´ˇâ€™s Trail Blazer Workshop Series, received the Doris Michiko Ching Excellence in Student Affairs Award. This honor recognizes a midlevel student affairs professional for exceptional commitment to the field, including program development, creating a positive campus environment, and NASPA engagement.

±«˛Ń´ˇâ€™s Trail Blazer Workshop Series also earned the state Program of the Year award, which recognizes outstanding programs from Region I institutions. The Trail Blazer Workshop Series equips students with the understanding and skills needed to navigate the challenges of college and prepare for their career. Recent workshop topics include “Understanding Student Debt,” “Internship Search 101,” “Avoiding Burnout,” and “Finding the Right Career.”

Tessa Pyles, UMA Director of Academic and Career Advising said, “On behalf of UMA’s Office of Academic and Career Advising, I want to congratulate Ben and Zach! Those of us who work beside Ben every day are thrilled that he has received this recognition for his dedication to UMA’s students and their success.”

These honors reflect ±«˛Ń´ˇâ€™s strong commitment to student success, program excellence, and leadership development.

About NASPA
NASPA, a national organization for higher education professionals, is divided into eight regions, including Region I, which covers New England. Member institutions include Bates College, Bowdoin College, College of the Atlantic, Husson University, Maine Maritime Academy, Thomas College, Southern Maine Community College, University of Maine, University of Southern Maine, and Unity Environmental University. The NASPA Region I Conference, held annually in November, recognizes state and regional award winners, who are then considered for national honors.

Lecturer Anne Fensie and ATLaS PI & Director Sara Flowers recently presented at the 2024 annual conference for the Association of Educational Communications and Technology () to share their work in a scoping review of research on adult learners in distance education.

Additionally, they co-authored a chapter in Handbook for Research in Online Learning: Insights and Advances titled published by Brill which was released on October 10th.

The lesson tackles the critical topic of privacy by exploring identification concepts within databases and association rules within data mining and machine learning. In both contexts, an ethical issue is neglected: the securing of one’s right to privacy. The exercise exploits the notion of conditional functional dependency and the ability in an open data environment of connecting resources that were never meant to be connected. It also highlights the risk of proxy discrimination, where algorithms are trained using datasets which reflect and perpetuate past societal bias.

Their paper will be presented at the EngageCSEdu Technical Symposium in March.

Fensie, A., Pierre, T. St., Jain, J., & Sezen-Barrie, A. (2023). Engaged learning during distraction: A case study of successful working moms in distance education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-023-09359-0

Fensie, A. (2023). A conceptual model for meeting the needs of adult learners in distance education and e-learning. International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (iJAC), 16(2), 37–56. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijac.v16i2.35729

This opportunity is for students from any degree program with an interest in cybersecurity. The following conditions apply:

1. You must be or become a member to serve as an officer. (Students are responsible for membership fees);
2. You must be an active student during the Fall22 & Spr23 semester.

Upon form submission, a Cyber Chapter Faculty/Staff Advisor will reach out to you. Nominations end April 25th. Officer voting will begin on April 25th and will end May 2nd. Chapter Officers and new members will be announced on May 6th.

]]> /news/uma-general-scholarship-application-open-until-march-31-2022/ Tue, 15 Feb 2022 14:00:14 +0000 /?p=14020 … Read More]]> UMA General Scholarship Application Now Available!

The UMA 2022-2023 Scholarship application is open now with a deadline of March 31, 2022.

Applicants will be evaluated on academic achievement, leadership, and community and/or campus service.

Steps to Apply

1. Submit the online form available on the Scholarships webpage.
2. Attach resume and cover letter containing a personal statement as to why the applicant feels they should be considered for a scholarship.

Details

• Scholarships based on financial eligibility require the student to submit their by UMA’s preferred filing deadline of March 1, 2022.
• All Scholarships require a minimum academic cumulative grade point average of 2.0.
• Scholarship awardees will be notified no later than May 1, 2022.
• Students graduating in Summer 2022 or Fall 2022 are NOT eligible for these scholarships.

Questions?

Contact UMA Student Financial Services at umafa@maine.edu.

To enroll, contact Benjamin.Bucklin@maine.edu, UMA Advising Program Liaison for Cyber & CIS.