2016–2017 Presidential Distinguished Staff Award, Professional Staff

Beth_Wells-0403Beth Wells, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Beth Wells joined UMBC in 2000. Her work demonstrates a deep ethic of care for the UMBC community, and she has advanced many of the university’s initiatives through her diligence, ingenuity, and creativity.

In her role in the provost’s office, she manages projects on the academic, university, and system levels. Shortly after joining UMBC, Wells was tasked with supervising the nomination processes for the UMBC presidential staff awards and the USM Board of Regents’ staff awards. Her attention to detail and ability to streamline the nomination process has led to a significant increase in the competitiveness and quality of the awards program. Most notably, her work on the Regents’ staff awards over the past decade has resulted in the recognition of UMBC staff in 30 percent of all awards issued. Under her supervision, the annual awards have become a symbol of the academic and institutional excellence of the UMBC community.

Her mastery of challenging and ever-changing regulations governing new academic programs managed by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) has helped faculty define programs and draft proposals that meet the standards of approval by MHEC. In particular, her vast knowledge of the nuances surrounding the regulatory process led to the recent approval of UMBC’s Master of Arts in Texts, Technologies, and Literature.

Wells has served on the Professional Staff Senate for 12 years and has been essential in advancing university policies and support for professional staff. This includes her work as chair of the Personnel Review Committee and her continued involvement in the mentoring program. As a charter member, she helped establish the UMB-UMBC Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society chapter, where she has served as a member of the executive committee.

Wells received a B.A. from UMBC and an M.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park.