The Classroom Committee ensures that UMBC’s teaching facilities meet the needs of our students and instructors. This committee reports to the Provost and is principally concerned with provost-controlled and registrar-scheduled classrooms, including lecture halls.
The Classroom Committee is comprised of two distinct committees: a Core Committee, which focuses on teaching facilities and meets monthly or as needed during the academic year, and an Advisory Committee which helps consider broader infrastructure needs, teaching goals, and scheduling practices. The Advisory Committee meets once a semester or as needed.
Charge
The Classroom Committee is charged by the Provost to:
- Assess the demands for instructional space, including the number and size of classrooms, available technology, and the distribution of classroom types across the campus, and make recommendations for future classroom needs, including flexible spaces that accommodate activities such as testing.
- Ensure that the university’s teaching spaces are accessible to all, promoting inclusion and success.
- Ensure that decisions and plans are shared throughout the campus.
- Collect data, assess alternatives, and develop budgets that allow the Provost to make decisions regarding teaching facilities.
- Review upcoming planned infrastructure and technology improvements that may affect the campus teaching space inventory.
- Conduct post-renovation assessment.
Committee Membership List
| 2025-26 Classroom Committee Membership |
| Core Committee | ||
| Name | Position or designee | Represents |
| Peggy Re, Chair | Associate Provost for Academic Affairs | Office of The Provost |
| John Zahor | Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management | Facilities Management |
| Andrew Mundroff | Director, Planning | Facilities Management |
| Maja Tokic | Campus Planning | Facilities Management |
| Drema Wentz | Associate Registrar, Enrollment Services | Office of the Registrar |
| David Toothe | Director, Desktop & Audio-Visual Services | Division of Information Technology |
| Stephanie Lazarus | Accessibility Manager & ADA Coordinator | Office of Student Disability Services |
| Lili Cui | Full-Time Faculty Member | Faculty |
| Jamie Gurganus | Faculty Alternate | Faculty |
| Nancy Kusmaul | Faculty Senate President | Faculty Senate |
| Advisory Committee | ||
| Name | Position or designee | Represents |
| Peggy Re | Associate Provost for Academic Affairs | Office of The Provost |
| John Zahor | Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management | Facilities Management |
| Andrew Mundroff | Director, Planning | Facilities Management |
| Maja Tokic | Campus Planning | Facilities Management |
| Drema Wentz | Registrar | Office of the Registrar |
| David Toothe | Director, Desktop & Audio-Visual Services | Division of Information Technology |
| Steven Anderson | Desktop & Audio-Visual Services | Division of Information Technology |
| Andrew Beshet | Desktop & Audio-Visual Services | Division of Information Technology |
| Stephanie Lazarus | Accessibility Manager & ADA Coordinator | Office of Student Disability Services |
| Nancy Kusmaul | Full-time Faculty | Faculty Senate President |
| Lili Cui | Full-time Faculty | CNMS, Physics |
| Maria Sanchez | Full-time Faculty | CoEIT, ECEP |
| Robin Majeski | Full-time Faculty | ESAS |
| Dena Aufeeser | Full-time Faculty | CAHSS, GES |
| Susanne Sutton | Full-time Faculty | CAHSS, MLLI |
| Ashley Prowell | Full-time Faculty | SOWK |
| Chul Hyun Park | Full-time Faculty | CAHSS, Public Policy |
| Patricia Young | Full-time Faculty | CAHSS, Education |
| Jamie Gurganus | Full-time Faculty, Faculty Sen. Designee | Faculty Senate Senators |
| Ahmet Kaan Aydin | Grad Student | GSA |
| Shakira Scott-Harris | Undergrad Student | SGA |
| Pam Hawley | University Registrar | Office of the Registrar |
| Tim Olivella | Coordinator of Operations | Academic Transition Programs/UAA |
| Jeff Halverson | Associate Dean, Graduate School | Graduate School |
| Rob Williams | Assistant Director, Decision Support | IRADS |
| Kerrie Kephart | Director, Faculty Development Center | Faculty Development Center |
| John Fritz | Associate VP, Instructional Technology | Instructional Technology & New Media |
| Tim Lynch | Director, Summer and Winter Programs | Division of Professional Studies |
| Cael Mulcahy | Sr Building Manager CAHSS | CAHSS, Building Manager |
| Dennis Cuddy | Sr Building Manager CNMS | CNMS, Building Manager |
| Amy Heckhaus | Sr Building Manager CoEIT | CoEIT, Building Manager |
| Terisa White | Academic Affairs, Administrative Support | Academic Affairs/Office of The Provost |
Communication
The Classroom Committee will prepare and post meeting minutes on its Blackboard site. The committee will also proactively communicate to key constituents regarding renovations and upgrades that affect teaching space capacity, technology, or availability, and the campus community via:
- The Office of the Registrar,
- Senior Building Managers/Facility Representatives for each college,
- Scheduling Coordinators
- The Deans of each college and school, and
- The Classroom Committee webpage.
Contact Information
Please send questions or agenda items for the classroom committee to the committee chair, Peggy Re, associate provost for academic affairs.
Classroom Inventory
The inventory of classroom spaces on campus varies from year to year, as classrooms are taken offline for upgrades or converted to other uses. For the Fall of 2025, the campus will have 114 classrooms with 6,019 student stations. By the Spring semester of 2026, the campus classroom inventory will increase to 120 classrooms upon completion of Phase I of the Sherman Hall renovation.
Of our current (Fall 2025) inventory of classrooms, 78 are general-purpose classrooms controlled by the Provost and scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. An additional 5 classrooms are under Academic Affairs, but dedicated to the English Language Institute and the Honors College. Colleges or Academic Departments currently manage and privately schedule an additional 31 classrooms.
The Provost-controlled classrooms include:
- 54 presentation style classrooms, including 9 lecture halls. Presentation classrooms typically feature students sitting in rows, facing a screen, a board, and an instructor.
- 4 conversation style classrooms. These are classrooms typically configured to support a directed or open dialogue among participants, typically around a table.
- 10 team-based classrooms. Configured for group dynamics, with the instructor typically circulating among the various teams rather than remaining static at a teaching station.
- 10 versatile classrooms. Outfitted with flexible furniture and technology able to serve as a presentation, conversation, or team-based classroom.
In the Spring of 2025, these 78 classrooms (excluding ENG 027) were scheduled for 1,734 hours of instruction, or an average time utilization rate of 50%.
Classroom Furniture
Student seating arrangements vary depending on the classroom type. Presentation-style classrooms typically have fixed seating in lecture halls, and either tablet-arm chairs or shared rectangular tables with loose chairs. Conversation-style classrooms normally feature chairs arranged around a large table. Team-based rooms typically feature rolling chairs arranged around round tables, enabling teams of 3-6 students to collaborate effectively. Versatile rooms typically feature rolling chairs with integrated tablets that allow for alternative configurations, depending on the teaching style.
Classroom Attributes and Moveable Equipment
Most Provost-controlled classrooms have these room characteristics or attributes:
- Lighting controls that allow for stepped levels of dimming
- A minimum of six linear feet of writing surface. Newly renovated classrooms are being equipped with glass marker boards, but older classrooms still have standard whiteboards and chalkboards. Chalkboards are being phased out due to potential allergic reactions and because chalk dust can interfere with electronic systems.
- If the classroom has windows, typically, room-darkening shades are provided.
- Larger classrooms and all lecture halls are equipped with a speaker podium and a document camera.
- Acoustic ceilings and, when appropriate, carpet on the floors. Though many classrooms have resilient flooring, which is more maintainable.
Classroom Technology
DoIT maintains and upgrades classroom technology, including screens, monitors, projectors, document cameras, microphones, speakers, and other equipment. These are regularly checked, serviced, and upgraded.
All classrooms are Smart Enabled to support a range of pedagogical styles. The instructor can connect a range of digital sources to a projector or wall monitor within the
room to share media and enhance the lecture or discussion. Typically, this is done through a wired connection, such as an HDMI cable, at a teaching station or podium, with or without a built-in computer. Additional equipment may be available in the room, including a document camera, microphones, and speakers.
In addition to smart-enabled classrooms, UMBC also offers these types of audio-visual
support in select classrooms:
- Dynamic Collaboration Enabled classroom with technology designed and purpose-built to support small-group instruction, team-based learning, and collaboration. Dynamic collaboration rooms facilitate collaboration by allowing users to display multiple sources simultaneously. Wireless presentation technology enables instructors to present content from anywhere in the room, providing greater freedom of movement throughout the class.
Student teams can display content from multiple sources, either wired or wireless, to multiple monitors controlled at the instructor station. This technology is found in room types with team or versatile seating.
- Lecture Capture technology is designed and purpose-built to support asynchronous (recorded) and synchronous online instruction streaming. These rooms are equipped with a camera and microphone array to cover the instructor’s presentation area, which includes the instructor station, display, and writable surface areas. Remote participants only receive the instructor’s audio and video. As of 2023, a strategic decision was made to add lecture capture technology to all new and renovated instructional spaces.
- Hyflex Classrooms are designed and purpose-built to facilitate synchronous hybrid in-class and online attendance of courses. These rooms feature multiple cameras and microphone arrays to capture both the instructor and the class.
Remote participants receive both the instructor’s audio and video, as well as the class audio and video, and can interact with the in-class instructor and students. Hyflex classrooms feature rear and front-facing cameras and microphones to capture both the instructor and the class.