Welcome SAPH Students!
All SAPH students have an assigned advisor. Every semester around the 5th week of classes, you will receive an email with your advising assignment and a timeline for advising/registration for the upcoming semester. Faculty advisors should follow up with their instructions for how to best schedule an advising appointment. All of the SAPH advisors are listed below with their contact information.
Declared SOCY and ANTH students can check their advisor assignment in MyUMBC by selecting “Advising and Student Support” under the Guide section, then clicking on “My Advisor.”
Please contact your advisor by email or through their scheduling link to set up an appointment and follow his/her instructions for the appointment format. Contact information for assigned advisors is listed below by program
Changing to a SOCY, ANTH, or PBHL Major
Changing to SOCY/ANTH
Students interested in changing to a SOCY or ANTH major, should fill out the Declaration of Major form on the Registrar’s website, and submit it directly to the Registrar’s Office. Changes to SOCY/ANTH DO NOT require department approval.
- New SOCY students should contact Ms. Rose Ayala aayala4@umbc.edu for advising.
- To obtain an ANTH faculty advisor, email Ms. Sanford at dsanford@umbc.edu
Changing to PBHL
If you would like to change your major to PBHL, you must have a cumulative UMBC GPA of 2.5 or higher. Incoming new students to UMBC may declare PBHL at the point of transfer and may change to PBHL up to the first 2 weeks of class. After the first 2 weeks, students must wait until after their grades are posted to ensure that they meet the 2.5 GPA requirement.
To change to PBHL, students must fill out the major declaration form, located on the Registrar’s website and submit the form through the Registrar’s website. The form will be attached to an RT ticket. On the CC line, put Ms. Sanford’s email address. The form will be routed to Ms. Sanford for her review of your GPA.
Advanced Registration Advising
Students must meet with their advisor each semester during advanced registration (October/November and March/April) to review their progress toward fulfilling major and university requirements. Students are not able to register for classes until the advisor authorizes the student to register. SAPH department majors with another primary major are still strongly encouraged to meet each semester with their SOCY, ANTH, or PBHL advisor.
How to Sign Up for an Advanced Registration Advising Appointment
In the weeks prior to advanced registration your advisor will send an email with instructions for setting up an advising appointment.
Advisors use different scheduling platforms to schedule appointments, including Google Calendar, Acuity Scheduling and Email. If an Advisor lists a Scheduling Link, use that. If there are no appointments open, email the Advisor.
Special notes regarding Google Calendar:
- You must access your advisor’s calendar from your UMBC Gmail account. This allows us to identify your name and academic record in order to prepare for the advising session.
- If you need to cancel your appointment, please be sure to email your advisor directly – the Google system does not notify the faculty member if you need to cancel.
- Prior to setting up an appointment, make sure that your Google Calendar is set to Eastern Standard Time!
Department Advisors
Sociology Advisors
Ms. Rose Ayala, GA Advisor
aayala4@umbc.edu
PUP 250
Appointment Scheduling Link
Dr. Mercedez Dunn-Gallier, Assistant Professor
mdunn@umbc.edu
410-455-2079
PUP 233
Dr. Brandy Harris-Wallace, Associate Professor
bhwalla@umbc.edu
410-455-5815
PUP 229
Dr. Aubrey Jackson Soller, Associate Professor
On Sabbatical – no advising – Fall 2025
aubrey@umbc.edu
410-455-2059
PUP 214
Dr. Arielle Kuperberg, Associate Professor, Associate Chair
akuperbe@umbc.edu
410-455-3155
PUP 232
Dr. Christine Mair, Associate Professor
christine_mair@umbc.edu
410-455-8064
PUP 230
Dr. John Schumacher, Professor
jschuma@umbc.edu
410-455-3184
PUP 217
Dr. Dena Smith, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director
dtsmith@umbc.edu
410-455-2078
PUP 224
Dr. Brian Soller, Associate Professor, Undergraduate Program Director
On Sabbatical – no advising – Fall 2025
bsol@umbc.edu
410-455-8467
PUP 218
Dr. Takashi Yamashita, Professor
yamataka@umbc.edu
410-455-5938
PUP 216
Anthropology Advisors
Dr. Bambi Chapin, Associate Professor & Department Chair
bchapin@umbc.edu
410-455-2082
PUP 211
Dr. Sarah Chard, Professor
schard@umbc.edu
410-455-3380
PUP 213
Dr. Camee Maddox-Wingfield, Assistant Professor
cmaddox@umbc.edu
410-455-3817
PUP 212
Dr. Nick Welcome, Assistant Teaching Professor, Undergraduate Program Director
nwelcome@umbc.edu
410-455-1632
PUP 215
Public Health Advisors
All new students and change-of-majors should contact Ms. Sanford.
Ms. Rose Ayala, GA Advisor
aayala4@umbc.edu
PUP 250
Appointment Scheduling Link
Prof. Katie Birger, Associate Teaching Professor & Undergraduate Program Director
cbirge1@umbc.edu
410-455-2080
PUP 220
Appointment Scheduling Link
Dr. Jun Chu, Assistant Professor
jchu16@umbc.edu
PUP 223
Dr. Andrea Kalfoglou, Associate Professor
akalfogl@umbc.edu
410-455-2061
PUP 222
Appointment Scheduling Link
Dr. Sameera Nayak, Assistant Professor
snayak@umbc.edu
410-455-2087
PUP 219
Ms. Debbie Sanford, Coordinator of Advising
dsanford@umbc.edu
410-455-3711
PUP 221
Appointment Scheduling Link