University of Massachusetts

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University of Massachusetts
Established: 1863
Type: Public University
Endowment: $250 million
President: Jack M. Wilson
Staff: 14,000
Students: 60,000
Location: Amherst (Flagship Campus)
Boston
Dartmouth
Lowell
Worcester (Medical School), Massachusetts, USA
Nickname: UMass
Website: www.massachusetts.edu
UMassOnline
University of Massachusetts may refer to: UMass Amherst; Middlesex University

The University of Massachusetts (officially nicknamed UMass) is the five-campus public university system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The system includes UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth (affiliated with Cape Cod Community College), UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School. It also has an online school called UMassOnline.

Contents

[edit] Campuses

[edit] UMass Amherst

Main article: University of Massachusetts Amherst

UMass Amherst is the flagship and the largest of the UMass campuses. It was also the first campus established. Like many colleges and universities, Massachusetts Agricultural College (as it was called) the Amherst campus was founded as a land-grant college in 1863, receiving initial start-up funding as part of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. It is part of the Five College consortium in the Pioneer Valley region. It became Massachusetts State College in 1937, and University of Massachusetts in 1947. The state-supported library system is the largest in all of New England with over 5.8 million items. Umass is also known for its NCAA division I sports teams.

[edit] UMass Boston

Main article: University of Massachusetts Boston

On the Columbia Point peninsula of Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, UMass Boston is the youngest of the campuses, beginning in 1964. The school's mascot is the Beacon. UMass Boston holds several educational events throughout the year.

[edit] UMass Dartmouth

Main article: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Located in southeastern Massachusetts, UMass Dartmouth started in 1895 as the New Bedford Textile School and the Bradford Durfee Textile School.

[edit] UMass Lowell

Main article: University of Massachusetts Lowell

Located in the Merrimack Region, UMass Lowell started in 1894 as the Lowell Normal School and in 1895 as the Lowell Textile School.

[edit] UMass Medical

Main article: University of Massachusetts Medical School

Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, UMass Medical was founded in 1962 and is affiliated with the UMass Memorial Health Care system.

[edit] University President

From 1996 to 2003, the President of the University was William Bulger, president of the Massachusetts State Senate for seventeen years, and prominent and influential Democratic politician with roots in South Boston. Bulger became involved in court testimony about his notorious brother, Whitey Bulger. He was forced to resign after a sustained campaign for his ouster by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

The President of the University from the Fall of 2004 has been Jack M. Wilson, former CEO of UMassOnline and interim President of the University after the departure of William Bulger.[1]. For his work at UMassOnline, Mr. Wilson was inducted into the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame in October 2004.[2]

[edit] Board of Trustees

The University of Massachusetts is governed by a lay Board of Trustees. In an area as sensitive and important as higher education - involved in the search for truth and new knowledge, and charged with transmitting it - lay Trusteeship ensures that governance rests in the hands of the people and is free of arbitrary political interference and control from either inside or outside of the institution. As ordinary citizens, lay Trustees represent various interests in the public at large on a non-partisan basis and are best able to reflect back to the University the immediate concerns of the people of the Commonwealth whom the University is dedicated to serve.

The Board of Trustees functions as a legislative body dealing mainly with questions of policy. The Board is not an administrative or management board. In certain rare instances, when required by the Massachusetts General Laws, it may function as an appeal body. The Board establishes the general policies governing the University, but has delegated many powers to the President and, through the President, to campus administrators for day-to-day-operations. Appropriate University personnel are held strictly accountable by the Trustees for developing sound administrative policies.

[edit] Composition of the Board

The founding Board had fourteen appointed members and four ex officio members. Formerly, Trustees were appointed by the Legislature or the Board itself; currently, members are appointed by the Governor. The size of the Board has fluctuated between twelve and twenty-four members. The current Board is composed of nineteen voting members and three ex officio non-voting members. Seventeen Board members are appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth; at least five of those appointed must be alumni of the University and one must be a representative of organized labor. The other two voting members are students.

Overall, the board has five student members, elected for one-year terms, from the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell and Worcester campuses. Voting membership rotates among the campuses: two students are voting members and three others are ex officio non-voting members.

[edit] Current Board

Trustees Student Trustees
  • Robert J. Manning, Exp. 2011 (Chair)
  • James J. Karam, Exp. 2009 (Vice Chair)
  • John A. DiBiaggio, Exp. 2008
  • William T. O'Shea, Exp. 2008
  • Kerri Osterhaus-Houle, M.D., Exp. 2008
  • Matthew E. Carlin, Exp. 2009
  • Janet D. Pearl, M.D., Exp. 2009
  • Ruben J. King-Shaw, Jr., Exp. 2010
  • Lawrence F. Boyle, Esq., Exp. 2011
  • Jennifer C. Braceras, Esq., Exp. 2011
  • Richard J. Lawton, Esq., Exp. 2011
  • Kenneth A. MacAfee, II, D.M.D., Exp. 2011
  • Alda Rego Weathers, Exp. 2011
  • Stephen P. Tocco, Exp. 2011
  • Edward W. Collins, Jr., Exp. 2012
  • Philip W. Johnston, Exp. 2012
  • Henry M. Thomas, Exp. 2012
  • Anthony B. Beatrice, UMass Lowell (Non-Voting Student)
  • Tamara Endich, UMass Dartmouth (Non-Voting Student)
  • Aleksandar Kulenovic, UMass Boston (Non-Voting Student)
  • Bharath D. Nath, UMass Medical (Voting Student)
  • Ruth Thompson, UMass Amherst (Voting Student)

[edit] Notable alumni

Listed in alphabetical order
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Trivia

"U-Mass" is also the name of a song by the Pixies off their album Trompe le Monde. It was named after the university where band member Frank Black attended (but dropped out).

Before the UMass Amherst mascot was the Minutemen it was the Redmen. but because this name had the potential to offend Native American groups, the mascot was changed in the 1970s. The UMass Lowell mascot was changed from the Chiefs to the River Hawks (a fictional bird invented for the purpose) in the mid-1990s for the same reason.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Campus News (2004). UMass Lowell Magazine, Fall 2004, 13.] Retrieved February 15, 2005, http://www.umass.edu/senate/minutes623-wilson.pdf Address by Jack M. Wilson, Interim President, University of Massachusetts at the 63rd Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate on October 16, 2003.] Retrieved February 15, 2005
  2. ^ Wilson inducted into distance learning hall of fame (18 Oct 2004). In the Loop: News for Staff & Faculty. Retrieved February 15, 2005.

[edit] External links

Official sites:

Unofficial sites:


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