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The University of Massachusetts is the
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
university system A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, a medical school in Worcester and a law school in Dartmouth), a
satellite campus A satellite campus, branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or country, ...
in Springfield and 25 smaller campuses throughout
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
with the University of Massachusetts Global. The system enrolled 73,593 students in fall 2023. The University of Massachusetts system is governed by a president and a 22-member board of trustees. The system administration is in Boston and Shrewsbury. Each of the institutions in the system is
accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...
.


Administration


Board of trustees

The University of Massachusetts is governed by a board of trustees that functions as a legislative body dealing mainly with questions of policy. 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. In certain rare instances when required by the Massachusetts General Laws, it may function as an appeal body. The founding board had fourteen appointed members and four ''
ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''List of Latin phrases (E)#ex officio, ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the off ...
'' 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 non-voting members.


Presidents

The president is the university's chief executive officer and works to advance its mission of education, research and public service.
Marty Meehan Martin Thomas Meehan (born December 30, 1956) is an American academic administrator, politician, and attorney. Since July 2015, Meehan has served as the President of the University of Massachusetts after serving as Chancellor of the Universi ...
became the 27th president of the five-campus, 73,000-student University of Massachusetts system on July 1, 2015. Before the 1962 establishment of the medical school, the president was the administrator of the system's only campus in Amherst. When UMass Boston was organized in 1964, it was headed by a chancellor who reported to the president. In 1970, as part of a reorganization, day-to-day leadership responsibilities for UMass Amherst were transferred to a chancellor, with both chancellors reporting on an equal basis to the president. Today, the president administers five campuses.


Campuses

The
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
is the largest school in the UMass system. It was also the first one established, dating back to 1863, when it was founded as the Massachusetts Agricultural College. The
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School The UMass Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It consists of three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biom ...
was founded in 1962, and is located in
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
. The
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
, originally established in 1964, was merged with
Boston State College Boston State College was a normal school from 1852 to 1872 and a public university from 1872 to 1982 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was merged into the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1982. History Boston State College's roots ...
in 1982. In 1991, the University of Lowell and Southeastern Massachusetts University joined the system as the
University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of M ...
and
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a Public university, public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly "Southeas ...
, respectively.


University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst is the flagship and the largest of the UMass campuses, as well as the first established. Like many colleges and universities, the Massachusetts Agricultural College (as it was originally called) in Amherst was founded as a
land-grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, or a beneficiary ...
in 1863, receiving initial start-up funding as part of the
Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally owned land, often obtained from Native American tribes through treaty, cessi ...
. It became "Massachusetts State College" in 1931, and "University of Massachusetts" in 1947. The library system is the largest state-supported library system in New England with over 6.1 million items. Students participate in 240 campus organizations, 21 NCAA Division I athletic teams, living-learning residence halls, community service, internships, and faculty research. Massachusetts is also part of the Five Colleges consortium, with Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst colleges, all within a free bus ride of each other using the
Pioneer Valley Transit Authority The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) oversees and coordinates public transportation in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, offering fixed-route bus service, paratransit service, and senior van service. PVTA was created by Chapter ...
. Students can take classes on any of these campuses and participate in all co-curricular and cultural activities.


University of Massachusetts Boston

UMass Boston is a research university located in the City of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Located on the
Columbia Point Columbia Point is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The thirteener is located east by south ( bearing 102°) of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Colora ...
peninsula, the university is surrounded by the
Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...
, the John F. Kennedy Library and the Massachusetts State Archives. ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' is also headquartered adjacent to campus, as well as
Boston College High School Boston College High School (also known as BC High) is an all-male, Society of Jesus, Jesuit, Catholic Church, Catholic College-preparatory school, college-preparatory day school in the Columbia Point, Boston, Columbia Point neighborhood of Dorche ...
. Subsequently, the university holds many partnerships with its neighboring organizations, providing research and employment opportunities. UMass Boston enrolls more than 12,000 undergraduates and nearly 4,000 graduate students, making it the third largest campus in the system. The university has five undergraduate colleges and two graduate colleges, with over 100 undergraduate programs and 50 graduate programs. The campus is also home to more than 100 student organizations—including clubs, literary magazines, newspaper, radio station, art gallery, and 16 NCAA Division III sports teams.


University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Located in southeastern Massachusetts, UMass Dartmouth started in 1895 as the New Bedford Textile School, the
Bradford Durfee Textile School The Bradford Durfee College of Technology was a college located in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1895 as the Bradford Durfee Textile School. It was then incorporated in 1899 and opened in 1904. The school was named after Bradford ...
, and later Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU). In addition to the UMass Dartmouth main campus is, satellite campuses are located throughout the South Coast. The university has nearly 8,000 students and 65 degree programs in its College of Arts & Sciences; Charlton College of Business; College of Engineering; College of Nursing; College of Visual and Performing Arts; School of Education, Public Policy, and Civic Engagement; and the School for Marine Science and Technology. The university hosts internships, undergraduate research opportunities, and service learning experiences, as well as an Honors Program. The university has more than 100 student organizations and 25 NCAA Division III athletic teams. The buildings of the campus were designed by internationally renowned Modernist architect Paul Rudolph. The
University of Massachusetts School of Law The University of Massachusetts School of Law (UMass Law) is a public law school in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The only public law school in Massachusetts, it is the successor to Southern New England School of Law, a private law school that dona ...
was opened in September 2010 three miles from the Dartmouth campus.


Lowell

UMass Lowell is the product of a 1971 merger between Lowell State College (founded in 1894 as Lowell Normal School) and
Lowell Technological Institute The Lowell Technological Institute was a public college located in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1895 as the Lowell Textile School. Its campus is now part of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. History Beginnings P ...
(founded in 1895 as the Lowell Textile School). The merged institution became the University of Lowell, with the former Lowell Tech serving as the North Campus and the former Lowell State serving as the South Campus. UMass Lowell is located in the
Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those ...
. It had a total of 18,316 students as of fall 2017 and is the fastest growing of the five UMass campuses. The campus offers over 120 programs taught by 737 faculty members in five colleges. There are 12 residence halls on the campus. There are more than 120 active student organizations on campus, a campus recreation center, 16 NCAA Division I sports teams that compete in the
America East Conference The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...
, and the ice hockey team that competes in the Hockey East Conference.


Chan Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Worcester, also known as UMass Chan Medical School or UMass Medical School is one of the fastest growing academic health science centers in the country and is home to the School of Medicine (SOM) — the Commonwealth's only public medical school — the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN), and a research enterprise that attracts more than $200 million in external funding annually. Its campus is shared with clinical partner UMass Memorial Health Care, the region's largest employer. The work of UMass Chan Medical researcher and 2006
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winner
Craig Mello Craig Cameron Mello (born October 18, 1960) is an American biologist and professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine ...
, an investigator of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute, toward the discovery of RNA interference has launched a promising new field of research. The school is also the home of the Albert Sherman Center, an interdisciplinary, research and education facility that fosters collaboration among scientists and innovation across disciplines.


School of Law

The
University of Massachusetts School of Law The University of Massachusetts School of Law (UMass Law) is a public law school in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The only public law school in Massachusetts, it is the successor to Southern New England School of Law, a private law school that dona ...
also known as the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth Law School, UMass Law School or UMass Law is located near the main campus of UMass Dartmouth in
North Dartmouth, Massachusetts Dartmouth (Massachusett: ) is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts to be settled by Europeans in 1652, primarily English. Dartmouth is part of New Englan ...
and is also a part of UMass Dartmouth. UMass Law was established in 1981 as the Southeastern Massachusetts-Rhode Island-Avins Law School with a volunteer faculty and a handful of part-time students. It grew from a store-front operation, offering a weekend program of study in
Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...
to a dual-division law school located in its own state-of-the-art facility in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. In 1986 the Southeastern Massachusetts-Rhode Island-Avins Law School became the Southern New England School of Law (SNESL). In 1992 the first full-time program at SNESL was established along with SNESL's first day classes. In 1994 SNESL moved to its new current site at 333 Faunce Corner Road in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. In 1995 SNESL was Accredited by
New England Association of Schools and Colleges The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC ) is an American educational organization that accredits private and public secondary schools (high schools and technical/career institutions), primarily in New England. It also ...
. In 2009 University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees approves UMass Dartmouth plan to offer
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
(JD) degrees at SNESL. In 2010 the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education authorized UMass Dartmouth to offer JD degrees along with the establishment of the University of Massachusetts School of Law - Dartmouth (UMass Law). UMass Law was made possible by a $23 million donation of assets, a facility, land, library, technology, and cash from the Southern New England School of Law. In 2010 at the time of the donation from SNESL, SNESL had 1,200 alumni, 200 students, 13 full-time faculty members, and 24 adjunct faculty. Also in 2010 the first UMass Law class matriculates. In 2011 UMass Law confers their first JD degrees. In 2012 UMass Law was granted provisional approval by Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
with full accreditation being granted four years later.


UMass Amherst Center at Springfield

On August 8, 2013, the University of Massachusetts started requesting proposals for potential classroom and office space to establish a satellite center in Springfield. UMass was looking for 25,000 square feet of space that it would use for classrooms, faculty offices and other uses, with the option of doubling the amount of space at a later date. On November 23, 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick and University of Massachusetts President Robert L. Caret announced the selection of Tower Square in downtown Springfield as the university's new satellite center. The university would lease 27,321 square feet on the second floor of the 30-floor building, which is owned by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. and located at 1500 Main St. UMass planned to establish academic programs at the center starting in the fall 2014. In 2014, the state of Massachusetts gave $5.2 million to the Springfield satellite center to allow the university to complete construction and buy furnishings. . The satellite center, administered by the Amherst campus, opened in March 2014, registering students for September 2014. Programs include nursing, education, business administration, addiction counseling, and GED classes. Enrollment in the more than 20 courses offered at the center has grown from 250 students in the fall of 2014 when it opened to 850 in the spring of 2016, according to Daniel Montagna, director of operations at the center. The institution offers a cybersecurity certificate program funded in 2017 by a $5 million investment by MassMutual.


Global

In September 2021, Brandman University reaffiliated with the University of Massachusetts from
Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...
via a change of control agreement and rebranded as UMass Global.


Research


Collaborations

The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center is a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
of the University of Massachusetts system,
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
,
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
, and Northeastern to build a shared
high-performance computing High-performance computing (HPC) is the use of supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Overview HPC integrates systems administration (including network and security knowledge) and parallel programming into ...
facility."High-tech computing center on track"
, Boston Globe, October 22, 2009
In 2010, UMass Boston partnered with Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center to collaborate on research aimed at addressing issues of cancer
health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequit ...
in disenfranchised populations under U54 Cancer Partnership.


Inter Campus Programs

University of Massachusetts Intercampus Graduate School of Marine Sciences and Technology is a graduate degree program offering
Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
,
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
and
Professional Science Master's Degree The Professional Science Master's degree (abbreviated as PSM or P.S.M.) is an interdisciplinary master's degree program which integrates advanced technical training with business and professional leadership skills. In contrast to traditional resea ...
. The graduates receive a joint degree from all four of the main UMass campuses.


See also

* Education in Massachusetts *
List of colleges and universities in Massachusetts There are 114 colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that are listed under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. These institutions include fourteen Carnegie Classification of Institutions of H ...
*
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) is a state agency of Massachusetts overseeing tertiary education. Its headquarters is in One Ashburton Place in Boston. Its Office of Student Financial Assistance is in Malden, Massachusetts, Malde ...


References


External links

* * . (Various documents related to University of Massachusetts System.) {{authority control 1964 establishments in Massachusetts Public university systems in the United States