University of Massachusetts Boston

The University of Massachusetts Boston
Established	1852 Boston State College 1964 UMass Boston
Type	Public
Chancellor	J. Keith Motley, Ph.D.
President	Jack M. Wilson
Provost	Winston Langley, Ph.D.
Academic staff	800-900
Students	15,400
Undergraduates	11,044
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, US
Campus	Urban, 175 acres (0.7 km²)
Colors	Blue     , and White
Nickname	UMass Boston
Mascot	The Beacon
Website	www.umb.edu

The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system.^[1] The university is located on 177 acres (0.72 km²) on Columbia Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Students are primarily from Massachusetts but also from other parts of the United States and from foreign countries.

UMass Boston is the only public university in the city of Boston.

[edit] History

The University of Massachusetts at Boston was established in 1964, when the state legislature voted to establish a new university campus in Boston. The official Founding Day Convocation and ceremony was held on December 10, 1966 in the Prudential Tower in Boston and inaugurated UMass Boston as an official institution of higher learning and formally installed the first Chancellor of the university, John W. Ryan.^[2] It is part of the Greater Boston Urban Education Collaborative,^[3] but over time was absorbed and merged with other schools, such as Boston State College, absorbed in 1982, and which dates back to 1852.

In 1974, it opened its location on the Columbia Point peninsula on Dorchester Bay. The university originally occupied five buildings: McCormack and Wheatley halls, the Science Center, Healey Library, and the Quinn Administration Building.

The original Harbor Campus buildings were said to have had sparse and very unattractive interiors, with odd mazes of hallways; the campus was known as "the fortress" or "the prison" colloquially.^[4] They were rumored to have been designed by architects who were primarily familiar with prisons, although, in point of fact, the library had been designed by the distinguished Chicago modernist architect, Harry Mohr Weese.^[5] At one point in his career, Weese had designed the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago.

The contracting of the construction of the new Harbor Campus had resulted in a huge scandal.^[6]

The Clark Athletic Center was added later, including an ice hockey arena, swimming pool, and basketball courts. It also hosted the first presidential debate between then Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore in 2000. The cancellation of two days of classes in order to create security for the debate resulted in a large protest by UMB students, faculty and staff members outside of the UMass President's office in downtown Boston.

In 2004 a new Campus Center was opened, designed by the Boston-based architectural firm of Kallmann McKinnell & Wood ^[7] and built by Suffolk Construction at a cost of $80 million. It houses offices, restaurants in a food court, event space, student clubs and activities. It also serves as the new entrance for the campus and was the first major building put up since the original Harbor Campus was built in the 1970s.

The original buildings fell into disrepair, and there are plans for replacement. Allegations of shoddy construction surfaced again in 2006 when the underground parking garage had to be closed because it had become structurally unsound. All parking is now outdoors, except for the Campus Center garage.

On June 2, 2006, Barack Obama addressed his commencement speech at UMass Boston to the graduating students. In his speech he talked about several things including his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.^[8]

In 2007, the university proposed a plan to change the nature of the campus from primarily a commuter campus with many parking lots for cars to a more residential campus with dormitory style living.^[9][10][11]

The current chancellor of the University, J. Keith Motley, is the first African-American chancellor in the university's history.

In 2009, the Bayside Expo Center property, close to the campus, was lost in a foreclosure on Corcoran-Jennison to a Florida-based real estate firm, LNR/CMAT, who bought it. Soon after, the University of Massachusetts Boston bought the property from them to build future campus facilities.^[12][13]

[edit] Timeline

(from UMass Boston website^[14])

• 1851 - Superintendent Nathan Bishop proposes a normal school to train teachers for the elementary grades.
• 1852 - Girls' High School conducts its first classes in the Adams School building on Mason St.
• 1854 - Girls' High is renamed Girls' High and Normal School.
• 1863 - Massachusetts Agricultural College (M.A.C) is founded in Amherst.
• 1870 - The school moves to new quarters on West Newton St.
• 1872 - Boston Normal School becomes a separate institution.
• 1876 - Boston Normal moves to the Rice School building on Dartmouth St.
• 1907 - Boston Normal moves to a specially built facility on Huntington Ave.
• 1922 - Boston Normal becomes the Teachers College of the City of Boston.
• 1931 - "M.A.C." became Massachusetts State College.
• 1947 - "M.A.C." became University of Massachusetts.
• 1952 - Teachers College becomes the State Teachers College at Boston.
• 1960 - Renamed State College at Boston at 100 Arlington St. in Park Square.
• 1964 - The University of Massachusetts Boston is established.
• 1968 - Renamed Boston State College.
• 1974 - First classes at UMass Boston's Harbor Campus.
• 1982 - Boston State joins UMass Boston.
• 2004 - New UMass Boston Campus Center opens

[edit] Campus

[edit] Transportation

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is located on Columbia Point next to UMass Boston.

UMass Boston is located off Interstate 93, and sits within walking distance of the JFK/UMass MBTA stop on the Red Line. Free shuttles run between the JFK station and campus. The MBTA also operates bus stops on campus.

[edit] Academics

The UMass Boston campus, viewed from Squantum Point Park in Quincy

The university confers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, and also operates certificate programs and a corporate, continuing, and distance learning program.

There are eight colleges at UMass Boston: the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Mathematics, College of Management, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Public and Community Service, College of Education and Human Development, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and Global Studies, and University College.

The university is a member of the Urban 13 universities, alongside schools like Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh.

[edit] Accreditation

UMass Boston is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Additionally, The College of Management is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and the College of Nursing and Health Services hold accreditation from the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. UMass Boston is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools and the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

[edit] Faculty

UMass Boston's faculty of over 900 consists of roughly half tenure-stream and half non-tenure track ("adjunct") professors. It includes Lloyd Schwartz, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism in 1994, Monet expert Paul Tucker, and gay historian William A. Percy.^[15] 96 percent of the Faculty hold the highest degree in their fields and there is a 14:1 student to faculty ratio.

The UMass Boston faculty and librarians are represented by the Faculty Staff Union. Over the past ten years, the FSU's aggressive bargaining accompanied by a number of protests has achieved benefits, livable salaries and job security for many of its non-tenure track members.

[edit] Administration

• J. Keith Motley, Ph.D., Chancellor
• Winston Langley, Ph.D., Provost
• Christopher Hogan, Chief of Staff to the Chancellor
• Ellen M. O'Connor, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance
• Charlie Titus, Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation, Special Programs and Projects
• Kathleen S. Teehan, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management
• Patrick K. Day, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
• Gina M. Cappello, Interim Vice Chancellor for University Advancement
• John Ciccarelli, Associate Vice Chancellor for Government Relations, Public Affairs and Economic Development
• Anne Scrivener Agee, Vice Provost for Information Technology
• Zong-Guo Xia, Vice Provost for Research and Strategic Initiatives
• DeWayne Lehman, Director of Communications

[edit] Athletics

Intercollegiate athletics, intramurals, and recreation for the students, staff, and faculty are the primary programs of the UMass Boston Department of Athletics. The department offers 18 varsity sports and is a member of the NCAA's Division III. UMass Boston has teams competing in the ECAC, the Little East Conference, and ECAC East Ice Hockey. The Beacons have been named All-Americans 93 times in seven sports. The Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field teams have won four NCAA Team Championships and 38 individual NCAA Championships.^[16] In the years 1999 through 2006 the National Consortium for Academics and Sports named the Department of Athletics at UMass Boston first in the country for community service. The department is also recognized as a leader in community service by NADIIIAA-Jostens Community Service.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Student activities

UMass Boston's independent, student run and financed newspaper is The Mass Media. Other student publications include the yearbook and Watermark literary magazine.

UMass Boston's undergraduates are represented by the Undergraduate Student Government, which consists of the Undergraduate Student Senate, the executive office of the USG President, and the office of the USG Chief Justice. UMass Boston's graduate students are represented by the Graduate Student Assembly. UMass Boston's graduate student employees (teaching assistants, research assistants, and administrative assistants) are represented by the Graduate Employee Organization/UAW Local 1596—UMass Boston Chapter.

The University was once recognized for its advocacy of human and civil rights. UMass Boston works to promote social justice around the world.^[17]

The University also has a large waterfront recreation program. The Division of Marine Operations operates the Universities waterfront which supports recreational and Environmental education programs. Full-Time Umass Boston students are offered free sailing lessons and boat rentals, paddleboards, kayaks and harbor cruises. Marine Operations recently developed the U-Sea Fund Grant for UMass Boston Faculty who are interested in developing a classroom component around our ocean environment

[edit] Notable alumni

• Cory Atkins, (B.S. 1979), member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 1999 - present)^[18]
• Daniel E. Bosley, (M.S. 1996), member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 1986 - present)
• Christine E. Canavan, (B.S. Nursing (summa cum laude) 1988), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1993 - present)^[19]
• Tim Costello (1945–2009), labor and anti-globalization advocate and author^[20]
• Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, (B.A. 1976), current President of Citizens Energy Corporation and former member of the US House of Representatives (served 1986-1999)
• Thomas Menino, (B.A. Community Planning, 1988). Mayor of the City of Boston
• Robert Travaglini, B.S. 1974. former President, Massachusetts State Senate
• Steve Sweeney, B.A. 1974, Comedian
• Panayiota Bertzikis, B.A. 2010, Humanitarian
• Charlie Peters, B.A. 2009, Boston Globe Sports Hawk/Correspondent/The Man
• Joseph Abboud, B.A. 1972, Fashion Designer
• Robert Haynes, (did not finish) President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO
• Janet Mills (1970), Attorney General for the state of Maine
• Paul Vogel, Pres., Mailing and Shipping, USPS
• Alton Brann, B.A. 1969, former Pres. and CEO of Litton Industries
• Debra Saunders, B.A. 1982, conservative columnist, San Francisco Chronicle
• William Bratton, B.A. 1975, former Police Chief of the New York City and Los Angeles Police Departments
• Paul Anastas, B.S. 1984, Regarded as the "Father of Green Chemistry"; EPA official
• Sally Kelly, B.A. 1973, Municipal Court Judge, Boston
• Dennis Lehane, (did not finish), Author
• Paul English, B.A. 1987, Co-founder and current CTO of Kayak.com
• Paul Evans, B.A. 1974, former Police Chief for the city of Boston
• John C. Warner, B.S. 1987, one of the founding fathers of Green Chemistry; founded first PhD program in Green Chemistry
• Lenny Clarke, (did not finish), comedian/actor
• Jeff Mead, 1994, Professional hockey player.

[edit] In popular culture

UMass Boston was frequently mentioned in Martin Scorsese's 2006 crime drama, The Departed. The exterior of the campus can also be viewed in a scene from the beginning of the film. A character says that the university is in South Boston, and Mark Wahlberg's character ridicules him for the obvious comment. However, this is a common error. UMass Boston is in Dorchester.

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (September 2009)

[edit] External links

	Boston portal
	University portal

• Official website