The president of the University of Massachusetts embarked Tuesday on what has become an annual cross-state bus tour to promote the five-campus system. The tour started in Springfield, which may soon be home to the first UMass satellite campus.
University of Massachusetts President Robert Caret said the university is moving to establish a satellite center in downtown Springfield. He expects key decisions to be reached in the next four weeks on a location, what programs will be offered and how it will all be paid for.
The state is still reviewing bids submitted earlier this summer by the owners of four buildings in downtown Springfield offering to lease space to UMass. Caret said he has invited the presidents of private universities located in Springfield to a meeting later this month. The private university presidents have said they’re concerned about competition from the state’s public university.
Caret discussed the development of a Springfield satellite campus at the first stop of a three-day bus tour that is scheduled to visit nine locations. The UMass president participated in a private discussion on the campus of Springfield Technical Community College and spoke later with reporters.
STCC President Ira Rubenzahl said about 400 students from STCC and Holyoke Community College transfer each year to UMass to complete their studies for a college degree.
Bill Ward, the president of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, also attended the meeting with Caret. He said a satellite campus in Springfield could increase the educational attainment levels of the local workforce which badly lags the state as a whole. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, just 17 percent of Springfield residents have a bachelor’s degree compared with 38 percent of all Massachusetts residents.
The idea of a satellite campus in Springfield was pitched to Caret on the first bus tour he took shortly after becoming UMass president three years ago. The first two bus trips were designed to be mostly listening tours. This third one is intended to demonstrate the impact UMass has on the state by highlighting initiatives with private-sector businesses.
The second stop of the tour was in Hadley, where State Street Bank runs an operations center that takes in about 100 interns a year from UMass Amherst who learn the nuts and bolts of international finance. Many of the interns are in a position when they graduate to get a job with the Boston-based financial services giant.
Caret said the partnership has been so successful that it will expand to a second location near Lowell
The bus tour is occurring as university officials lobby for an increase in state funding in next year's budget. UMass received a $49 million increase from the state this year that allowed Caret and the board of trustees to freeze student fees and tuition. University officials have pledged to do the same next year if there is a comparable increase in state funding.
UMass is also gearing up to launch its first system-wide fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $1 billion over the next seven years
