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Umass Set To Expand Springfield Presence In 2014

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There had been talk for decades about bringing a campus of the University of Massachusetts to Springfield.  After a year of study by university officials, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced in late 2013 that a downtown Springfield office building would be the location for a UMass satellite center.

Shortly after Robert Caret became President of the University of Massachusetts System three years ago he was lobbied by Springfield political and business leaders to locate the  first-ever satellite campus in the downtown of the state’s third largest city. 

In the spring of 2013, Caret ordered a feasibility study, followed a few months later by a request for bids from would-be landlords, and finally in November the long anticipated announcement.

"UMass at Springfield is about to happen," said Caret.

UMass will open a satellite campus on the second floor of the 30-story Tower Square office complex on Main Street.  Classes will be offered beginning in the fall 2014 semester.  The course offerings, which will be drawn from all five UMass campuses, will focus on areas of study not currently available at the private colleges in Springfield.

UMass officials hope the satellite campus will increase the pipeline from the region’s community colleges of students who want a four-year degree but for financial or other reasons are unable to take classes at the flagship Amherst campus located 25 miles from Springfield.

Springfield city officials see the UMass satellite campus as a key part of an urban renewal strategy to revitalize the city’s struggling downtown.

Springfield’s chief development officer Kevin Kennedy said the downtown will benefit from the presence of college-aged people.

"It brings vitality, it really brings life and I think it is going to be a big shot in the arm for us."

Nick Fyntrilakis, who chairs the non-profit Develop Springfield, was among the city’s business leaders who applauded the UMass investment in downtown Springfield.

" We think is a tremendous oportunity to increase economic development in this part of the city and beyond."

Governor Patrick said UMass campuses have helped to grow the economies of both Worcester and Lowell.

"Having UMass pres ent in downtown is an enormous capstone, and an important one, on what the mayor and the rest of us have been trying to do to grow opportunity here in Springfield."

UMass officials have not determined how many staffers will work at the satellite campus and they would not speculate about how many students might enroll for classes

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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