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Action: Visit, write, or call your Massachusetts House
Member.

Deadline: April 6, 2001

• Background Information/ Plan of Action
  
• UMass FY2002 State Budget Request
  
• Alumni Counts by Representative District
  
• Key House Committee Membership
  
  
  

Background: In recent years, the state has provided substantial
budget increases to UMass. A predicted slowing economy and the state
income tax rollback may reduce state revenues for next year. If this
happens, legislators will be forced to make hard decisions about what
to fund and where to economize.

UMass has requested $538,028,563-an increase of $56.7 million
over last year-to support the five-campus system. [See the enclosed
budget briefing for talking points.]

Tell your legislators that a strong state university matters -- especially
in tough times.

• Visit your state legislators during "district office hours."
  Legislators schedule time to meet with constituents. Your
  Representative's State House staff can tell you when s/he holds
  office hours in your area. Make an appointment and explain why
  you care about UMass-and why your Representative should too.
  
  
• Remind your legislator that UMass graduates remain in
  Massachusetts. Nearly 80,000 alumni live, work, pay taxes, and
  vote in the state. Tell your Representative how many UMass alumni
  live in his/her district. [See enclosed list of UMass alumni counts by
  legislative district.]
  
  
• Write letters and make telephone calls. A quick phone call or
  a thoughtful letter tells your Representative that UMass is a
  priority. The State House switchboard is 617-722-2000.

To find out who your Representative is:

• Call your local town clerk. A list of town clerks is available at
  www.state.ma.us/ele/eleclk
  
• Call the Ambassadors Network at 800-772-6155.

To write to your MA State Representative:

The Honorable [First Name Last Name]
Massachusetts House of Representatives
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Representative [Last Name]:

UMASS FY 2002 STATE BUDGET REQUEST

Maintain & improve buildings and grounds.
UMass Amherst's top priority is to repair and update the aging
physical plant.

• Deferred maintenance needs exceed $400 million on the
  Amherst campus.
  
  
• Limited funding forces UMass to be "penny-wise but pound
  foolish." Delays mean small repairs become costly problems.
  For example, a $600,000 steam line repair was delayed because
  of lack of funding. As a result, the line failed-causing additional
  damage to the steam line and destroying an electrical manhole.
  The final repair bill: $2.3 million.

Provide merit & need-based financial aid.
Student financial aid keeps UMass accessible and attracts outstanding
students.

• UMass Amherst has increased its commitment to student aid
  from 5.1% of the annual operating budget in 1996 to 7.0% in
  2000-a total of $17.4 million.
  
  
• The University Scholars program-which awards annual
  scholarships of $8,000 to top-ranked students from high schools
  and community colleges in Massachusetts-is one component of
  this growth. More than 75% of University Scholars choose UMass
  Amherst. This program alone costs the campus $3.6 million
  annually.
  
  
• In 2000-2001, UMass distributed $4.5 million in institutional,
  need-based financial aid as part of financial aid packages to 4,400
  in-state students, meeting 89% of their need.

Leverage private gifts & research grants.
State investment in UMass leverages additional funding from diverse
sources.

• When matched with private gifts, the state's $10 million endowed
  professorship incentive program will leverage $23.3 million
  in University endowment funds and support the annual salaries of
  15 professors in perpetuity.
  
  
• Many research grants require preliminary results before funding
  faculty research. Seed money enables faculty to establish these
  results and secure additional revenue. In FY 2000, UMass Amherst
  secured over $70 million from the federal government, industry,
  non-profit, and other sources to support research and instructional
  activities.

Replace out-of-date technology.
Improved business technology will make UMass more efficient and
effective.

• The University's administrative computer systems are 20 years old.
  
  
• Updated administrative computer systems will better serve students
  and faculty.
  
  
• The Commonwealth provided special funding for the state's upgrade
  of its administration and human resources systems. The University
  is requesting a similar commitment.
  

The University of Massachusetts system requests an increase of $56
million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in FY 2002. This
increase will fund ongoing operations and critical initiatives. The
University's base budget for FY 2001 is $481,322,165.

UMass Operating Budget

*Summary of FY 2002 Requested Budget Increase

1. Mission Support                          $21,513,534

Mission support refers to the funding of ongoing operations,
including salary increases and inflation.

2. Critical Initiatives                     35,192,864

The University requests support for two critical initiatives in
FY 2002: (1) an aggressive effort to repair, maintain and improve
facilities and (2) a program to replace outdated computer systems.
See reverse for more detail.

Total UMass System Requested Increase
$ 56,706,398

Commonwealth College

Commonwealth College is the honors college of the University
of Massachusetts, located on the Amherst campus. Commonwealth
College is funded separately from the University of Massachusetts.

UMass Endowed Professorship Incentive Program

In FY 2001, the Commonwealth established a $10 million incentive
fund to support the University's private fundraising efforts. The
University is requesting an additional $10 million in FY 2002. See
reverse for more detail.

ALUMNI COUNTS BY REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT

(also available in a printable PDF version)
If you don't have Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™, you can download it now.

KEY HOUSE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

House Leadership is the majority [Democratic] party's leaders who
set the House agenda.

Minority Leadership is the minority [Republican] party's leaders.

House Ways and Means Committee considers all legislation
affecting the finances of the Commonwealth. Web address: http://www.state.ma.us/legis/comm/h34.htm