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Thank You for an Exceptional Semester
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June 27, 2011
Dear Faculty and Staff,
This past semester has been one of the best and most productive in the history of the institution. We have accomplished great things in the past, but spring 2011 was something very special.
• We announced a successful UMass Amherst Community College Connection program, which facilitates the transition for graduates of community colleges into UMass Amherst. This program was lauded by the Governor, the Secretary of Education, and the Commissioner for Higher Education, and received extensive and positive coverage in statewide media.
• We received union approval (with over 60 percent faculty support) for a program of salary increases based on market and merit considerations. This program will increase our competitiveness in recruiting and retaining the very best faculty.
• We partnered with the Boston Globe in a successful forum on the state of the Massachusetts economy.
• We completed a transition from FCS to FBS football, something that had been desired for many years and that was the result of complicated and detailed negotiations on the part of the campus.
• We admitted and recruited the largest and most accomplished class in our history, one in which the SAT scores are nearly 50 points higher than the class matriculating just five years ago.
• We shattered our five-year totals for cash gifts in fundraising.
• We finalized plans for an Innovation Institute, which will assist us in the future to garner private industry grants and help us conclude more public-private partnerships.
• We broke ground on a six-building living-learning complex for Commonwealth Honors College and developed a program for the first academic classroom building to be built in several decades.
• We completed work on the new police station and the new George N. Parks Minuteman Marching Band Building.
• We finalized plans for an expanded and improved new student orientation, which will occur in the fall of 2011.
• We were included in the USA Today top-20 list of schools committed to community service.
This list is only partial, of course, but it gives a good sense of how much we have accomplished and how rapidly the campus is rising to the prominence it deserves.
These achievements could not have occurred without the contributions from many parts of the campus. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your role in making UMass Amherst a great place to teach, learn and work.
With the July 4th holiday shortly upon us, summer is officially underway and I hope you all find time to relax with family and friends in the coming months.
Robert C. Holub
Chancellor
