The state House of Representatives approved a $34 billion fiscal 2014 state budget on April 24.
The measure, which passed 127-29, adds nearly $135 million to the spending plan proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee and includes $39 million in new funding for the UMass system.
Currently, the state provides 43 percent of the cost to educate a student with students providing 57 percent. The university has proposed, under the leadership of Caret, that funding to reach the 50-50 formula could be phased in over a two-year period given the state’s fiscal challenges.
The Innovation Challenge final business plan competition has awarded $55,250 to three competing teams. Fetch Rewards won the top prize of $30,000. VideoConversation won a total of $15,000 at the event while Crowd Solar received $10,000.
Thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends attended festivities marking Founders Day celebration on April 29 on the 150th anniversary of the signing of the campus charter. Among the highlights was the ceremonial cutting of a 150-pound birthday cake created in the shape of the iconic Old Chapel.
A team of Biology Department researchers is proposing a new investigative roadmap for the field of evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo devo,” to better understand how innovation at the genetic level can lead to ecological adaptations over time. Evo devo seeks to understand the specific genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary change.