Several organizational changes within Facilities and Campus Services were implemented March 24, according to associate vice chancellor Juanita Holler, who heads the unit. “These changes are the result of an organizational review that was conducted to identify efficiency and effectiveness improvements,” she said.
Under the plan, Alterations moved from Facilities Planning to the Physical Plant, consolidating two skilled labor groups under one umbrella. The move will result in enhanced oversight and scheduling of all maintenance and small project operations, said Holler.
Fleet Maintenance
The campus community is being asked by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to review and comment on a planning document developed by the Joint Task Force on Strategic Oversight (JTFSO) that “sets an agenda for the campus, and will guide subsequent institutional-level and departmental implementation plans.”
Just three months before the campus joins more than 750 other colleges and universities that have become tobacco-free, a public awareness campaign is being launched to inform students, employees and visitors about the new policy.
Careful readers of last week’s tributes to the late Nigerian author and literary titan Chinua Achebe may have noticed that he spent several years teaching at UMass Amherst in the 1970s and ’80s.
Although it’s known that construction of homes in suburban areas can have negative impacts on native plants and animals, a recent study led by ecologist Susannah Lerman suggests that well- managed residential development such as provided by homeowners associations (HOA) can in fact support native wildlife.