Women for UMass Amherst supports campus through new fund

Women for UMass Amherst (WFUM), a network of alumnae and friends of the campus who have made gifts to support the university, is boosting its impact through a new dedicated, collective fund that is providing awards to worthy projects.
 
Women become members of WFUM by donating to any area of campus, according to Stephanie Flaherty, senior associate director of Annual Giving in the Development Office.
 
“Through WFUM, we want to build a network of like-minded women who inspire and encourage other women to support the university through philanthropy,” she said.

Shulman's text analytic software purchased by Canada-based Vision Critical

After more than a decade in development, DiscoverText, a cloud-based text analytic software developed by faculty member Stuart Shulman, has been purchased by Vision Critical, a Vancouver-based provider of consumer insight technologies and services.
 
Vision Critical officials announced the deal with Shulman’s company, Texifter, LLC, on Jan. 22. According to Shulman, DiscoverText is based on the idea of sifting huge amounts of text, such as documents, tweets and e-mails, making it easier to locate, classify and segment information using various parameters.

NEPR campaign passes $5M mark, groundbreaking set for Springfield facility

With more than $5 million raised as part of the New England Public Radio Foundation's 50th anniversary capital campaign for WFCR, the station will break ground for its new downtown Springfield facility on Feb. 8.
 
Of the $5,282,500 raised to date, $3,990,000 has been designated for facilities, leaving $1.4 million to be raised to fully fund the Springfield building project.
 
CEO and general manager Martin Miller said, "We are thrilled with the success of our campaign so far, and that after much planning and hard work, construction is set to kick off.

Patrick proposes $478.7 million for UMass system in FY14

Gov. Deval L. Patrick this week proposed a $39 million increase for the University of Massachusetts system as part of his $34.8 billion fiscal 2014 state budget bill.
 
His proposal adds $14 million for the annualized cost of collective bargaining agreements and $25 million in new funds. The governor’s plan also folds $25.69 million allocated in this year’s budget for the first year of collective bargaining costs into the main appropriation for FY14.
 
Together, his plan reflects a 7.8 percent increase over the current system funding of $443.8 million that includes the funding for collective

Hampshire Dining Commons undergoing $15 million renovation

Hampshire Dining Commons in Southwest is closed this semester for a $15 million renovation, reports Chris Howland, purchasing and marketing manager for Auxiliary Enterprises. The building is expected to reopen in August.
 
Built in 1966, Hampshire Dining Commons is a two-story, 46,000-square-foot, concrete structure near the northwest corner of Southwest.
 
The revamped facility will feature an egg design with the preparation areas in the middle of the oval surrounded by the various serving areas. The design is intended to give the dining commons a more open feel, said Howland.
 
When open,

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