Police launch Project Protect to help community safeguard valuables

Stolen or lost property can often be hard to trace because owners don’t record serial numbers or other identifying information, but a new initiative by the UMass Police Department’s Community Outreach Unit is making it easier for student and campus employees to register their valuables.
 
Through Project Protect, community members can register anything from bicycles and cell phones to electronics, computers and musical instruments in an online database that police can use to trace recovered items.
 
Hundreds of items are lost or stolen on campus annually, said UMPD officer Brian Kellogg.

Campus awarded $308,000 for life sciences research project focused on regional growth

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced Sept. 26 the approval of a $308,000 capital grant to support a research project titled  “Life Sciences Research & Innovation: Growth Strategy for UMass Amherst in the Massachusetts Bioeconomy.”

The project is a formal study of opportunities to catalyze life sciences and life sciences-related economic development in Western Massachusetts. The grant will:

• Enable UMass Amherst to increase the breadth and depth of industry collaborations;
• Enhance access of other stakeholders to assets at UMass Amherst and in the Pioneer Valley, such

State Street career development program creates jobs for 100 students

State Street Corporation has created a new career development program that creates skilled, part-time jobs for 100 UMass Amherst students who will be based in a new office in Hadley.
 
The students will join State Street in a part-time capacity beginning this fall with responsibility for performing select back-office functions and supporting business lines across the company. The new program is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors.
 
“We’re pleased to welcome these students from UMass Amherst to State Street and provide them with a unique opportunity to gain ‘real-world’ work experience in

Trustees approve $3.1 billion capital plan

A proposed five-year, $3.1 billion capital plan for the UMass system was approved Sept. 19 by the Board of Trustees at its meeting in Worcester.
 
The plan proposes spending $1.8 billion on new construction, $1 billion on deferred maintenance, with the rest earmarked for information technology upgrades, new equipment and other improvements. Of the $3.1 billion capital plan, $1.1 billion is slated for the Amherst campus.
 
The plan covers 249 projects, including 10 projects totaling $43.3 million new to this year’s capital plan.

Campus must continue to inspire public confidence, says Subbaswamy

In his first Faculty Convocation address, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy last week pledged to be a “tireless advocate and ambassador” for the campus and laid the groundwork for a strategic plan that will guide the campus forward.
 
Speaking at the Sept. 14 event in Bowker Auditorium, Subbaswamy praised the assembled faculty, clad in their colorful academic robes.
 
“You are the innovators and creators at our university and you are the sources of inspiration for our students,” said the chancellor. “Your passion, expertise and innovations are the fire at the core of UMass.”
 
While the campus is

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