Caret plans bus tour to highlight University's contributions to state

President Robert Caret is planning a four-day, 500-mile bus tour next week to visit alumni start-ups, business incubators and UMass research centers to highlight 150 years of the University’s academic excellence and economic contributions since the signing of the Morrill Land Grant Act.
 
Starting in western Massachusetts on Oct. 1, Caret will visit the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke, the Marine Research Station in Gloucester, the Cranberry Station in East Wareham and UMass Dartmouth’s MBA program at Cape Cod Community College.

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.

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