Office of the Chancellor

V. Components of the Multi-Year Plan
     B. Expenditures
          (1) Major Initiatives $7.0 M
              (h): Creation of Community - $ 0.6M

One of our ten principles for the design of the future University emphasizes attention to the ecology of the living-learning environment. A truly excellent University must not only provide distinctive teaching, research and outreach programs. It must also attend to the quality of life for students, faculty and staff. Because the UMass Amherst campus community is so diverse, the manner in which policies are made, decisions are reached and controversial issues are handled may be as important as the results themselves. Indeed, the University transmits values to students by the way it approaches policies, decisions and issues.

Co-curricular opportunities are an important part of a students University experience. Many out-of-class activities and programs enable students to connect what they have learned in the classroom with real life situations. Involvement helps students to develop life-long skills and brings a sense of belonging to the community. In responding to this dimension, representatives of the undergraduate Student Government Association, Registered Student Organizations, and the Graduate Student Senate have developed proposals for release of the Trust Funds, thereby enabling these funds to be used to enhance programming according to the needs of students. The undergraduate students propose funding by the University of various staff positions currently born by the Trust Fund; in particular, positions most directly connected with educational programs. The funds released will be used for more general program support under the guidance of a newly established Program Board. The Graduate Student Senate also proposes relief which will serve to make the University more caring, e.g., through a Child Care Voucher Program, and support for Commuter Services and the Housing Resources Center. Other initiatives may emerge from the study of the quality of life of students from other countries.

The Faculty Senate Council on the Status of Women included in its "New Agenda of Women for Higher Education" a recommendation that we develop an institution-wide concern for children and families. The administration has endorsed this recommendation. We have taken some important first steps in this direction, through the establishment of a Family Issues Committee and an ad hoc committee to investigate the feasibility of a sick child care facility. We must continue to develop an institutional concern for the lives of our employees and students--a concern that extends well beyond the workplace and the classroom.

The idea that the Commonwealth is our Campus should also be reflected in the orientation program for new faculty and staff coming to the Campus. At present we do very little to explain the distinctive role that this type of institution plays, and why it differs from Harvard, MIT, and Boston University, for example. The orientation might include visits to some of our outreach activities: to Mass Ventures, where we link the new ideas in science, engineering and technology to economic development in Western Massachusetts; to a K-12 outreach program in Springfield; to the Agricultural Experiment Station for the Cranberry Industry; to a meeting with legislators at various points in the Commonwealth; to our other four Campuses. A group will be assembled to explore this concept.

In the same spirit, there could be an annual UMass Festival, a celebration of the entire campus with discussions, debates, performances, laboratory displays that, in their sum, demonstrate the intellectual excitement and diversity of the Campus. Everyone in the University and in the surrounding communities could be a part of this celebration--students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, legislators, Trustees, citizens. A broadly constituted group will be assembled to explore this possibility.

To make the Campus more caring, greater attention needs to be focused on Faculty and Staff Development. We have established a Staff Development and Training Unit in the area of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. In the Provosts Office, the Associate Provost for Faculty Development provides parallel support for faculty, and for graduate students, through the Center for Teaching. Later in this Section we propose a reorganization of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity to become the Office of Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Human Relations, allowing greater attention to issues of human resources and development generally. Funding for initiatives in this important dimension of the University will be part of our Strategic Action.

David K. Scott was Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1993-2001. This is an archive of the Chancellor's Web site during his tenure.
V. Components of the Multi-Year Plan B. Expenditures (1) Major Initiatives $7.0 M (h): Creation of Community - $ 0.6M One of our ten principles for the design of the future University emphasizes attention to the ecology of the living-learning environment. A truly excellent University must not only provide distinctive teaching, research and outreach programs. It must also attend to the quality of life for students, faculty and staff. Because the UMass Amherst campus community is so diverse, the manner in which policies are made, decisions are reached and controversial issues are handled may be as important as the results themselves. Indeed, the University transmits values to students by the way it approaches policies, decisions and issues. Co-curricular opportunities are an important part of a students University experience. Many out-of-class activities and programs enable students to connect what they have learned in the classroom with real life situations. Involvement helps students to develop life-long skills and brings a sense of belonging to the community. In responding to this dimension, representatives of the undergraduate Student Government Association, Registered Student Organizations, and the Graduate Student Senate have developed proposals for release of the Trust Funds, thereby enabling these funds to be used to enhance programming according to the needs of students. The undergraduate students propose funding by the University of various staff positions currently born by the Trust Fund; in particular, positions most directly connected with educational programs. The funds released will be used for more general program support under the guidance of a newly established Program Board. The Graduate Student Senate also proposes relief which will serve to make the University more caring, e.g., through a Child Care Voucher Program, and support for Commuter Services and the Housing Resources Center. Other initiatives may emerge from the study of the quality of life of students from other countries. The Faculty Senate Council on the Status of Women included in its "New Agenda of Women for Higher Education" a recommendation that we develop an institution-wide concern for children and families. The administration has endorsed this recommendation. We have taken some important first steps in this direction, through the establishment of a Family Issues Committee and an ad hoc committee to investigate the feasibility of a sick child care facility. We must continue to develop an institutional concern for the lives of our employees and students--a concern that extends well beyond the workplace and the classroom. The idea that the Commonwealth is our Campus should also be reflected in the orientation program for new faculty and staff coming to the Campus. At present we do very little to explain the distinctive role that this type of institution plays, and why it differs from Harvard, MIT, and Boston University, for example. The orientation might include visits to some of our outreach activities: to Mass Ventures, where we link the new ideas in science, engineering and technology to economic development in Western Massachusetts; to a K-12 outreach program in Springfield; to the Agricultural Experiment Station for the Cranberry Industry; to a meeting with legislators at various points in the Commonwealth; to our other four Campuses. A group will be assembled to explore this concept. In the same spirit, there could be an annual UMass Festival, a celebration of the entire campus with discussions, debates, performances, laboratory displays that, in their sum, demonstrate the intellectual excitement and diversity of the Campus. Everyone in the University and in the surrounding communities could be a part of this celebration--students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, legislators, Trustees, citizens. A broadly constituted group will be assembled to explore this possibility. To make the Campus more caring, greater attention needs to be focused on Faculty and Staff Development. We have established a Staff Development and Training Unit in the area of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. In the Provosts Office, the Associate Provost for Faculty Development provides parallel support for faculty, and for graduate students, through the Center for Teaching. Later in this Section we propose a reorganization of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity to become the Office of Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Human Relations, allowing greater attention to issues of human resources and development generally. Funding for initiatives in this important dimension of the University will be part of our Strategic Action. Table of Contents Next \| Steps Toward the Land Grant-AAU University