Strategic Priority: Facilities Development and Operational Capacity

Develop multiuse, multidisciplinary, and multimodal campus facilities

Action Steps

1. Incorporate flexibility into new classroom design to accommodate maximum use across colleges and departments and flexible-use design into other workspaces (e.g., makerspaces, studio spaces).
    
2. Continue to invest in multimodal capable classrooms.
    
3. Identify opportunities to develop facilities attractive for use by industry partners (e.g., labs, training/classroom facilities, event spaces).

Measure: Multimodal course enrollments; Space use rates; Diversity of programs leveraging facilities
 

 

Define system, process, policy, and human resource integration with the Amherst campus

Action Steps

1. Extend UMass Amherst technology infrastructure and servers, applications, policies, and procedures in most cases while identifying areas where local control is required, and clearly articulate those areas to relevant business units.
    
2. Build a cross-functional facilities team as an extension of the Physical Plant to operate and maintain the Mount Ida Campus as well as other UMass Amherst sites in eastern Massachusetts.
    
3. Work with Chancellor’s and Provost’s offices to codify Mount Ida Campus Steering Committee appointments.
    
4. Ensure that the Mount Ida Campus is integrated in all financial systems and processes, including processes for request and appropriation of capital funding.
    
5. Integrate the Mount Ida Campus into the online student information system (SPIRE) to ensure that class registration, billing, and housing status is extended to the Mount Ida Campus and that Mount Ida Campus cohorts can be easily queried, tracked, managed, and modified.

Measure: Direct versus indirect costs
 

Develop a campus framework plan to support development and redevelopment opportunities

Action Steps

1. Complete a comprehensive Facilities Condition Index for the Mount Ida Campus that provides an understanding of both current/built for use and potential future use, including investment and code compliance needs to change use.
    
2. Organize all campus infrastructure and campus building data into a single, geospatial system for convenient access and update.
    
3. Create a campus plan that shows highest and best university use for developable property.
    
4. Create a prioritized list of capital projects for further study and possible implementation.
    
5. Prioritize environmental sustainability in all development and redevelopment projects.

Measure: New project initiation
 

Design and implement a transportation system that increases accessibility to Greater Boston and facilitates travel between Amherst and Newton

Action Steps

1. Explore the feasibility of transportation infrastructure improvements to reduce impact on nearby residential communities and increase access to neighboring Wells Avenue office park.
    
2. Support the establishment of a dedicated MBTA shuttle in partnership with the City of Newton and Wells Avenue office park tenants.
    
3. Research and implement a sustainable transportation model for resident student interns whose internships are not accessible via public transportation.
    
4. Research and implement an efficient, sustainable transportation solution to move students, faculty, and staff between Amherst and Newton.
    
5. Leverage faculty expertise and student projects within the Department of Transportation Engineering to provide transportation solutions for the campus.

Measure: Shuttle ridership; Transportation cost efficiency

 

Increase capacity for Mount Ida Campus conferences and events

Action Steps

1. Assess university interest and capacity for hosting large academic conferences on the Mount Ida Campus.
    
2. Conduct a needs assessment for conference center facilities, including meeting rooms, lodging options, and amenities.
    
3. Issue a request for information to assess market interest in a public-private partnership to develop a campus conference center.
    
4. Prioritize opportunities for students in the hospitality and tourism management program in conference capacity and facilities development.

Measure: Event attendance/net revenue

 

Grow the overall population of students utilizing the Mount Ida Campus

Action Steps

1. Work with University Relations to design and implement a cyclical internal marketing strategy to ensure student awareness of year-round Mount Ida Campus opportunities.
    
2. Work with the International Programs Office, Admissions, and other units to identify unique  opportunities for international students on the Mount Ida Campus, inclusive of break housing,  summer programs, and targeted “City Life” programs.
    
3. Work with University Without Walls to expand, support, and market pre-college summer programs and summer session programs on the Mount Ida Campus.
    
4. Work with the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences to create attractive conditions for students in the redesigned veterinary technology program (e.g., priority housing placement).

Measure: Total campus population; Residential student population

The plan aligns with and supports UMass Amherst’s broader strategic plan, “Be Revolutionary: A Vision for the Future 2018-2023.”