Strategic Priority: Innovation and Industry Collaboration : Mount Ida Campus : UMass Amherst

Action Steps

Identify shared need for centralized business development support services and work those functions into an existing or new job description on the Mount Ida Campus, incorporating functions from Advancement, Research and Engagement, and Career Services.*
Work with sibling UMass campuses to explore the development of a five-campus core facilities “welcome center” on the Mount Ida Campus, providing virtual exploration of cores available across all campuses.

Measure: New collaborations; New sponsored research; Philanthropy

*Function should also support Experiential Learning and Professional Development objectives

Action Steps

Survey industry, government, and nonprofit partners to identify challenges facing the Commonwealth.
Create integrated challenge teams of faculty, students, and industry collaborators.
Develop on-site project components on the Mount Ida Campus or at partner facilities.
Where feasible and appropriate, work with faculty to integrate challenge project elements into existing and planned curriculum.
Where feasible, provide incentives for students (e.g., course credit) and faculty (e.g., teaching load) to participate in or lead challenge projects.

Measure: No. of teams/projects initiated/completed; Sponsor and partner satisfaction

Action Steps

Stand up and/or continue to develop coworking, shared lab, and dedicated office spaces for diverse third-party tenants.
Prioritize student experiential learning opportunities in tenant leases and in all “innovation and collaboration space” operations.
Develop a program of networking events for on-campus companies, alumni, partners, and the venture capital community.
Establish a process to facilitate interactions between on-campus companies and UMass Amherst faculty and researchers, including mentorship opportunities.

Measure: No./diversity of tenants; No. of student/faculty tenant interactions; Tenant satisfaction; Lease renewal rate

Action Steps

Conduct market research to identify unmet need in Greater Boston for graduate programs that align with UMass Amherst offerings.
Coordinate with university deans, the Provost’s Office, and the Office of Human Resources to ensure the Mount Ida Campus becomes an optional location in faculty position postings when appropriate.
Develop a new faculty package that includes office and/or lab and/or makerspace on the Mount Ida Campus and access to multimodal teaching technology.
Establish a strategy, scope, and budget specific to Mount Ida Campus graduate program marketing.

Measure: No. of new faculty hires; MIC graduate student enrollment; Conversion rate of graduate students from non-degree to degree

Action Steps

Define the requirements, best practices, and standard procedures for instituting student-partner engagements that are for-credit (i.e., co-ops), non-credit (i.e., internships), or research-oriented.
Make this framework as universal as possible to facilitate the efficient implementation of experiential learning opportunities for any degree program that the university offers while allowing each entity within the university to tailor its offerings for domain-specific requirements.
Utilize the Mount Ida Campus as a location to offer professional training modules to provide “soft skills” training to regional industry partners and/or master’s and doctoral students.
Integrate “soft skills” workforce training with development of credential programs, development of “premier partner” relationships (see “Experiential Learning and Professional Development”), and other industry collaboration initiatives on the Mount Ida Campus.

Measure: No. of new programs; Program enrollment

Strategic Priority: Innovation and Industry Collaboration