While the campus was quiet during the summer, the staff at Facilities and Campus Services shifted into high gear to address needed improvements in preparation for the fall semester, completing over 9,300 individual projects, from small general maintenance jobs to major improvements impacting accessibility, classroom technology and student wellness.

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As part of an ongoing collaboration with Residence Life, Moore and Pierpont were the latest dormitories to receive single use gender inclusive bathrooms, with similar work planned for Wheeler next summer. Lounges and activity areas were also updated in numerous residence halls, including modernized and expanded student experience spaces in John Quincy Adams. Other improvements to campus life and student wellness included new volleyball nets in the Northeast and Southwest Residence areas and upgrades to life safety systems in Washington.

Updates to numerous instructional spaces also took place, including a reconfiguration of the School of Behavioral Science’s multimedia classroom and staff spaces on the sixth floor of Thompson Hall. Twenty classrooms across campus were outfitted with FLEX AV technology, allowing remote learning students to be fully engaged in the classroom experience, and another eight classrooms received Echo360 systems to provide access to lectures on demand. The former Robsham Visitors Center was also converted to classroom and practice space for the music program’s percussion studio.

Providing safe access to campus buildings continues to be a major focus of the Facilities Management team, which made numerous improvements to the hardscape around campus, including fixing broken stairs, trip hazards and brick walkways around the Integrated Learning Center, Marston Hall and Lederle Graduate Research Center, and repairing concrete surfaces and hand railings in the Northeast Residence Area.

To reduce traffic backups during peak times, UMass Parking has also removed the gates from the Campus Center Parking Garage. Parkers now pay upon entry at one of the garage’s new paystations or via the same ParkMobile app already in use at most public lots on campus. The Parking Office’s customer service desk was also relocated from trailers in Lot 25 to the Whitmore Administration Building’s ground floor, while the Bursar and UCard offices now share a newly renovated space on the building’s second floor.

This summer also saw major progress on several large-scale building projects, including construction of the new Orchard Hill Pavilion, a multi-use outdoor space set to open later this fall.  Goodell Hall’s renovation is also nearing completion; by spring 2025, the building will house a number of offices tied to student success, including academic and career advising. A major portion of the new Computer Science Laboratories’ wood timber structure is now in place and progress on the building, which is set to open in 2025, can be tracked via the live webcam on YouTube.

Finally, as part of the ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, the Sustainability office announced the installation of 10 more EV charging stations for use by the university’s fleet, while the Utilities Electrical unit completed a new high voltage electric line to University Village to help increase the campus’ photovoltaic capacity.

For further information about ongoing and upcoming campus construction projects, visit the Facilities and Campus Services website.