Sen. Markey, Rep. McGovern to Visit UMass April 14 to Celebrate $2 Million in New Federal Investments for Key Campus Initiatives
MEDIA ADVISORY
DATE: Thursday, April 14, 2022
TIME: 3:30 p.m.
WHAT: Computer science, energy transition programs will support students, advance equity
WHERE: UMass Amherst, Old Chapel, first floor
UMass Amherst has received nearly $2 million in congressionally directed funding to support projects for the recently launched Energy Transition Institute and in the Manning College of Information and Computer Science. The funding, championed by Rep. Jim McGovern and Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, was included in the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden. Markey and McGovern will deliver remarks at the event and will be available for press interviews.
The Energy Transition Institute (ETI) received $995,000 to bolster three of its main objectives: to support community-engaged research to develop an equitable energy transition framework in Massachusetts’ gateway cities, to fund graduate and post-graduate energy transition research fellowships, and to support research and development of innovative low-cost methods for moving electricity distribution lines and broadband cables underground.
The Manning College of Information and Computer Science (CICS) is ranked in the Top 20 computer science programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report. CICS will use part of its $1 million earmark to fund scholarships to recruit women and underrepresented minority students to master’s and bachelor’s programs in computer science or infomatics, which will help achieve its ambitious goal of increasing female enrollment from 27% in 2019 to at least 40% by 2024.
University Without Walls: 50th anniversary event at 4 p.m.
Sen. Markey and Rep. McGovern will also attend the 50th anniversary of the University Without Walls program starting at 4 p.m. on the second floor of Old Chapel. The keynote address will be delivered by Kate Hogan ’88, UWW alumna and speaker pro tempore of the Massachusetts House of Representatives