Testimonials

The awards and recognition, listed below, hint at the unique breadth and depth of our program.

Awards and Citations

  • Cited by the Massachusetts State Senate for Exemplary, Innovative, and Successful Worker Education Services
  • Cited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the English Works Campaign for Workplace English Offerings, presented by the Lieutenant Governor
  • Cited by the College and University Personnel Association for “Next Steps” Empowerment Offerings
  • Cited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Partnership Efforts
  • Cited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Effective Program Design

Recognition

  • By the Association of Joint Labor and Management Workplace Educational Programs for Attention to Issues of  Caste and Class
  • By the US Secretary of Labor for Worker Education Services
  • By the Regional Workforce Development Board for Recruitment Efforts
  • By Commonwealth Corporation for Older Worker Education and for Effective Pre-Apprenticeship Education
  • By The Stone Center for Innovative and Effective Teaching Techniques

Media Coverage

  • The New York Times for Innovative Education at the Workplace
  • The Washington Post for Efforts on Behalf of Early Childhood Educators
  • Archdiocese of Springfield Television for Commitment to Social Justice and Diversity
  • Promoted (via national down-link video) by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Effective Worker Involvement
  • More than 15 media articles about the program

 

What follows below are three sample testimonials, rotations from a larger pool.  

Francis Martin

Former President, AFSCME Local 1776

One thing this country has is hope; in other countries there is little hope.  LMWEP is our hope on the UMass campus.

Connie Nelson, Ed.D.

Former Director, Massachusetts Worker Education Roundtable

Our organization, the Massachusetts Worker Education Roundtable, is a network of worker education programs throughout the state. We are involved in brokering relationships and starting up learning programs at unionized workplaces.  In some areas of the state it is difficult for us to find good providers willing and able to go into workplaces and create innovative curricula that meets the specific needs of employers, unions and workers.  This has never been a problem in Western Massachusetts because the UMass Amherst Labor/Management Workplace Education Program  has years of experience in doing needs analyses, facilitating labor-management oversight teams, and developing curriculum contextualized to the workplace as well as offering outstanding instruction at a variety of workplaces in several industries.  As we move into a period where worker education and training is likely to expand, this rare skill set is more and more valuable and needed.  

Ellen Story

Former State Representative (Amherst)

The radio show is another way for lower-paid workers to feel that they are part of the University community.

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