University of Massachusetts Boston

History

The University of Massachusetts Boston was established by vote of the state legislature in 1964. Freshman classes started for 1,227 undergraduate students in September 1965 at a renovated building in the Park Square area of downtown Boston. The Founding Day Convocation was held December 10, 1966, at the Prudential Center in Boston. John W. Ryan was installed as the university's first chancellor. UMass Boston is part of the Greater Boston Urban Education Collaborative, In 1982 it merged with Boston State College (est. 1852).

In 1974, it opened its new campus at the Columbia Point peninsula on Dorchester Bay. The university originally occupied five buildings: McCormack Hall, Wheatley Hall, the Science Center, Healey Library, and the Quinn Administration Building.

The original Harbor Campus buildings were said to have had sparse and unattractive interiors, with odd mazes of hallways; the campus was known as "the fortress" or "the prison" colloquially. They were rumored to have been designed by architects who were primarily familiar with prisons, although the library was designed by the Chicago modernist architect Harry Mohr Weese. At one point in his career, Weese designed the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago.

McKee-Berger-Mansueto, Inc. (MBM), the company contracted to supervise construction of the campus, came under fire after its contract with the Commonwealth was criticized in a series of newspaper articles for being abnormally favorable towards MBM. A special legislative committee was formed to investigative the contract. A scandal erupted after it was learned MBM paid State Senators Joseph DiCarlo and Ronald MacKenzie $40,000 in exchange for a favorable report from the committee. DiCarlo and MacKenzie were convicted of extortion.

The Clark Athletic Center, including an ice hockey arena, swimming pool, and basketball courts, was added later. It also hosted the first presidential debate between then Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore in 2000. The cancellation of two days of classes to create security for the debate resulted in a protest by UMass Boston students, faculty, and staff members at the UMass President's office in downtown Boston.

The original buildings fell into disrepair, and there are plans for replacement. Allegations of shoddy construction surfaced again in 2006 when the underground parking garage was closed because it had become structurally unsound. All parking is now outdoors, except for the Campus Center garage.

In 2004, a new Campus Center was opened, designed by the Boston-based architectural firm of Kallmann McKinnell & Wood and built by Suffolk Construction at a cost of $80 million. It houses offices, restaurants in a food court, event space, student clubs, and activities space. It also serves as the new entrance for the campus and was the first major building since the original Harbor Campus was built in the 1970s.

In January 2015, the university opened its first new academic building since the original campus was built, a research facility named the Integrated Sciences Complex. A second new academic building, University Hall, is expected to open in 2016, and the first residential halls on campus are in the planning stage.

On June 2, 2006, Barack Obama addressed his commencement speech at UMass Boston to the graduating students. Among other topics, he discussed his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.

In 2007, the university proposed a plan to change the campus from primarily a commuter campus with many parking lots for cars to a more residential campus with dormitory-style living.

Appointed on July 1, 2007, J. Keith Motley is the university's first African American chancellor.

In 2009, the nearby Bayside Expo Center property was lost in a foreclosure to a Florida-based real estate firm, LNR/CMAT. The University of Massachusetts Boston has acquired the property for future campus facilities.

In 2014 and 2015, UMass Boston celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and published its first history of the founding and growth of the university, entitled UMass Boston at 50.

In March 2017, former Bowdoin College president Barry Mills was appointed the university's deputy chancellor and chief operating officer. In this role, he will oversee the academic and research program and campus operations.

Timeline

(from UMass Boston website, note that this also contains the history of Boston State College)

Transportation and Parking

UMass Boston is located off Interstate 93 and within one mile of the JFK/UMass MBTA Station on the Red Line and the Old Colony Lines of the Commuter Rail. On weekdays, free shuttles run directly between the JFK/UMass station and the university's Campus Center, and alternative free shuttles (which run all week) follow a secondary route that makes intermediate stops at the Clark Athletic Center, the Massachusetts Archives, the JFK Presidential Library, and the university's Early Learning Center (although the Early Learning Center stop is skipped on weekends). The MBTA Bus Routes 8 and 16, from the Kenmore Square and Forest Hills train stations respectively, end at the university's Campus Center bus circle, and the MBTA program "The Ride" has drop-off locations at the university's Campus Center and the Clark Athletic Center. Parking lots located directly on campus include a garage below the Campus Center and parking lots adjacent to the Science Center (called the "Beacons Lot"), the Clark Athletic Center, and the Calf Pasture Pumping Station Complex ("Lot D"). The university also owns and operates satellite parking lots (one of which is located at the former Bayside Expo Center) that have free shuttle service on weekdays as well.

Campus Center

Construction for the current Campus Center began on July 20, 2001 and was opened on April 2, 2004. The Upper Level of the Campus Center adjoins the bus circle and contains a lobby with an information desk, the campus bookstore, the Campus Services Office, the Atrium Café, the Events Services Office, the Undergraduate Admissions Office and Transfer Student Center, the Ross Center for Disability Services, the Testing Services Center, the One Stop Service Center, the Recycling and Sustainability Office, and a student game room. The first floor of the Campus Center adjoins the campus plaza and houses the offices of the school’s Academic Support Programs, the University Advising Center, meeting rooms, a lounge, an indoor terrace, the school’s Food Court and Dining Area, the Career Services Office, and the Department of Undergraduate Studies Office. The second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk, and is where the Office of Global Programs, the Honors College and Colloquium Room, the Navitas Program, the campus kitchens, the Jumpstart Program, the Office for New Student Programs, the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement, the Office of Student Housing, the Office of Urban and Off-Campus Support Services (U-ACCESS), the University Dining Club, and Alumni Lounge are all located, along with additional meeting and conference rooms. The third floor contains the offices of the Student Arts and Events Council (SAEC), the Student Resource Centers, the student government offices, the offices of the student media publications, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership, and the Campus Center Ballroom along with additional lounges, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. The fourth floor contains the Enrollment Management offices, the Office for Merit-Based Scholarships, the Office of the Registrar, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Veterans Affairs office, Financial Aid Services, the Student Employment office, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Bursar's Office, along with an additional lounge and meeting room.

University Hall

Construction for the newest general academic building on the UMass Boston campus, University Hall, broke ground on February 27, 2013, and by May 2, 2014, steel construction was completed. On January 25, 2016, a phased opening began, and on October 17, 2016, an official ribbon cutting ceremony was held. The building cost $130 million to construct, was designed by the Boston-based Wilson Architects, and was constructed by the Gilbane Building Company. The building is adjacent to the Campus Center bus circle and is connected to the Campus Center by an enclosed, ground-level walkway. The Beacon Café is located on the building's second floor, and the building currently houses the administrative offices of the Performing Arts Department on its second floor, the Chemistry Department on its third floor, and the Art Department on its fourth floor.

Wheatley Hall

One of the original campus buildings, Wheatley Hall is named after Revolutionary War-era and first-published African-American female poet Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) of Boston. Its first floor adjoins the campus plaza, and houses the administrative offices of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and the CEHD Office of Student Services. Its second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk, and houses the administrative offices of the College of Advancing and Professional Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Science and Mathematics, along with the Center for Innovation and Excellence in eLearning. Its third floor is where the administrative offices of the Biology Department, the Gerontology Institute, the Boston Regional Office of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network, the Pension Action Center, the Venture Development Center, the HORIZON Center, and the Child Development Unit are all located. Its fourth floor contains the administrative offices of the Africana Studies Department and the Sociology Department, as well as the Boston Writing Project, the Center for Governance and Sustainability, the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring, the COSMIC (Center of Science and Mathematics in Context) office, the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance, Hispanic Writers Week, the Institute for Learning and Teaching, the Labor Resource Center, Project ALERTA, and the Talented and Gifted (TAG) Latino Program. Its fifth floor is where the administrative offices of the American Studies Department, the Economics Department, the Philosophy Department, the Political Science Department, and the Women's and Gender Studies Department, as well as the Center on Media and Society are all located. The sixth floor houses the administrative offices of the Applied Linguistics Department, the Communication Department, and the English Department, as well as the Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights.

Science Center

The Science Center is another of the original campus buildings. Its first floor adjoins the campus plaza, and contains the administrative offices of the Asian Studies Department and the School for the Environment, along with the Coastal Environmental Sensing Networks. Its second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk, and houses the College of Science and Mathematics Student Success Center office and the administrative offices of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Its third floor is where the administrative offices of the Computer Science Department, the Engineering Department, the Mathematics Department, and the Physics Department, along with the Center for Clinical Education and Research are all located. Its fourth floor contains the Biology Department greenhouses.

McCormack Hall

Named for the 45th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John William McCormack from Massachusetts (1962-1971), McCormack Hall is another of the original campus buildings. Its first floor adjoins the campus plaza, and contains the McCormack Express café, the Beacon Fitness Center, the administrative office of the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research, and the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration. Its second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk, and is where the Haitian Studies Association is located. Its third floor is where the administrative offices of the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, the Confucius Institute, the Commonwealth Compact, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Pre-Collegiate Programs office, the Sustainable Solutions Lab, and the Taylor Computer Labs are all located. Its fourth floor houses the administrative offices of the Anthropology Department, the Classics and Religious Studies Department, the College of Public and Community Service, the History Department, the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department, the Latino Studies Program, the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Department, and the Psychology Department. Its fifth floor is where the administrative offices of the College of Management, the Center for Collaborative Leadership, the Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness, and the Digital Media Lab are all located.

Healey Library

Another of the original campus buildings, the Healey Library is named after Joseph P. Healey, former chairman of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees (1969-1981). Its Lower Level contains the Instructional Technology Center, the AV Services and Classroom Technology office, and the studios and offices of WUMB Radio. Its Upper Level contains the Adaptive Computer Lab and the Green, Gold, Purple, Red, and Macintosh General Use Computer Labs. Its second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk and its entrance is adjacent to a staircase that adjoins the campus plaza, and is where the library's circulation desk and the Healey Library Café are both located, along with a general-use computer lab behind the café. Its third floor contains the College of Management's Bloomberg New Technology Lab, the Information Technology Service Desk, and the Blue and White General Use Computer Labs. Its fourth floor contains an additional computer lab, and is where the library's Curriculum Resource Collection, the Interlibrary Loan Department, Reference Services, Business, Acquisitions, and Technical Services, the Reserves Department, and the Office of the University Librarian are all located. Its fifth floor houses the University Archives and Special Collections and the Graduate Research Center. Its sixth floor is where the Spanish Resource Center and the Center for the Portuguese Language - Instituto Camões are both located. Its eighth floor contains an additional computer lab, and is where the Office for Faculty Development, the Math Resource Center, and the Subject Tutoring Program are all located. The tenth floor houses the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development, the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters, the Center for Social Development and Education, the Center for Social Policy, the Center for Survey Research, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management, the Institute for Asian American Studies, the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, the William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences, and the William Monroe Trotter Institute, and its eleventh floor houses the Urban Harbors Institute.

Quinn Administration Building

Named for university co-founder and former Board of Trustees chairman Robert H. Quinn, who also served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1967-1969) and as Massachusetts Attorney General (1969-1975), the Quinn Administration Building is another of the original campus buildings. Its Lower Level contains the university mail room and the university's print production center, Quinn Graphics. Its Upper Level contains the Quinn Café, the Environmental Health and Safety Office, and the GoKids Boston Youth Fitness and Training Center. Its first floor adjoins the campus plaza, as well as a catwalk connected to the Integrated Sciences Complex, and houses the Graduate Admissions office, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Strategic Initiatives, and the Office of Public Safety. Its second floor adjoins the main campus catwalk, and is where the Office of Institutional Research and Policy Studies, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Office of Transportation Services, and the University Health Services are all located. Its third floor houses the Controller’s Office, the Division of Government Relations and Public Affairs (which includes the Office of Communications, the Office of Community Partnerships, the Office of Community Relations, and Creative Services), the administrative offices of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, the Office of Budget and Financial Planning, the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Human Resources, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of University Events and Ceremonies.

Service and Supplies Building

The last of the original campus buildings, the Service and Supplies Building can be accessed through the Quinn Administration Building. The Upper Level houses the main office of the Division of Marine Operations and the Facilities Department.

Integrated Sciences Complex

Construction for the first new academic building on the UMass Boston campus since 1974, the Integrated Sciences Complex (ISC), broke ground on June 8, 2011, and by February 16, 2012, steel construction was completed. The facility officially opened for classes in the Spring 2015 semester, and on April 1, 2015, an official ribbon cutting ceremony was held. The building cost $182 million to construct, was designed by the Boston-based architectural firm Goody Clancy, was constructed by Walsh Brothers, and the construction was managed by the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management. The construction was funded by the UMass Building Authority, Mass Development, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Higher Education Bond Bill signed by Governor Deval Patrick on August 7, 2008. The ISC is connected to the Quinn Administration Building by a catwalk on the ISC's second floor and Quinn's first floor. Its first floor contains the Sandbox Lab, Physics Department laboratories, and the ISC Café. Its second floor contains Biology Department teaching laboratories and School for the Environment offices and laboratories. Its third floor contains Chemistry Department laboratories and additional Biology Department laboratories. Its fourth floor houses the UMass Boston Baby Lab, the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy (a collaborative venture with the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center), the Human Vision Laboratory, and additional Psychology Department laboratories. Its fifth floor houses the Animal Resources Core Facility, the Lab of Neuroepigenetics and Genomics, the Park Neuroendocrinology Laboratory, and additional Biology and Psychology Department laboratories.

Clark Athletic Center and Monan Park

Construction for the Catherine Forbes Clark Athletic Center broke ground in 1978 and was completed in 1979. The first floor of the Clark Athletic Center has an entrance that adjoins the campus plaza and a shuttle stop outside its Lower Level that connects to University Drive North. The building has a strength and conditioning center, and on its Lower Level, a swimming pool, an ice rink and hockey arena, and a gymnasium, and the latter three have open recreation hours on weekdays. The outdoor softball field is currently the only outdoor facility at the Clark Athletic Center; Boston College High School's James Cotter Field is serving as the temporary facility of the university's soccer and lacrosse programs and is the practice facility of the university's track and field programs. Boston College High School's tennis courts also serve as the home of the university's men's and women's tennis programs. Across University Drive West from the Clark Athletic Center, construction for a new baseball field, J. Donald Monan, SJ Park, broke ground on June 11, 2015 and was scheduled to be completed by December 1 of that year. The construction was supported by a $2 million gift from the Yawkey Foundation and was built with the exact dimensions of Fenway Park. The facility serves as the joint home of the UMass Boston Beacons and the Boston College High School baseball teams. The Beacons baseball team practiced at Monan Park for the first time on February 1, 2016, and on March 7, 2016, beat the MIT Engineers in the stadium's first-ever game. UMass Boston and Boston College High School held a dedication for the park on May 6, 2016.

Boston HarborWalk and Division of Marine Operations Facilities

The Boston HarborWalk follows the Boston Harbor shoreline that surrounds the UMass Boston campus. On the southern shoreline of the campus, across the HarborWalk and in between Wheatley and McCormack Halls, are the Fox Point Landing facilities of the UMass Boston Division of Marine Operations. The facilities include a dock, pavilion, and storage facility. On the northern shoreline of the campus and adjacent to the JFK Presidential Library is the John T. Fallon State Pier, which is also operated by the Division of Marine Operations. On July 17, 2015, an 800-foot segment of the HarborWalk between the JFK Presidential Library and the Harbor Point Apartments on Mount Vernon Street was opened, and features a paved walkway, benches, lighting, gathering spaces, and an artwork display area. Construction for the walkway took place between 2014 and 2015, cost $4 million, and required adding stone along the shoreline to stabilize it. Much of the stone was blocks of granite unearthed by the Big Dig and was donated by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. From August 29 to August 30, 2016, the UMass Boston segment of the HarborWalk was closed from Morrissey Boulevard to the Massachusetts Archives to install new utility lines near the Fox Point Dock. From December 1 to December 16, 2016, the UMass Boston segment of the HarborWalk closed for pavement repairs and construction of a new boat dock landing platform at Fox Point that is expected to open in the spring of 2017.

Off-Site Locations

UMass Boston's Institute for New England Native American Studies and Institute for Community Inclusion (UMass Boston's joint program with Boston Children's Hospital that is part of the national Association of University Centers on Disabilities) have their main offices on the fourth floor of the Bayside Office Center at 150 Mount Vernon Street, which is adjacent to the former Bayside Expo Center and down the street from the main campus. UMass Boston's Early Learning Center that is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children is located at 2 Harbor Point Boulevard in the Harbor Point Apartments complex adjacent to the campus. UMass Boston's Biology Department and School for the Environment also have a field station on Nantucket.

Future Campus Development

On December 7, 2009, a 25-Year Master Plan was published, outlining future campus development and construction projects, which included the construction of the Integrated Sciences Complex and University Hall, as well as the improvements to the Boston HarborWalk. Future projects include:

Academics

The university confers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, and also operates certificate programs and a corporate, continuing, and distance learning program.

There are eleven schools and colleges at UMass Boston: the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Mathematics, School for the Environment, College of Management, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Public and Community Service, College of Education and Human Development, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and Global Studies, School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, Honors College, and College of Advancing and Professional Studies (CAPS) .

The university is a member of the Urban 13 universities, alongside schools like Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh.

According to the UMass Boston Office of Institutional Research and Policy Studies, in the 2015-2016 academic year, the five most popular majors at the university were Management, Biology, Psychology, Exercise and Health Sciences, and Nursing. Within the College of Liberal Arts, the five most popular majors were Psychology, Criminal Justice, Economics, Communication Studies, and English. Within the College of Science and Mathematics, the five most popular majors were Biology, Computer Science, Information Technology, Biochemistry, and Environmental Sciences. Within the College of Management, the five most popular concentrations were No Concentration, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and Leadership and Organizational Change. The five most popular minors at the university were Psychology, Sociology, Biology, Criminal Justice, and Economics.

Institutes and centers

The following free-standing institutes and centers are administered by the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Accreditation

UMass Boston is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Additionally, the College of Management is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and the College of Nursing and Health Services hold accreditation from the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. The Family Therapy Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Marital and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). UMass Boston is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools and the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

Faculty

UMass Boston's faculty of more than 1000 consists of roughly half tenure-track and half non-tenure-track professors. It includes poets Lloyd Schwartz (who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1994), Patrick Barron, and Jill McDonough, translator and Slavic philologist Diana Lewis Burgin, linguist Donaldo Macedo, author Padraig O'Malley, feminist scholar Carol Cohn, economists Julie A. Nelson and Randy Albelda, philosopher Lynne Tirrell, political scientists Leila Farsakh and Thomas Ferguson, psychologist Sharon Lamb, computer scientist Patrick O'Neil, Monet expert Paul Tucker, and physicist Benjamin Mollow, discoverer of the Mollow triplet. Ninety-six percent of the faculty hold the highest degree in their fields. The student-teacher ratio is 14:1. Former faculty members include biblical scholar Richard A. Horsley, chemist John Warner, feminist writer Beverly Smith, historians Edward Berkowitz, James Green, Peter Linebaugh, William Andrew Moffett, Mark Peattie, and James Turner, literary scholar Carlo L. Golino (who served as the university's chancellor from 1973 to 1978), mathematicians Amir Aczel, Victor S. Miller, and Robert Thomas Seeley, neurologist M. V. Padma Srivastava, novelists Jaime Clarke, Elizabeth Searle, and Melanie Rae Thon, philosopher Jane Roland Martin, poets Martha Collins and Sabra Loomis, political scientists Jalal Alamgir and Kent John Chabotar, clinical psychologist David Lisak, social psychologist Melanie Joy, and sociologists Benjamin Bolger and Robert Dentler.

Athletics

Intercollegiate athletics, intramurals, and recreation for the students, staff, and faculty are the primary programs of the UMass Boston Department of Athletics. The department offers 18 varsity sports and is a member of the NCAA's Division III. UMass Boston, known by their nickname: the Beacons, has teams competing in the ECAC, the Little East Conference, and ECAC East Ice Hockey. The Beacons have been named All-Americans 93 times in seven sports. The women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams have won four NCAA team championships and 38 NCAA individual championships. In the years 1999 through 2006 the National Consortium for Academics and Sports named the Department of Athletics at UMass Boston first in the country for community service.

Student activities

UMass Boston's independent, student run and financed newspaper is The Mass Media. Other student publications include the yearbook, Watermark arts and literary magazine, and The Beacon monthly humor magazine. UMass Boston also owns and operates WUMB-FM (91.9), a 24-hour, public, noncommercial radio station that broadcasts folk music programs and produces the award-winning public and cultural affairs program, Commonwealth Journal.

UMass Boston's undergraduates are represented by the Undergraduate Student Government, which consists of the Undergraduate Student Senate, the executive office of the USG President, and the office of the USG Chief Justice. UMass Boston's graduate students are represented by the Graduate Student Assembly. UMass Boston's graduate student employees (teaching assistants, research assistants, and administrative assistants) are represented by the Graduate Employee Organization/UAW Local 1596—UMass Boston Chapter.

The university also has a large waterfront recreation program. The Division of Marine Operations operates the Universities waterfront which supports recreational and Environmental education programs. Full-Time Umass Boston students are offered free sailing lessons and boat rentals, paddleboards, kayaks and harbor cruises. Marine Operations recently developed the U-Sea Fund Grant for UMass Boston Faculty who are interested in developing a classroom component around our ocean environment. Starting Summer 2011 Marine Operations will work in conjunction with B&G, Boating in Boston, to offer a sailing camp for youth up to age 18. Boating in Boston has operated for years in other locations and have shown considerable interest in UMass Boston's grand waterfront.

National student societies or professional organizations with active local or student chapters at UMass Boston include Alpha Lambda Delta, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College Democrats of America, Delta Sigma Pi, Free the Children, the Golden Key International Honour Society, the National Student Nurses' Association, Phi Delta Epsilon, the Public Interest Research Group, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, the Society of Physics Students, and Young Americans for Liberty. The American Chemical Society had a student chapter at UMass Boston, but as of the Fall 2016 semester it is inactive.

Notable alumni