To all members of the UMass community,
Looking back on this past year, I am inspired by the determination, resilience and ability demonstrated by our students, faculty and staff.
In the midst of a global pandemic, the UMass community rose to the challenge, transitioning to fully remote learning and working patterns in a matter of days and ensuring that our university continued to advance its mission of education, research and service.
Much has changed in our country and our communities this year, but one thing that remains is the relentless pursuit of excellence that make our students, staff and faculty stand out.
Thanks to those efforts, just this year, we undertook a series of important initiatives as we continued to cement our place among the best university systems in the nation. Here are just a few examples:
According to a report by the UMass Donahue Institute, UMass contributed an all-time-high of $7.5 billion to the Â鶹ÊÓƵ economy in FY2018, the most recent year that full data was available. This is an increase of more than $1 billion in annual impact since the report was last conducted for FY15.Â
The Â鶹ÊÓƵ continued to rank among the top colleges and universities in the country in the 2021 Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings. UMass is now ranked 60th among all U.S. institutions, after rising five spots over last year’s rankings, and 30th among all U.S. public universities. Notably, UMass remains the top public university in New England, a position it has held in the Times Higher Education rankings since 2014. Â
Research expenditures at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ increased by $33 million to a record high of $684 million in 2019. This reflects the long-term growth of the university's research enterprise, which has grown by 14 percent since 2014 and 40 percent since 2009.
We joined nearly 200 college and university presidents and chancellors committing to increase student voter registration, engagement and turnout through the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and launched the #UMassVotes campaign, a nonpartisan effort aimed at voter education, registration and engagement for the 2020 election
This partnership will be launched as millions of adults in Â鶹ÊÓƵ and across the United States need flexible, high-quality and affordable online education alternatives now and as they recover from the economic dislocation caused by COVID-19, which has disproportionately impacted communities of color.
UMass campuses continued to make remarkable progress and propel themselves in the ranks of the nation's top universities.
As the Commonwealth's public research university, UMass has a critical role to play in the coming months and years as we all seek to overcome this pandemic, reckon with our nation's past and present struggles with racial injustice, and fuel our state's economic recovery.
No matter what challenges 2021 holds, I know that we will meet them head on and serve as a model for our communities, our state and our nation.
This is a mission that we embrace.
Thank you for all that you do to keep moving UMass forward.
Sincerely,
Marty Meehan
President, Â鶹ÊÓƵ
President Meehan established the President's Circle newsletter to keep the UMass community informed about key initiatives and accomplishments.
