A Director's View of Boston's Only Public University

If you are a Boston sports fan it has been a rough few weeks. The Red Sox season came to a disappointing end and now the Patriots have dropped two in a row.

However, if you are a UMass Boston sports fan it is a great time to be a Beacon.  Many of our teams are competing at a very high level.  The most recent noteworthy accomplishment is that of the women’s volleyball team. They just won their third Little East Conference title and will play Polytechnic Institute of New York on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

If you want to read about some of the other accolades our teams have received, check out the Athletics and Recreation website.

Meanwhile…Go, Beacons!

The quality of education students receive at UMass Boston can be measured in many ways, but one of the things I find most fascinating is how connected our faculty are and how that plays out in the classroom. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had Elizabeth Warren on campus to deliver the keynote address at our annual Convocation.

This week I learned that Professor Maurice Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Political Science has invited Jennifer Nassour, the chairwoman of the Republican State Committee, to speak to his Massachusetts Politics class. After the class discussion, students will also have an opportunity to have lunch with her. This is not the first speaker Professor Cunningham has brought into his class this semester. A few weeks ago the class was fortunate enough to hear from former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.

I cannot think of a better way for political science students to learn about Massachusetts politics than from speakers of this caliber.

During the college search process many students and parents turn to college rankings as they create their list of schools to look at more carefully.  UMass Boston has been recognized by many publishing companies including U.S. News & World Report, Times Higher Education’s 2011-2012 World University Ranking, College Board and by The Princeton Review several times and most recently in their Best 294 Business Schools.

Some interesting rankings we have received include:

• Top 3 Most Diverse Campuses in New England by College Board
• Princeton Review’s Guide to 311 Green Colleges
• U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools, Top 50 Graduate Nursing programs in the national and number 2 in Massachusetts

Each student that goes through the college search process can decide for themselves how important these rankings are.  So why am I writing about them?

I want to introduce you to another classification, Carnegie’s Community Engagement Elective Classification, which recognizes campuses that “collaborate with the larger community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”  If you are not familiar with this classification, I encourage you to check out Carnegie’s website for more information. UMass Boston was selected for this classification and it recognizes our commitment to working with the community and enhances the experience students have on our campus.

I can hear it…the buzz of a new academic year (by buzz, I mean the frenzied pace of new students wandering around trying to understand what is going on). The start of each academic year is special but this one feels different. Not sure if it is the fact that we brought in a record number of incoming freshmen (1,290) and an equally impressive number of new transfer students (1,800) or if it is the fact that I have already been reminded of what makes being Boston’s only public university so great.  For one it is our students. They are diverse in ways that are unimaginable and bring such great life experiences with them. They are what make my job special.  Another benefit of being Boston’s only public university is that we get visited by some really impressive people.  This week’s example was Elizabeth Warren, our Convocation keynote speaker.  Convocation is just one of the many activities that take place during Opening Week. Check out our event calendar for a list of all upcoming events: http://www.umb.edu/news_events_media/events/