University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Established 1895
Type Public
Chancellor Jean MacCormack
President Robert L. Caret
Academic staff 520
Undergraduates 7982
Postgraduates 1173
Location Dartmouth, MA, USA
Campus 710 acres (2.9 km2) Suburban with unique modern architectural design
Athletics Official Site
Colors Blue and Gold          
Nickname Corsairs
Website www.umassd.edu

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is one of five campuses and operating subdivisions of the University of Massachusetts (UMass).[1] It is located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States, in the center of the South Coast region, between the cities of New Bedford to the east and Fall River to the west. It became a UMass campus in 1991 when Southeastern Massachusetts University was merged into the University of Massachusetts system.[2]

The campus, also known as UMass Dartmouth, "UMassD", or "UMD", has an overall student body of 9,155 students, including undergraduate, graduate students, and (PCE) continuing education students. As of Spring 2008, there are approximately 4,173 students living on campus. Approximately 61 undergraduate programs of study and 32 graduate programs are offered. There are more than 300 full-time faculty.

The campus has implemented a strategy that would expand its graduate programs over the next few years. Doing so would make it designated a doctoral Carnegie Research I institution as early as 2012.[3]

UMass Dartmouth is best known for its programs in engineering, nursing, marine science, business, visual and performing arts and business, as well as its Portuguese studies programs.

UMass Dartmouth is host to one of the nation's most extensive undergraduate and graduate programs in Portuguese language and literary studies, offering both a BA and an MA in Portuguese Studies, as well as a new Ph.D. program in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory. The campus also has a Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture[4] which sponsors numerous publication series, as well as international conferences in Portuguese and Portuguese-American studies. The university is home to the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives, located in a special section of the Claire T. Carney Library, and the UMass-Dartmouth Summer Program in Portuguese.[5]

The school also hosts the University of Massachusetts School of Law, as the trustees of the state's university system voted during 2004 to purchase the nearby Southern New England School of Law, a private institution that is accredited regionally but not by the American Bar Association. This proposal was rejected at the time and lay dormant for several years, but was revived in October 2009 with an offer by SNESL to donate its campus and resources, valued at over $20 million, to the university. The proposal was approved unanimously by the state Board of Higher Education on Feb. 2, 2010. UMass Dartmouth Law School opened its doors in September 2010, accepting all current SNESL students with a C or better average as transfer students, and it is going to seek ABA accreditation as soon as possible.

In June 2008 the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees approved the creation of a new School of Education, Public Policy and Civic Engagement.

Since 1992, UMass Dartmouth has sponsored the Cape Cod Community College as an affiliate.

Contents

History

The Dartmouth campus of the University of Massachusetts traces its roots to 1895. In that year, the Massachusetts legislature chartered the New Bedford Textile School in New Bedford and the Bradford Durfee Textile School in Fall River. The New Bedford Textile School was re-named the New Bedford Institute of Textiles and Technology and the Bradford Durfee Textile School was re-named the Bradford Durfee College of Technology.

In 1962, the two schools were combined to create the Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, expanding to become Southeastern Massachusetts University by 1969. In 1964, ground was broken on a unified campus not far from the Smith Mills section of Dartmouth, between the two cities. Group I was completed in 1966, with Group II in 1969 and the other original buildings being finished by 1971. The main campus has been expanded several times, including the Cedar Dell residences (begun 1987), the Dion Science & Engineering Building in 1989, the Charlton College of Business in 2004, the new apartment-style residence halls in 2005, and the Research Building in 2007.

SMU was merged into the UMass system and adopted its present name in 1991. In the past two decades, the university has expanded back into its original cities as well, with the Advanced Textiles & Manufacturing Center (2001, at the former Kerr Mill site) and Professional and Continuing Education Center (2002, in the former Cherry & Webb building) in Fall River, and the School for Marine Science and Technology (1996, adjacent to Fort Rodman), the Star Store visual arts building (2001) and a second Center for Professional and Continuing Education (2002, one block north on Purchase Street) in New Bedford.

Campuses

Main Campus

Satellite Campuses and Initiatives

New Bedford

Fall River

Academic departments

Undergraduate program

Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, English, Foreign Literature & Languages, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Mathematics, Medical Laboratory Science, Multidisciplinary Studies, Philosophy, Policy Studies, Political Science, Portuguese, Psychology, Sociology & Anthropology, and Women's Studies

Accounting and Finance, Management and Marketing, Decision and Information Sciences (includes Management Information Systems and Operations Management)

Biomedical Engineering, Civil & Environmental, Computer & Information Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Materials & Textiles

Nursing

Art Education, Art History, Artisanry (Ceramics, Jewelry/Metals, and Textile Design/Fiber Arts), Design (Digital Media, Graphic Design/Letterform, Illustration, and Photography), Fine Arts (Painting/2D and Sculpture/3D), and Music

Graduate program

Masters of Arts in Portuguese Studies, Master of Arts in Professional Writing, Master of Arts in Psychology, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Science in Biology, Master of Science in Marine Biology, Master of Science in Chemistry, Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry, and Doctor of Philosophy in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory

Master of Business Administration, post-masters certificates

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, Master of Science in Biotechnology, Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Master of Science in Computer Science, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, Master of Science in Computer Engineering, Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Master of Science in Physics, Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, Master of Science in Textile Chemistry and Technology, Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, and Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Engineering

Master of Science in Nursing,Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

Master of Art Education, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts in Artisanry, and Master of Fine Arts in Visual Design

Master of Science in Marine Science & Technology, and Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Science & Technology

Architecture

The buildings of the campus were designed by internationally renowned Modernist architect Paul Rudolph beginning in the early 1960s, to distinguish the campus from the outside world and provide what might be considered a Social Utopian environment. The building architecture is similar to that of the Boston Government Service Center. Rudolph made both the exterior and interior of each building of rough concrete (béton brut), an essential element of the style known as Brutalism, and he endowed buildings with large windows, with the intended effect of giving those inside the feeling of being connected to the outdoors. The stairs were made relatively short in height, ostensibly in order to slow people down and thus allow them to appreciate the campus more fully. Atriums were also placed in the Group 1 and Group 2 buildings to give people a place to socialize between sections of the halls. (The main academic buildings were known as Groups until 2007 because the first design concept for the campus had them as groups of individual buildings; the name was retained though the design concept was not. What was Group 1 is now the Liberal Arts building, and what was Group 2 is the Science/Engineering building. The older terms are still widely used.) These areas are also filled with hanging and potted indoor plants. The main door of each building faces towards the campanile, keeping students within the Academic Life area, where buildings for classes are located. Large mounds of earth (berms) also stand between the parking lots, making the lots partially invisible from within the original Academic Life area (though not from within some recent additions to it, such as the Charlton College of Business building). More recent buildings, most notably the Woodland Commons residence halls to the south of the main campus, have been built to complement, but not to attempt to copy, Rudolph's Late Modernist aesthetic.

At the top of the campanile, many different antennas provide different services for the campus. It should be noted that if one looks between the two panels in the campanile, they can see that the campanile can only be climbed when accessed underground. This may seem to lead to an underground tunnel system, but there is an entrance to the campanile a short distance to the south of it.

Outdoors, the university is fortunate to have large areas of undeveloped green space, including extensive wooded areas, grasslands, wetlands and ponds uncommon to many university campuses. Numerous footpaths make exploring these natural areas of the campus an enjoyable activity for students, faculty and visitors alike.

Claire T. Carney Library

Student life

Student organizations

Student Government Association is a student run group that handles all student activity fees and disperses them to the various clubs and organizations. Among the many student groups on campus are the following:[6]

  • Accounting Association
  • Active Minds
  • Advocate. Celebrate. Educate.
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority
  • American Red Cross Club
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • Anime Club
  • Asian Student Association
  • Badger Alliance
  • Campus Activities Board (CAB)(no longer active)
  • Campus Design
  • Cape Verdean Student Association
  • Capoeira Club
  • Chi Phi Fraternity
  • Chinese Students and Scholars Association
  • Christian Fellowship
  • College Democrats
  • College Republicans
  • College Independents
  • Collegiate DECA
  • Concert Tech
  • Economics Club
  • Equestrian Team
  • Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA)
  • Finance Club
  • Gaming Society
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • History Club
  • Humans Vs. Zombies
  • Indian Students Association
  • International Business Association (IBA)
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • Iota Delta Nu Sorority
  • Kekeli Drum and Dance
  • Linux Users Group
  • Masspirg
  • Muslim Students Association
  • National Art Education Association (student chapter)
  • Net Impact
  • Outdoor Club
  • Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity
  • Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority
  • Parliamentary Debate Society
  • PHENOM
  • P.L.A.C.E.S
  • Political Science Association
  • Portuguese Language Club
  • Pride Alliance
  • Residence Halls Council (RHC)
  • Rugby Club
  • Sailing Club
  • Scrimshaw Yearbook
  • Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity
  • Silver Twilight Lodge
  • Ski and Snowboard Club
  • Society for the Advancement of A.I.D.S.
  • Society for leadership and success
  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers
  • Student Teaching And Resource Services (S.T.A.R.S)
  • Students in Free Enterprise(SIFE)
  • Surf Club
  • Temper
  • Theatre Company
  • Theta Delta Chi Fraternity
  • The Mike Wong Foundation
  • The Torch (student newspaper)
  • Ultimate Frisbee Club
  • UMass Dartmouth Political Science Association
  • United Latino Society
  • Winter Guard
  • Women Against the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (WAFMLA)

Housing and residential life

On-campus living provides three different residence options:[7]

Freshman halls

The freshman dorms are located on the eastern part of the campus. They are encircled in what is known as Dorm Rd. The Buildings are as follows:

Sophomore halls

Upperclassmen halls

Apartments

Townhouses

Dining Halls

There are 11 locations on campus where food may be purchased. Food services are provided by Chartwells.[8]

A student may use his or her "UMass Pass" swipe card to pay at these locations if he/she has a meal plan or money pre-loaded onto the card; otherwise cash is the only other accepted payment method. Debt and credit are not currently accepted.[9]

Greek life

Fraternities

Sororities

Honor societies

Unregistered organizations

Notable alumni

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was also the career location of Robert Ashley Michael, scholar in the history of antisemitism.[10]

References

External links