University of Massachusetts Lowell

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University of Massachusetts Lowell
Established 1975 after merger of the Lowell Technological Institute and Lowell State College
Type Public
Chancellor Marty Meehan
President Robert L. Caret
Provost Ahmed Abdelal
Academic staff 737 Full and Part-Time (Fall 2009)
Admin. staff 740 Full and Part-Time (Fall 2009)
Students 14,702 (2010)
Location Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
42°38′34″N 71°20′04″W / 42.642716°N 71.334530°W / 42.642716; -71.334530Coordinates: 42°38′34″N 71°20′04″W / 42.642716°N 71.334530°W / 42.642716; -71.334530
Campus Urban
150 acres
Colors Persian Red     
Pigment Blue    
White     
Nickname River Hawks
Mascot Rowdy the River Hawk
Website www.uml.edu

The University of Massachusetts Lowell (also known as UMass Lowell or UML) is a public university in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the University of Massachusetts system. With more than 1100 faculty members and more than 15,000 students, it is the largest university in the Merrimack Valley, the third-largest state institution behind UMass Amherst and UMass Boston.

The university offers more than 120 degree choices, internships, bachelor’s to master’s programs and doctoral studies in the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management, the School of Health and Environment, and the Graduate School of Education.

UMass Lowell's men's hockey program has produced numerous professional players for the National Hockey League.

Contents

[edit] Founding

Coburn Hall in 1899

The University of Lowell was formed in the 1975 merger of Lowell Technological Institute, formerly Lowell Textile School (1895), and Lowell State College, formerly Lowell Normal School (1894). Their respective campuses became the North Campus and South Campus of the new institution, which was merged into the University of Massachusetts system in 1991 and renamed as the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The two original colleges had grown from humble beginnings as the Lowell Textile Institute, founded in 1895 to train technicians and managers for the textile industry, and the Lowell Normal School, founded in 1894 as a teacher-training college.[1]

[edit] Academics

UMass Lowell is well-known for its science and engineering programs, including several "on the rise" technologies (e.g., the field of nanotechnology). It is the first university in the United States to offer a bachelor's degree in plastics engineering, and it is one of a few public universities in the United States to offer degrees in meteorology and sound recording technology. UMass Lowell has a radiation laboratory with a research reactor and Van De Graff accelerator that provides students with real-world experience in particle physics, nuclear engineering and health physics. UMass Lowell is also the first university to offer a master's degree in sound recording technology (SRT). The university also boasts a baseball research center that is the official baseball bat testing center for Major League Baseball.

UMass Lowell's Manning School of Business has a diverse cirriculum in the fields of finance, marketing, management information systems, operations and more.

The Freshman retention rate is 78.2% and 4 year graduation rate is 29%(US News).

[edit] Rankings

UMass Lowell specifically was ranked 177th on the Tier 1 National University Ranking of the Best Colleges of 2012 by the US News and World Report.[2]

In the same report, UMass Lowell ranked 97th in the Top Public National Universities Ranking, and second among public universities in Massachusetts. [3]

[edit] Student life

[edit] Student organizations

[edit] The Big Seven

The Big Seven are the main organizations on campus funded directly from the student activities fee (other student organizations have budgets granted through the Student Government Association). They are:

[edit] Other Clubs

Some of the other student organizations include:

  • Association for Students of African Origin (ASAO)
  • Audio Engineering Society (AES)
  • American Society for Civil Engineering (ASCE)
  • Biology Club
  • Catholic Student Union (CSU)
  • College Bowl
  • Community Health Education Club
  • Entrepreneurial Ventures Association (EVA)
  • Finance Marketing Connection (DECA & FBLA-PBL)
  • Game Developers Group
  • Haitian Student Association
  • The UMass Lowell History Club
  • Indian Students Association (ISA)
  • International Relations Club (Model UN)
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • Latin American Students Association (LASA)
  • Math Club
  • Magik (Masters gaming konnection)
  • Muslim Student Association (MSA)
  • Music and Entertainment Industry Students Association (MEISA)
  • Music Educators National Conference (MENC)
  • National Society of Black Engineers NSBE.ORG (NSBE)
  • Nursing Students Without Borders (NSWB)
  • Pre-Law Society
  • Pride Alliance(gay/straight alliance)
  • Psychology Club
  • Regional Economic and Social Development (RESD) Club
  • Men's Rugby Club
  • Women's Rugby Club
  • Shotokan Karate Club
  • Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
  • Society of Physics Students (SPS)
  • Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE)
  • STAN (Students Taking Action Now)
  • UMass Lowell Bocce Club
  • UML Anime Club
  • Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)
  • To Write Love UML

[edit] Buildings

[edit] Academic buildings and residence halls

East Campus

  • East Campus Garage
  • Ames Building
  • Bourgeois Hall
  • Campus Recreation Center
  • Donahue Hall
  • Fox Hall (includes housing and a large dining hall)
  • Aiken Street Residence Hall (under construction)
  • Leitch Hall
  • Edward A. LeLacheur Park
  • Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell
  • Wannalancit Mills
  • University Crossing (former St. Joseph's Hospital)

North Campus

  • Alumni Library
  • Ball Hall
  • Costello Gym
  • Cumnock Hall
  • Cushing Field Complex
  • Eames Hall
  • Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (under construction)
  • Engineering Building
  • Falmouth Hall
  • Kitson Hall
  • Lydon Library
  • North Campus Garage (under construction)
  • Olney Hall
  • Olsen Hall
  • Pasteur Hall
  • Pinanski Energy Center
  • Power Plant
  • Southwick Hall

South Campus

  • Allen House
  • Coburn Hall
  • Concordia Hall
  • Dugan Hall
  • Durgin Hall
  • Health and Social Sciences Building (under construction)
  • Mahoney Hall
  • McGauvran Student Union
  • O'Leary Library
  • Power Plant
  • Riverview Field
  • Sheehy Hall
  • Southside Cafe/Dining Hall
  • Weed Hall
  • 150 Wilder Street


Other locations

  • University Gardens at School Street
  • University Commons at Moody Street
  • 49 and 61 East Meadow Lane
  • UMass Lowell Bellegarde Boathouse


Downtown

  • Mogan Cultural Center
  • UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center
  • Center for Lowell History
  • Tsongas Industrial History Center

[edit] University Housing

University housing is home to 3,147 students, including 504 in the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center (formerly the Doubletree Hotel), which opened in September 2009. Sixty-eight percent of the freshmen class live in university housing, according to the official web site. In addition, the university owns two apartment complexes located at East Meadow Lane, which houses graduates, students with families, and 21+ undergraduates.

East Campus

  • Bourgeois Hall
  • Donahue Hall
  • Fox Hall
  • Leitch Hall

North Campus

  • Eames Hall

South Campus

  • Concordia Hall
  • Sheehy Hall

Off Campus Apartments

  • 49 East Meadow Lane
  • 61 East Meadow Lane
  • University Commons Apartments at Moody Street
  • University Gardens Apartments at School Street

Downtown

  • UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center

[edit] Student Operated On-Campus Services

[edit] Sports

Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell
LeLacheur Park, with the Merrimack River in the background, taken from the top of Fox Hall

UMass Lowell athletic teams compete in a variety of sports. Men and women compete in Division II, with the exception of men's hockey, which competes in Division I. The men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, track and field, and soccer. The women's sports are basketball, cross country, track and field, field hockey, soccer, rowing, softball, and volleyball. The university's men's hockey team plays in the Hockey East conference, and play their games at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. Past champions include the 1988 men's basketball team, the 1991 men's cross country team, the ice hockey team (three times), and the field hockey team twice (2005, 2010). The 2010 team finished a perfect 24-0. The nickname "River Hawks" came about during the school's transition into UMass Lowell, and was inspired by the campus's location by the Merrimack River. The University of Lowell's nickname was the Chiefs, which was abandoned in favor of the current name. A campus-wide poll was conducted for student input and final candidates included the Ospreys and the Raging Rapids, according to the Connector student newspaper.

[edit] University demographics

Total enrollment for 2011 is 14,702, an increase of more than 1,100 students from the previous year. In-state enrollment totals 92 percent of undergraduates and 71 percent of graduate students. International students are 1 percent of the undergraduate population and 14 percent of the graduate population. Students of color are 21 percent of the total undergraduate population and 18 percent of the graduate population. The male-female ratio is 60/40 for undergraduates and 52/48 for the graduate population. The total enrollment is up by more than 30 percent from 2007.[4]

Located in the historic industrial city of Lowell, 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Boston, the campus spans 150 acres (0.61 km2) along the Merrimack River. UMass Lowell has three campus clusters – North, South and East. Of the 14,702 students at UMass Lowell, approximately two-thirds are commuters. The university has increased student housing by more than 800 beds in the last three years and plans to add more residence halls in the next few years.

[edit] Recent developments

UMass Lowell and the city reached an agreement in 2009 for the school to acquire the Tsongas Arena and the 3 acres (12,000 m2) of land adjacent to it. The transfer was finalized in February 2010. The university bought the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Lowell in 2009. It is now used for student housing and to house major events for the university, as well as business and cultural events, conferences and more. The building is called the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center.

The university broke ground in June 2010 on the new Emerging Technologies Innovation Center, the first new academic building built on campus in 30 years. The building, which will be located on the former site of Smith Hall (demolished in July 2010), will cost $70 million with half of the funding coming from the state. On March 30, 2011, the university held a topping-off ceremony marking the completion of the ETIC's steel frame. The ceremony also included the opening of a time capsule that was placed in the cornerstone of Smith Hall during its 1947 construction, as well as the compilation of a new time capsule to be included in the ETIC.

In July 2009, the Massachusetts legislature eliminated more than $1 million in funding for the state's Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI) from the state budget. TURI is based on the UMass Lowell campus. In October 2009, it was announced that the university had secured federal stimulus funds that would enable the institute open through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2010. TURI continues to operate today.

In January 2011, the university announced that it had acquired the old St. Joseph's Hospital in Lowell for $6.3 million. The complex, renamed University Crossing, consists of six buildings and approximately 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) of developable space. The university has not announced final plans for the property, but discussions include a student center, food court, bookstore, faculty offices and more. The University Police and some administrative functions will be the first to move to the site. A task force that includes representatives of the surrounding neighborhood and the city has been formed to discuss the future of the property. The facility is located near the university's North, South and East campuses and will serve as a central point uniting all three. [5][6][7]

The university broke ground in April 2011 on the new Health and Social Sciences Building on South Campus. The 69,000-square-foot (6,400 m2) building, construction of which is funded by the state's Higher Education Bond Bill of 2008, will be home to three of the university's most popular majors: criminal justice, nursing and psychology.

On November 1st 2011 the university broke ground on a 16 million dollar garage on the North Campus. The garage is a six story, 650 space garage that will be finished in the fall of 2012.

In January of 2012 construction of the Aiken Street Residence Hall had commenced with the demolition of the Institute of Plastics Innovation Building. The residence hall with be finished in August of 2013 and will hold 472 residents. The building will also have a cafe, a multipurpose room, and learning commons. The university is also planning to construct a parking facility on the South campus, as well as the new Manning School of Business building on North Campus.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable faculty

[edit] See also

Portal icon Massachusetts portal
Portal icon University portal

[edit] References
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
  • It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since May 2009.
  • It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since May 2009.
  1. ^ Paul W. Rahmeier (1998). "A University's Mission: Responding to Community Needs". Education 118. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=38537C565230AFAF2FBD0C68C6CDDF25.inst2_2b?docId=5001330176. 
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ Lowell (link inactive)
  5. ^ Boston Globe article
  6. ^ Boston Globe article
  7. ^ Boston Business Journal article

[edit] External links

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