World Class. Within Reach.

Nobel Prize Winner to Visit Campus April 6

2009-03-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

Rigoberta Menchú Tum, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights work, will give a talk entitled, "Human Rights and Social Justice in the New Millenium: How We Can Make A Difference," on Monday, April 6, at 3 p.m. at the UMass Dartmouth Woodland Commons Community Center. This is a free event that is open to the public, however, reservations are strongly suggested because seating will be limited. To reserve seats, please call the Office of Public Affairs at 508.999.8015 or email publicaffairs@umassd.edu. More.

2009-03-05T15:08:00.003-05:00

Two University of Massachusetts Dartmouth head coaches achieved milestones within a few days of each other recently. Head hockey coach John Rolli won his 500th career game when the Corsairs won at Johnson & Wales in the final game of the regular season last Saturday evening, and head men's basketball coach Brian Baptiste earned the 500th win of his collegiate coaching career when UMass Dartmouth defeated UMass Boston in the first round of the Little East Conference tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center Tuesday evening. Rolli is now 500-135-23 in his 25th season at UMass Dartmouth, while Baptiste is now 500-213 in his 26th year. Read more.

UMD Named to Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service

2009-02-20T02:55:00.002-05:00

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored UMass Dartmouth today with a place on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America's communities.

"UMass Dartmouth takes great pride in the service that its students, faculty and staff provide to the community," Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. "I want to congratulate all of our students, faculty and staff who have tirelessly served in so many ways -- from inspiring children to read to protecting our fragile coastline to incubating new businesses and so much more." Read more.

UMD profs create virtual ancient city

2009-02-04T16:27:00.002-05:00

With the help of three UMass Dartmouth professors, students will explore the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan without the need for a passport or plane ride.

An approximately $25,000 UMass Strategic Initiative Grant has Scott Ahrens, associate professor of design, constructing a virtual pre-Columbian site that arose in the second century (A.D.) on the UMass Dartmouth island in Second Life.

"Our Teotihuacan project is the largest and most ambitious use of a MUVE (multi-user virtual environment) in the UMass system to date," Ahrens said, noting that UMass Boston is creating a virtual psychiatric clinic and other MUVES are becoming increasingly popular in the academic world such as Harvard's River City project and Vassar's Sistine Chapel. Read more

Southern Poverty Law Center founder to speak at UMD Feb. 6

2009-01-12T18:11:00.003-05:00

Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will be the keynote speaker at the 7th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at UMass Dartmouth on February 6.

The event will also feature the presentation of the university’s Drum Major Awards to individuals and organizations who have answered Dr. King’s 1968 call for citizens to be “drum majors for justice.” This year’s honorees are:

Dr. Irving Fradkin, a Fall River native who founded Dollars For Scholars, which has blossomed into a nationwide scholarship program that has distributed more than $1.5 billion to more than 1.5 million students.

Carol Spencer, Director of the UMass Dartmouth College Now program, an alternative admissions initiative which has helped more than 1,000 students navigate the challenges of higher education and recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

“It is our honor as a university to recognize these individuals who have dedicated their lives to creating opportunities for people,’’ UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. “These are individuals who have put Dr. King’s words into action. They are indeed drum major for justice, examples for us all to follow.”

2008-12-26T09:05:00.001-05:00

(This article was first published by the Standard-Times of New Bedford on December 26, 2008)

By PEGGY AULISIO

Standard Times correspondent

NEW BEDFORD — Nursing students from UMass Dartmouth made a stop at the Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford earlier this month to teach young people how to avoid germs by washing their hands.

"Hand washing can prevent so many infections," said Julianne Duarte.

She and Erica Pine, both seniors at UMass, said they also promoted hand washing when they held a flu clinic a few weeks before that. They said it is especially important for people to wash their hands often and thoroughly during flu season. More.

UMD Physics Professor Builds Supercomputer from PlayStation 3

2008-12-26T08:45:00.008-05:00

(This article was first published in the Standard-Times of New Bedford, MA on Dec. 26, 2008).

By PHIL DEVITT
Standard-Times Correspondent

DARTMOUTH — First he stunned the science world by building a supercomputer for only a few thousand dollars, using parts from the Sony PlayStation 3.

Now he's sharing the secret.

In a new online manual, UMass Dartmouth physics professor Gaurav Khanna explains step by step how to retool the popular video game system into a sophisticated computer capable of solving complex equations in seconds.

"I hear from people who say it's nice to see that something they spend time entertaining themselves with you can do real science with," Dr. Khanna said. More

UMD alums share Washington DC experiences

2008-12-03T09:13:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting story from today's New Bedford Standard Times:

Washington, D.C., is a city for politics. It is also a city for people to chase their dreams. Seventeen young graduates of UMass Dartmouth, listed as "friends" on a Facebook group for university alumni, are chasing their dreams in the nation's capital.

But they don't really know each other. They were invited to join the UMass Dartmouth-Washington DC Alumni Club on Facebook by friends of friends or by their friend's friend's friend.

Some of them were willing to share their stories of life in the capital city, to talk about their dreams and to reflect on whether the real world is what they expected.

Read on...

Parents invited to financial aid meeting

2008-11-29T08:35:00.003-05:00

Parents of seniors who plan to continue their education are encouraged to attend a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Dartmouth High School auditorium.

The session will be presented by Bruce Palmer, UMass Dartmouth director of financial aid, and is sponsored by the Dartmouth High School Parent Support Association and the Dartmouth High School Guidance Department.

Mr. Palmer will discuss the financial aid form and the major sources of financial aid including federal aid programs, Massachusetts state scholarships and Pell grants.

Even though the focus of the meeting will be for seniors who will enter college next fall, any parent may attend in order to understand the financial aid process for future planning.

Barbara Helfrich, director of the Dartmouth High Guidance Department, will briefly review the availability of local scholarships.

This workshop will be taped by DCTV for future viewing.

Check out the new UMD TV ad

2008-11-26T10:57:00.004-05:00

Another All-American Corsair! Congrats Seana!

2008-11-25T20:22:00.005-05:00

For the first time since the 2006 season, a member of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's field hockey team has earned All-American honors.

Junior goalkeeper Seana Golden (Somerset, MA/Bishop Stang HS) has been named a third team Longstreth National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American. Sixteen players were honored on the third team, and 49 players received honors overall.

Golden ranked posted a 1.20 goals-against average and an .855 save percentage in 22 starts last season, and led the Little East Conference with seven shutouts. She earned first team All-Conference and first team All-New England West Region honors, and is the first Corsair to earn All-America honors since senior midfielder Robin Dziedzic (Palmer, MA/Palmer HS) was named third team All-America by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association two years ago.

"I'm thrilled for Seana, this is such an honor," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Nicole Castonguay. "The players who have been honored are from the top 20 teams, and Seana is right in there with all of them. (Assistant Coach) Temple (Mitchell) will be ecstatic, being her goalie coach. She's been working with Seana, and hard work pays off. Seana works hard in the off-season, and I expect great things from her next season."

UMass Dartmouth finished with a 16-6 record and advanced to the semi-finals of the Little East Conference post-season tournament.

Visit Corsair Athletics

UMD students heading for Germany

2008-11-19T22:02:00.002-05:00

This winter break UMass Dartmouth is sending 15 students abroad on international education programs. The majority of them are going to Germany.

UMass Dartmouth has a long standing exchange agreement with the State of Hessen, Germany and its universities. As part of that exchange, UMD students are invited to take part in intersession programs offered by the German universities and taught in English. Students can take a number of different modules, touching upon a number of different subject areas and offered at various times during the summer months, as well as during Winter break.

Students will take part in a 3-week program with two subject tracks to choose from, one being sustainable engineering and the other being German culture. Both groups will take a German language class offered at all levels of proficiency, including no experience with the language. The current Director of International and Exchange Study programs, Heather Makrez, is excited by this great opportunity she is able to present to her students. "With the current economic situation, it is encouraging to know there are still some programs out there that will provide students with the opportunity to achieve that valuable global perspective," Makrez stated.

Visit our study abroad page.

Get a jump on 2009

2008-11-19T21:47:00.004-05:00

Earn college credit in three weeks during the UMD Intersession. Classes begin January 5 and end January 23.

Morning, afternoon and evening classes, Monday-Friday.

Face-to-face, online and blended courses.

Undergraduate and graduate classes available.

Courses viewable online at www.umassd.edu/pce/brochure.

For more information, contact us at 508.999.9202 or continuinged@umassd.edu

Future graduate student ALERT!

2008-11-18T11:15:00.005-05:00

Attention future UMD grad students!

Business (MBA), Public Policy, Education, Psychology (includes Behavioral Analysis), Fine Arts and Art Education are among dozens of graduate programs now enrolling for the spring semester. You can also get started on your fall, 2009 enrollment process.

If you have been accepted within the past five semesters, and would like your application to be reactivated, please contact Steve Briggs at sbriggs@umassd.edu or 508.999.8606.

Be sure to visit our graduate admissions site for more details.

UMass Dartmouth. World Class. Within Reach.

2008-11-07T23:15:00.008-05:00

Choosing a college or graduate school from more than 6,000 choices around the country is one of the most important ...and difficult... decisions you are going to be making in the months ahead. You want to make sure that you pick an educational community that is right for you -- academically AND financially.

This blog is designed to help you and your parents make an informed decision about your future by connecting you to to our world class faculty, staff and students here at UMass Dartmouth. At less than $9,000 per year in undergrad tuition and fees, and located on 700 green acres of the beautiful SouthCoast of Massachusetts -- within an hour of Boston, Providence, and Cape Cod --we are within reach.

We encourage you to check out the links in the right hand column under "Learn more" and ask us questions by posting a comment. We will be sure to respond. Or, if you're ready to apply right now, click here.

Best of luck with your search.

Jean F. MacCormack, Chancellor
UMass Dartmouth

Enrollment at public universities, colleges rises

2008-11-07T23:10:00.004-05:00

Boston Globe, October 15, 2008

Enrollment at the state's public universities and colleges climbed more than 4 percent this fall as a slumping economy sent thousands of students searching for lower tuition costs, education officials said.

The number of students attending the public system's 28 undergraduate institutions rose by about 7,000 from last fall to an all-time high of 176,314, the state Department of Higher Education said yesterday. The enrollment increase was the highest in at least a decade, the officials said.

Many schools also attributed sharp enrollment rises in online classes to high gas prices, and said a tighter job market has spurred people to return to school to improve their job prospects.

Average cost at Mass. private colleges tops in US

2008-11-07T23:00:00.005-05:00

Boston Globe, October 30, 2008

The average cost of an education at a four-year private college was more expensive in Massachusetts than anywhere else in the country, according to a report released yesterday.

The cost of tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year averaged $32,592 in the Bay State, edging out Connecticut, where the cost was $31,914, and far outstripping the national average of $25,143, according to the College Board's annual "Trends in College Pricing" report.

The figures used by the College Board for its comparison did not include financial aid or tax benefits. Full-time students at private four-year institutions receive an average of $10,200 in grants and tax breaks, according to the report. The figures also do not factor in room and board.