Centralization Isn't Sitting Well at UMass

Last week UMass-Amherst faculty and librarians got together and took a vote. 214 stood, one remained sitting. The resounding message was that the faculty of the flagship campus in the university system was none too pleased with the recently released plan by system president Jack Wilson. The hometown team, UMass-Boston faculty, had scheduled their at bat against Wilson and the Trustees for today – but that vote has been postponed.

The Globe reports that after a two hour debate the UMass-Boston faculty decided to postpone their vote on a Motion of No Confidence. The motion, if passed, supports the statement that the faculty have "particular concern about the illegitimate lack of consultation of faculty and other university constituencies in developing the Vision for One University plan." The plan calls for a shakeup in the leadership of the university system, and puts UMass-Amherst in a leading role as part of the system, with the other campuses rounding out the system and providing some specialization in curriculum and research efforts. It's all about the leadership. UMass-Amherst fits into the five college consortium with proximate, private Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges. The reorganization of the state's university system may threaten the bond that UMass-Amherst enjoys with those schools.

The UMass-Boston faculty is not worried about what will happen to the Amherst campus, which will likely get stronger, but what will become of their own identity. As Lois Rudnick (a UMass-Boston professor) told the Globe "Wilson's model treats the city campus as a lesser stepchild, which could detract from its central mission to educate less affluent students." We can't say for sure why they delayed the vote originally scheduled for today, but we can speculate. Coming close after the UMass-Amherst vote the faculty may have been hoping that they'll show they really mean business if the tempers are still heated when they reconvene as a faculty on June 4th. The debate certainly has made it apparent that while Wilson may want to consolidate the university system, each of the campuses is really bent on keeping their own identity.

Image of UMass Boston's formal logo – a change that came in 1998 when all the UMass schools adopted a change that came from the top when a report was issued that UMass had "(1) no single image represented the campus; (2) no adequate research was available on the campus's target audiences and its efforts to reach them; and (3) the campus had no strategic communications plan."