CSHCA UMASS Committee

The Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association UMASS Committee

Public Meeting about UMass' Strategic Plan
On Wednesday January 17, 2007 there will be a public meeting at UMass Boston to discuss the university's Strategic Plan. The meeting is from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Campus Center Ballroom at the University of Massachusetts Boston at 100 Morrissey Boulevard. The university asks that people traveling by car park in the North Lot next to the Campus Center. To travel by the T, take the Red Line to the JFK/UMass stop and then take the free university shuttlebus to the Campus Center. See the UMass Boston web site for directions and information about the university.

UMASS PUBLIC WORKSHOPS

There are two public workshops scheduled about the plans for the redesign of the UMass Boston campus. The first workshop is on Thursday November 15th at 6:00pm in the Campus Center Ballroom. For details, download the UMass flyer. To read and print the flyer requires the Adobe Reader software. If you don't have the software you can download Adobe Reader for free.

Letter from UMass
The following letter was received from UMass (Fall, 2006):

"We at UMass Boston would like to thank all our neighbors for their patience during a time of change on our campus. Since mid-summer a team of university administrators, students, faculty, and staff has been working with leading transportation and engineering experts to develop a new parking plan to address the loss of approximately 1,300 internal parking spaces which occurred when the garages were closed on July 20, 2006. Our goal is complete replacement of all lost parking spaces."

"In August, the university created six new on-site parking lots. Several of the new lots were created with gravel surfaces, so that the lots could be in place by the start of the semester in September. Several of these lots are considered temporary."

"In view of the difficulties of maintaining gravel lots in snowy weather, the university is working with the Commonwealth's Division of Capital Asset Management to pave several of the lots and to complete additional paved lots on campus. Once the new lots are completed, we expect to close some of the temporary lots."

"There will be two phases to the new effort. The first involves an area near University Drive and the UMass Boston soccer field on property acquired from Boston Water & Sewer. We anticipate that this area will be paved by mid-December and finished in the first quarter of 2007. Current gravel lots near Mt. Vernon Street will be paved in the spring of 2007. The paving project will follow all appropriate environmental guidelines and include enhanced landscaping, lighting, and new pedestrian pathways around the campus."

Gail M. Hobin
UMass, Vice Chancellor Community Relations

Great News: It appears that UMass has dropped their plans to build dorms on their Boston Campus. The Boston Globe highlights this in an article published May 8, 2003.

Read the April 15th letter (PDF format) sent to UMass Chancellor Jo Ann Gora from Senator Hart. It's signed by Senator Hart, Congressman Lynch, Representatives Walsh and Wallace, Boston City Councilors: Feeney, Murphy, and Hennigan. The Umass Committee thanks these elected officials for supporting our community.

Read the April 9th letter (PDF format) sent to UMass Chancellor Jo Ann Gora from City of Boston Mayor Menino. The Umass Committee thanks the Mayor for supporting our community.

Read a response letter dated March 10, 2003 from the CSHCA UMass Committee about floating bonds to build dorms.

Browse our 4-page fact sheet (PDF format) about UMass Boston.

The Mission of the Committee:
To engage the University and others as needed, to develop an understanding of the many changes at UMB and their effects on the community. To make recommendations on what actions the CSHCA can take to ensure that UMB remains "an asset for its' immediate neighbors" as was the written intent of the UMB Board of Trustees in 1973.

The Committee meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 P.M. at the McLaughlin Center on Dorchester Avenue. You are welcome and encouraged to attend. To be included on the committee e-mail list contact Bill Cotter.

Review the Request for Proposal (PDF format) of the Impact Study from the MAPC web site.
Browse UMass Boston FAQs and answers about Residential Housing from their website.

UMass Committee,
We were very pleased to receive a copy of a letter that Mayor Menino wrote to UMass Boston Chancellor Jo Ann Gora on April 8, 2003. In his letter, the Mayor supported the concerns of the many Dorchester residents and Civic Associations when he spoke about how the UMass dorm proposal strays from the "crucial" mission of UMass Boston. Mayor Menino also described UMass' current public process as "futile" and said that "It is inappropriate for UMass to have thrust a project of this magnitude on to the community without suitable interaction with its neighbors. Residents expect, need and rightfully deserve a more respectful attitude from the university."

We were again very pleased to receive a copy of another letter to Chancellor Jo Ann Gora from Congressman Steve Lynch, Senator Jack Hart, Representatives Marty Walsh and Brian Wallace, City Councillors Maureen Feeney, Mike Flaherty, Steve Murphy, and Maura Hennigan on April 15, 2003. The second letter calls for "an immediate halt to the dormitory planning efforts" and describes UMass' decision to build dorms for 2,000 students as "the first step in the transformation of a commuter college to a residential college". Our elected officials also went on to say that UMass' "attitude towards it neighbors and elected officials has been questionable and suspect."

The letters are in this newsletter and our web page. Read the letters and share them with your neighbors and friends. Also, I encourage you to call or e-mail those elected officials who have stood up to defend your issues and concerns. UMass has not listened to us. Lets hope that they will listen to our elected officials.

Also, I have been informed by UMass that they will not participate in the meeting we had planned for them to explain their project and the true mission of the university. They have decided to do a "community wide meeting" at a "neutral location" with an "impartial moderator." We will be notified of the meeting when it is arranged.

~For the committee, Bill Cotter

Next Scheduled UMass Committee Meeting:
To Be Announced.