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UMass President Seeks A Satellite Campus By Next Year

The president of the University of Massachusetts system on Monday signaled support for the creation of "at least one" satellite campus elsewhere in the state by 2013.

"I would expect that we would have at least one satellite campus operating next year," Robert Caret said in Springfield, according to the Springfield Republican.

The UMass Board of Trustees, the Republican reports, has given Caret permission to open at least one satellite campus, and the president has asked the UMass Donahue Institute, the research arm of his office, to conduct a feasibility study on possible campuses.

"I’ve already visited New Bedford. I’ve been speaking with people in Plymouth," said Caret, who also cited Springfield as "of course" a potential location.

A satellite location would reportedly be administered by one of UMass' existing campuses.

As WWLP-TV reports, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has spoken with Gov. Deval Patrick many times about a UMass satellite location in the city.

Indeed, in 2010 for our "Route 9" series, WBUR's Monica Brady-Myerov reported on the Springfield Initiative and other efforts by UMass Amherst to establish connections in the city.

However, back then, as Monica reported:

[Mayor Sarno] wants a UMass building in the center of town, and that could happen in the future. But UMass has no plans for a Springfield campus.

New UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy stressed "collaboration" with Springfield, but was noncommittal on satellite campuses, according to the Republican.

This program aired on May 14, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Benjamin Swasey

Benjamin Swasey Digital Manager
Ben is WBUR's digital news manager.

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