Representatives of key partnerships between the University and community groups, industry and healthcare gave panel presentations at the “Achieving Excellence Through Partnerships” breakfast, one of the signature events of inauguration week.
Chancellor Marty Meehan gave opening remarks on April 1 to the overflow crowd of participants in the main conference room of Wannalancit Mills.
“While it is a great academic ceremony, inauguration is all about our academic mission to educate students,” said Meehan, noting that UMass Lowell has graduated more than 75,000 individuals. He introduced Janin Duran, a recent criminal justice master’s graduate, as an example of one whose life has been transformed by the UMass Lowell experience. Just weeks ago, Duran became a U.S. citizen.
Community partnering was the subject of the first panel, moderated by Prof. Linda Silka of the Regional Economic and Social Development Department (RESD). Drawing on the example of partnership work funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Silka noted its transformative effects, from changes in research approach to new course offerings and the University in the City Scholars program.
“We (at the University) have the tools of research, but we don’t have the answers and we don’t even know what the questions are,” she said.
RESD graduate Yovani Baez, real estate developer with Lawrence Community Works, said, “The non-profit groups all committed to investing their time and effort in taking on student interns. … Federal funding made the program possible, but the working partnerships made it successful.”
Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, chair of the Mass. Senate Ways and Means Committee, stepped back from the many University-community partnerships organized around issues to take a global view of UMass Lowell’s impact.
“UMass Lowell does two things – provides opportunity and inspires,” he said. “The young people in Lowell who come to the Strings Project are able to study violin, a specific opportunity, and it also builds their self-esteem.”
Describing the improvement in town-gown attitudes over the past 12 years, Panagiotakos said, “We’re realized it’s a symbiotic relationship. We have to make it work and we’ve been doing a great job of that.” Joint projects like the arena and the ballpark may not have academic impact, he said, “But working together builds trust and respect. It’s the success we have working together that transforms the city” and attracts neighbors from the surrounding suburbs.
No million-dollar ad campaign could have as much positive effect as these partnerships, according to Panagiotakos, who said, “I see nothing but good things in the future as long as we go at it together.”
Turning to partnerships with industry, RESD Prof. William Lazonick introduced the longstanding (more than 50 years) partnership between UMass Lowell and Nypro Corp. Nypro, a company dedicated to technology innovation, counts more than half its senior engineering managers in its Clinton headquarters as UMass Lowell graduates.
Michael McGee, director of technology for Nypro, said, “It’s the knowledge and quality of your graduates that allow us to compete.” As an example, McGee described the three-day conference held on campus in November for more than 100 Nypro chief engineers and executives, who agreed, says McGee, “It was the best technical symposium we’ve had in 15 years.” The conference led directly to new business opportunities and to ideas for new technology that Nypro and UML will develop through sponsored research.
James Elliott, director of events at Nypro and himself a RESD graduate, cited the “broad and comprehensive economic view that RESD provides. When we evaluate technologies to find those that are economically advantageous to the enterprise, we need to appraise this activity in an ethical and participatory manner. Doing well provides resources and resources bring opportunity and benefit to employees.”
Prof. Robert Malloy, chair of the Plastics Engineering Department, said, “Partnerships with industry are critical – we need industry help to make sure that what we’re doing academically meets industry needs.” Plastics engineering graduate student Ryan Johnson spoke about his scholar-internship with Nypro and its benefits.
Plastics engineering also figured in the history of Lowell General Hospital’s relationship with UMass Lowell.
Winfield Brown, vice president of administration for Lowell General and moderator of the healthcare panel, pointed to Prof. Aldo Crugnola’s role in establishing plastics engineering practicums at the hospital. The students invented a plastic positioning aid for infants and children undergoing CT scans.
“Lowell General and UMass Lowell are both at exciting points in their history,” said Brown. LGH serves as a clinical host for many of the programs in UML’s School of Health and Environment – nursing, exercise physiology, physical therapy, medical technology and community health and education – to support “a robust and growing program of community education.”
One example of community education is the Greater Lowell Health Alliance, in which UMass Lowell and LGH are partners along with other institutions. Asst. Prof. Deirdra Murphy of the Physical Therapy Department works with the Alliance, helping the city to leverage resources for programs that encourage healthy weight, walking to school and tobacco-free zones.
Faced with the fact that federal funding for tobacco education in public schools has been cut, Lowell General stepped up to provided education to all 47 fifth-grade classes in the city, at no cost to the schools.
Assoc. Prof. James Lee, program coordinator for health management and policy, described the newest academic partnership with Lowell General. Offering the new blended format of face-to-face and online instruction, the program has jumped from 20 to 75 students, with 60 entering the master’s degree program. The hospital provides facilities and adjuncts for employees to learn on-site.
Lowell General Hospital and Nypro Corp. are both inauguration sponsors: Lowell General as a $10,000 benefactor and Nypro as a $5,000 supporter.
Visit UML's photo gallery to view an array of photos from the event.
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