Campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst

The campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

is located nearly entirely in Amherst, MA, with a portion located in Hadley, MA. Founded on 310 acres in rural Western Massachusetts

Western Massachusetts

Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...

, the campus has grown to consisting of nearly 1,450 acres.

Buildings and layout

The campus extends about 1 miles (1.6 km) from the Campus Center in all directions. The university owns significant amounts of land in the nearby towns of Sunderland

Sunderland, Massachusetts

Sunderland is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, part of the Pioneer Valley. The population was 3,777 as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

and Hadley

Hadley, Massachusetts

Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...

.

The campus may be thought of as a series of concentric rings. In the outermost ring are parking lots, the admissions center, playing fields and barns for the animal science program. In the middle ring there are the six residential areas and dining commons. (There are four dinning commons on campus, Franklin, Worcester, Berkshire and Hampshire. Though Berkshire was most recently renovated and is considered the premier dining hall, Worcester sees the highest volume of diners.) The innermost ring has most of the classroom buildings and research labs.

Architecture

The school has several buildings (constructed in the 1960s and 70s) of importance in the modernist style, including the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center

Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center

Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center, is a skyscraper in Amherst, Massachusetts that is built in the modernist style. The building and attached parking garage were designed by Marcel Breuer. The building also hosts The Campus Center Hotel on the upper floors of the building. The hotel consists of 116...

and Hotel designed by Marcel Breuer

Marcel Breuer

Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...

, the Southwest Residential Area designed by Hugh Stubbins Jr of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...

, The Fine Arts Center by Kevin Roche

Kevin Roche

Kevin Roche is an Irish-American architect known for his creative work with glass.Born in Dublin, Roche spent his formative years in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork before he graduated from University College Dublin in 1945. He then worked with Michael Scott from 1945-1946...

, the W.E.B. Du Bois Library by Edward Durell Stone

Edward Durell Stone

Edward Durell Stone was a twentieth century American architect who worked primarily in the Modernist style.-Early life:...

, and Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium

Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium

Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was home to the UMass Minutemen football team through the 2011 season, and remains home to the UMass Minutewomen lacrosse team. The stadium is...

by Gordon Bunshaft

Gordon Bunshaft

Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...

. Many of the older dorms and lecture halls are built in a Georgian Revival style such as French Hall, Fernald Hall

Fernald Hall

Fernald Hall is the primary lecture hall and laboratory used by the entomology program of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The building also contains the main office of the Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences, and houses the university's extensive collection of domestic and foreign...

and Flint Laboratory

Flint Laboratory

Flint Laboratory is an academic building and a former dairy laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was the first building of the Ellis Drive "agricultural group", including Stockbridge Hall and an unbuilt hall for agricultural mechanics...

.

Newly completed construction projects on campus include the Studio Arts Building, the Campus Recreation Center and the Integrated Science Building. There are projects on campus currently under construction which include: a new Campus Police Station, the George N. Parks Minuteman Marching Band Building, a Bowditch Greenhouse, the Southwest Concourse and a Laboratory Sciences Building.

South Campus

The Isenberg School of Management

Isenberg School of Management

The Isenberg School of Management is the business school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Founded in 1947 as the School of Business Administration, Isenberg assumed its present name in 1997 in honor of alumnus and benefactor Eugene M. Isenberg...

has its buildings in the southernmost part of campus near the Visitors Center and the Newman Center, the Catholic student center

Newman Centre

Named in honour of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, the Newman Centers are residence and Catholic ministry centers at non-Catholic universities throughout the world. They were inspired by Newman's writings encouraging societies for Catholic students attending secular universities.In 1888 the...

. In addition to being the site of the main administration building, Whitmore, the southeast side of campus has buildings mainly dedicated to the humanities and fine arts. Buildings include Herter, Bartlett, Mahar and the Fine Arts Center (FAC). Between Whitmore, the FAC and Isenberg lies the Haigis Mall, a local stop on both the PVTA and Peter Pan bus

Peter Pan Bus Lines

Peter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance bus carrier headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. It operates in the northeastern United States. Over four million passengers per year travel on Peter Pan's bus routes....

lines. The buildings on the southwest side of campus house the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. These include Dickinson Hall and Tobin Hall.

Student Union

The Student Union Building houses most of the University's registered student organizations (RSOs) and is the home of the Student Government Association. Other facilities include a convenience store, a ball room, and a student lounge. Several student-run businesses and co-ops are also present in the building including: Campus Design and Copy (CD&C), Tickets Unlimited, Bike Coop, People's Market (a Fair trade

Fair trade

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...

convenience store/bagel shop), and a vegan/vegetarian eatery called Earthfoods Cafe.
The Student Union also includes a stairwell and a connecting passageway to walk through to the Campus Center. Many students can be found walking through the buildings rather than outside to get around campus as well as doing homework in the lounge chairs provided.

South College

The linguistics department is located at the South College. The DuBois library was intended to be an annex to South College.

Campus Center
Designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer

Marcel Breuer

, the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center is located adjacent to the Student Union and is accessible via passageways from both the Student Union as well as from the main level of the parking garage.

On the concourse level are the campus store, restrooms, graduate student lounge, which serves beer, and the Bluewall, which contains a cafe, a smoothie stand and a fair trade coffee stand. This level is a high-traffic area throughout most of the day with students and faculty not only using it as a 'pass through' from one building to another, but also as the central hub of on-campus life. Many people often pass the time between classes on this level and it is common to find organizations operating from fold-out tables along either side. Vendors have recently been banned from operating in the campus center.

The lower level of the campus center has multiple conference rooms and a large auditorium. Within the central space of the lower level are telephones, ATMs, vending, as well as couches and television. The offices of the University newspaper, The Daily Collegian, can be found at the far end of the level, along with the University radio station, WMUA

WMUA

WMUA is a student-run College radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and its signal is also received in southern New Hampshire and western Worcester County, Massachusetts...

, and its offices. One of the basement rooms is home to the UMass Science Fiction Society's library which is the second largest Science Fiction library on the east coast.

The top floor of the Campus Center, "The Top of the Campus" recently underwent a complete renovation. It is home to a state of the art teaching kitchen, beverage lab and dining room facility.

Campus Center Hotel
Above the concourse level is the Campus Center Hotel, a five-level full service facility with 116 rooms, including four suites located in the Campus Center. The Campus Center Hotel is the training ground for the university's Hospitality and Tourism Management students. The Campus Center Hotel was completely renovated and refurnished in 2009 and was renamed "The UMASS Hotel at the Campus Center."

Fletcher's Cafe
Fletcher's Café is a student-run business on campus at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. It is located in Flint Lab, the Hospitality and Tourism Management building, which is next to the campus center parking garage. Students that are part of the Hospitality and Tourism Management major take on full managerial responsibilities and are required to hire employees, order food and drinks, take care of accounting and hopefully make a profit by the end of the semester. Fletcher's Cafe is currently run by Jamie Tooley and Dan Shaw.

North Campus

The north side of campus is mostly dedicated to science and engineering, and many buildings there are newer than their counterparts in the humanities. The Physics Department primarily uses Hasbrouck Lab, located at 666 North Pleasant Street. The Lederle Graduate Research Tower is the largest building on the north side, housing the Math department on its sixteenth floor. As the Math Department headquarters, the sixteenth floor is prominently labeled 4². The Silvio Conte

Silvio O. Conte

Silvio Ottavio Conte was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for 16 terms, from January 3, 1959, until his death.-Birth:...

Polymer Research facility is located in North campus.

Springfield Campus

In 2010, the University of Massachusetts Amherst opened the first building of its campus on Court Square in Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

- UMass's Urban Design Studio. Springfield is the largest city in the Knowledge Corridor

Knowledge Corridor

The Knowledge Corridor is term for the area comprising north-central Connecticut and the south-central Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts...

, and the cultural and economic capital of the Pioneer Valley

Pioneer Valley

The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...

. UMass's Urban Design Studio is its first venture into Springfield, although it appears that in 2012, the university may move into a larger historically significant building next door to the current design studio.

Computer science

The Computer Science department recently moved into an airy new building built for them on the edge of campus, though classes are often taught elsewhere, especially for lower division classes. Between the imposing concrete LGRT, the second-story walkway from it to its sister structure the LGRC, the glass-and-aluminum Computer Science building, and other new buildings for the Engineering and Polymer Science departments, North Campus looks more "high-tech" than the rest of campus.

Sustainability on Campus

The campus adopted (OS1) — cleaning program that stresses environmental health and specific standards — 15 years ago.

The award-winning Central Heating Plant, opened in 2009, is one of the cleanest-burning plants in the nation. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 75 percent from the previous coal-burning plant that dated back to 1918.

Across campus, other conservation measures have cut campus greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent since 2004.

Sustainability Studies is offered through the University Without Walls, the university's adult bachelor's degree completion program.

Sports, recreation, and exercise

Major sporting events, such as UMass's hockey and basketball team games, are held in the Mullins Center

Mullins Center

The William D. Mullins Memorial Center, also known as the Mullins Center, is a 10,600 seat multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Mullins Center is the home of UMass Minutemen Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, and Men's Ice...

, amidst the fields to the west. Other locales for sporting events include Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium

Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium

(where UMass holds its football games) and Garber Field, which is an artificial-turf field adjacent to Boyden Gym used for lacrosse, field hockey, and various team practices.

In fall 2007, ground was broken across the street from the Mullins Center on a new $50 million recreation complex. The Recreation Center was completed in spring 2009 and spans three floors, including weight and cardio equipment, a basketball court and jogging/running track, activity rooms, locker facilities, and a juice bar. The Rec Center is free for undergraduates, and available for a fee to graduate students and faculty/staff. The building was originally scheduled to open in early September, but was delayed due to problems with fire safety and security systems. The Rec Center opened to the public on December 3, 2009.

On campus there are two other gyms: Totman (adjacent to the North Apartments) and Boyden (near the Southwest residential area). Prior to 2009, both gyms held fitness centers which have been replaced by the Rec Center. Both buildings also hold basketball courts (although the Totman court has remained closed in the fall 2009 semester), locker room facilities, and pools. Both buildings also hold classrooms and offices; Totman in particular is home to the kinesiology department and has a student-run Body Shop. There are four small in-dorm gyms that are available for a fee as part of the Wellness program; in Lewis (in Northeast), John Quincy Adams and Washington towers (in Southwest), and Webster (in Orchard Hill). To the west of campus are numerous fields used for recreation and intramural sports. There is also a set of tennis courts located north of Boyden.

The baseball team plays its home games at Earl Lorden Field

Earl Lorden Field

Earl Lorden Field is a baseball field located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. The field is home to the UMass Minutemen baseball team of the Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. The field is named after former UMass baseball coach Earl Lorden...

, adjacent to the Mullins Center practice rink. Down the street, near Southwest, is the UMass Softball Complex as well as Rudd Field, home of the UMass men's and women's soccer teams.

In addition to Totman and Boyden, there is Curry Hicks Cage

Curry Hicks Cage

Curry Hicks Cage is an athletic facility on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. It was built in 1931 by alumni Clinton Goodwin. It was named in 1941 for Curry Hicks, who had been the athletic director at the school since 1911...

, which hosts a small indoor track, pool, and basketball court. It is also occasionally used as a venue for guest speakers (such as the fall 2006 visit from comedian Bob Saget

Bob Saget

Robert Lane "Bob" Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Although he is best known for his roles as Danny Tanner in Full House, host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, Saget is also known outside of television for his blue...

) and for the Western Mass high school basketball championships and other similar sporting events. The Cage was the home of the UMass men's and women's basketball teams before the Mullins Center was built.

Campus bus system

The campus bus system was established in 1969 as the Student Senate Transit Services (now UMass Transit). In 1973, a demonstration grant secured money to set up a fare-free transit system. This, coupled with increased parking fees and strict parking regulations, was used to alleviate vehicular congestion and parking problems on campus. In 1976, the University of Massachusetts Transit Services became a contractor for PVTA

Pioneer Valley Transit Authority

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority oversees and coordinates public transportation in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Currently the PVTA offers fixed-route bus service as well as paratransit service for the elderly and disabled. The PVTA was created by Chapter 161B of the...

. UMass Transit (or UMTS) introduced an honor-based system in which any potential rider (not including students with valid UCards) during certain reduced service periods times of the year (or PVTA employees at any time of year) will be expected to have in his or her possession a ticket purchased locally in Amherst that grants either single or multiple rides, or a days or weeks pass purchased in Amherst or from a Springfield or Northampton bus. UMass Transit, or UMTS, is a contractor for the PVTA, and runs its Amherst based routes from a garage based on campus. It serves not only the University of Massachusetts campus, but also the surrounding colleges and communities. This bus system is run primarily by University students and is free for students, which allows them to easily get to classes at the other four colleges.

Residential areas

At UMass Amherst, only Freshman are required to live on campus.
Housing is open to all full-time undergraduate students, regardless of year. Upper-class students who have continuously lived on campus during their first and sophomore years are guaranteed housing as long as they choose to live on campus. If, however, a student is admitted after their sophomore year, or moves off campus, and wants to move back onto campus, they are not guaranteed housing, but instead must go through a housing lottery, since demand outstrips supply. Housing assignments are accomplished by a complex process that takes into account building seniority as well as class year; those choosing to move from their building are subject to a lottery system. There are approximately 12,000 students living on-campus.

Parking on-campus

Parking at UMass is open to all students via Parking Services for a fee. Cost varies depending on seniority and location. The most typical student parking permits range from $60 to $300 for the year. It is a color coded system with Green, Purple and Yellow Lots available to students. Purple Lots are typically closest to the dorm/housing areas; Yellow Lots are the cheapest but the farthest away; Green lots are for commuter students.
Parking is also available in the campus garage for a fee of $1.50 per hour during the day. In the evening there is a night rate of $3.00. Payment options include cash or ucard. Meter parking is also available at select locations throughout campus. The meters accept nickels, dimes, and quarters only.