FALL RIVER -- UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack says the school is trying to get past its 2003 financial problems and focus on becoming a "regional education powerhouse" in the new year.
MacCormack said on Tuesday that the university plans to increase its community involvement through offices such as its Continuing Education Center, in the old Cherry, Webb & Touraine building in downtown Fall River.
The center allows about 700 students to take courses for a bachelor's or master's degree, or receive assistance in attaining a GED.
Offices, such as the center, UMass' College of Performing Arts in New Bedford and its Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center on Route 6 in Fall River, are essential for maintaining the university's foothold in the community, MacCormack said.
"No community has ever been successful without a university to help drive it," she said. "If the university fails, the region fails."
At UMass Dartmouth's main campus, 2004 will mean more students and more professors, MacCormack said. The school accepted an additional 1,000 students in 2003, bringing its enrollment to about 8,500, she said, adding that she hoped to bring that number up to 10,000 in the next few years.
The school also hired 24 new professors in 2003, to compensate for early retirements, MacCormack said. She said the school plans to hire 43 more in 2004.
UMass Dartmouth also has the fastest-growing research portfolio of any UMass campus, with a total of more than $17 million in research money, MacCormack said. In the next few years, she said, research financing will probably grow to $25 million.
The ample research budget was a relief when compared with the school's financial troubles in 2003, which MacCormack called "the worst financial year in the school's history."
