The NMC team is excited to announce the most recent addition 
to our community: The University of Massachusetts Amherst commonly known as UMass Amherst. UMass Amherst is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Home to over 28 000 students UMass Amherst is the largest public research university in New England distinguished by the excellence and breadth of its academic research community outreach programs and its dedication to creating public impact through innovation.
UMass Amherst is developing an educational ecosystem that supports active learning. In 2014 the Integrative Learning Center opened its doors in response to the learning needs of a new generation of students with greater access and familiarity with digital technologies. One of the most technology-advanced buildings on campus the center can accommodate over 2 000 students in team-based and flexible classrooms equipped with advanced instructional technology (e.g. lecture capture and video conferencing units microphones and audio video devices). The technology and classroom design enable a more personalized active learning experience for students and faculty even in large classes.
UMass Amherst cultivates instructional innovation by supporting instructors who want to try something new. This year UMass Amherst launched an Innovation Fellows program (Innovate@ Symposia) for faculty who want to address the key challenges in their classes. These symposia were four-day intensive team-based active learning events where they worked together to explore over two dozen new technologies. Additional information about this and other instructional innovations can be found on the Innovate UMass site (innovate.umass.edu) where you will find information about their efforts to help faculty make the most of the new learning spaces on campus ways to address devices in the classroom the College of Nursing's iPad initiative working with collaboration tools untethered teaching with wireless projection easier ways for students to visualize data student assignments that involve simple media production secure electronic examinations and much more.
UMass Amherst focuses on having an impact on the larger community. The Eureka! program brings rising eighth-grade girls onto the UMass Amherst campus to experience science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) as well as learn about personal development health and wellness. This program is a partnership between the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst and Girls Inc. of Holyoke Mass. and is recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as a successful way to encourage girls to choose STEM college majors or careers.
UMass Amherst ranks 29th on the U.S. News & World Report's best colleges listed for the past five years has been listed among the 100 "best college values" in public colleges compiled by Kiplinger's personal finance magazine. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and the Princeton Review rank UMass Amherst among the top research universities nationwide for their leadership in sustainability. The federal government selected UMass Amherst to lead a consortium of seven universities and host a major new initiative the Northeast Climate Science Center.
We cannot wait to see what new insights and expertise UMass is sure to bring to the NMC community!