UMass President Robert Caret addressed the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Thursday.
Mary Moore
Reporter- Boston Business Journal
Speaking to a full room at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning, University of Massachusetts President Robert Caret asked them for one of three things.
Financial support. Political support. Or emotional support.
On the last point, he said, a hug would be fine. And Caret did, indeed, get the offer a hug from one attorney in the audience who only identified himself as being from Brazil.
Caret was speaking to a breakfast meeting of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, there to announce the launch of a new initiative that will measure the UMass campuses in six main categories with 21 indicators of success. The first report is due out next spring.
Read more: Caret to announce new accountability system for UMass.
It’s a way to prove “that we are accountable, we are transparent,” Caret said.
Caret also took the speaking engagement as an opportunity to highlight all that the UMass system does for Massachusetts and why it deserves corporate and political support — and a higher amount of annual state funding. Research and development, royalties and licenses, patents, and more, all of which contributes to a $5 billion economic impact in Massachusetts as a result of UMass, Caret said.
In terms of how UMass helps the workforce, the system graduates 15,000 students a year and between 83 percent and 85 percent of them stay in Massachusetts, according to Caret’s estimates. One goal, Caret said, is to propel students through their education more quickly, which will save the state and UMass money.
“We want them to explore, but we can only invest so much in the exploration,” he said.
Non-Profits, Philanthropy, Higher Education
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