University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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curriculum became more active in the late 1920's, when a group ofalumni and students began to petition the Trustees to change the name of the College. By November of 1930 the Trustees had been persuaded to support the change. On March 26, 1931, Governor joseph B. Ely signed a bill which made the Massachusetts Agricultural College the Massachusetts State College. However, the bill contained no provisions rede- fining the purposes of the education offered. By this time enrollment had increased to 760, with no more student housing available on campus. The number of women doubled between 1925 and 1931, increasing from 100 to 216. Feeling that the Massachusetts State College had a greater role to fulfill in the Commonwealth, students and alumni again began to petition for a change in the College's focus, this time a change to status as a university. The drive met with opposition in the State Legislature in 1940 and failed. The issue was then pushed aside in 1941 with the onset of World War II. However, just as the end of World War I had brought more students to Massachusetts Agricultural College, the end of World War II caused a surge of applications. The GI Bill gave thousands of returning Massachusetts servicemen a means to get through college. By February of 1946, the Col- lege and facilities at Amherst simply could not accommodate the volume demanded. There had been no buil- ding construction and minimal repair and replacement of equipment during the war. Available resources were bare- ly adequate for a college of 1700 students. Emergency funds were granted by the Legisature for building badly needed classroom and living units. The College opened a Fort Devens branch in 1946 to handle an overflow of 2,800 veterans. As the clamor for more space continued, members of the College community realized that this was the right time to revive the University movement. A major drive was launched and, based on public support, the College became the University of Massachusetts on May 6, 1947, when Governor Robert A. Bradford signed the bill into law. The University en- rolled 2,407 students that year, with a faculty of 160. The years since 1947 have been years of rapid growth for the University. This growth and the simul- taneous increase in the quality of edu- cation have been made possible largely by the changes that have taken place in the system of governmental controls that previously hampered academic progress. The Freedom Bill of 1956 gave the University authority to ap- point properly qualified faculty mem- bers at any salary scale fwithin the limits of the budget and of the state salary scalel and transferred full con- trol over professional personnel poli- tics to the Board of Trustees, many governmental controls over purchas- ing were also transferred to the University. Rapid expansion began for the cam- pus in 1960, a year in which the student population was 6,495 and a total of 366 faculty and other academic profession- als were employed on campus. In 1970, to facilitate the coordination of the three growing campuses at Amherst, Worcester and Boston, the President! s Office was moved from Amherst to Boston. At the same time, the admin- istration of the Amherst campus was reorganized and the position of Chan- cellor as Principal Administrative Of- ficer was created. By this time, in 1970, the Amherst Campus enrollment had reached 20,462 and the faculty had grown to 1,134. Currently there are 24,012 students enrolled at the Amherst campus, and 1,464 faculty positions. Students may enroll in 94 degree programs at the undergraduate level, including 8 two- year programs, 60 degree programs are offered at the master's level and 45 programs at the doctoral level. During the past fiscal year a total of 5,345 degrees were conferred: 3,982 at the undergraduate level, 196 associate degrees from Stockbridge School of Agricultureg and 1,167 at the graduate level.

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