The Moloney Legacy

A woman has her hand over the shoulder of another woman as they walk down a hallway

08/20/2022

In her 38 years at UMass Lowell, Chancellor Jacquie Moloney played a critical role in the success of hundreds of initiatives, programs and advances. Here are some of them.

PHILANTHROPY

In Moloney’s first year as chancellor, UML launched its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign and met its $125 million goal two years ahead of schedule, raising $165 million in total. Under her leadership, the number of donors who gave $1 million and above tripled and total gifts increased by 55%. With more than $1 million in her own lifetime giving, Moloney and her husband, Ed, have led by example, especially through the creation of a new leadership institute and fellowship program that is engaging students in innovative experiential learning opportunities.

LEADERSHIP

Active in engaging industry to advance initiatives ranging from public-private research partnerships to co-op and internship opportunities for students, Moloney was in 2017 recognized as one of seven prominent “Women Who Mean Business” by the Boston Business Journal. She also received the Ray Stata Award from the Massachusetts High Technology Council in 2019, its highest award recognizing her leadership in building partnerships between universities and business and industry based on the university’s Premier Partner program that has led to partnerships with over 1,000 companies. Meanwhile, UML has been ranked in the top 20 among the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe Magazine and the Commonwealth Institute since 2017. The first woman chancellor at UMass Lowell, Moloney is an advocate and supporter of leadership opportunities for women, establishing the Women’s Leadership Conference, and advancing opportunities for women in STEM.

SUSTAINABILITY

During her first year as Chancellor, Moloney targeted sustainability as one of the university’s key strategic goals and launched its first Office of Sustainability. The center was elevated to an institute through a transformative gift by an alumnus. The university’s $23.1 million Accelerated Energy Program, formally completed on Earth Day 2019, was an expansive program to implement energy savings and sustainability measures across campus. Other highlights:

No. 1 most sustainable campus among Massachusetts peers
No. 24 on the Sierra Club’s “Cool Schools” sustainability rankings
$37M+ in sustainability research funding since 2019

Sustainability gains include:

$1.2M

in energy savings per year
1.7M

fewer gallons of water used per year
9M

fewer pounds of carbon dioxide emitted per year
$10M

saved in deferred maintenance

ACADEMIC ADVANCES

Moloney is a pioneer in web-based learning and revolutionized what is now the Division of Graduate, Online and Professional Studies to include award-winning online programs that today number more than 31,000 annual course enrollments from students across the world. Across the board, UML achieved record gains during her tenure as chancellor:

Student enrollment: +5.2%
Average GPA: +0.12 points
Average SAT: +63 points
Research expenditures: +$21.8M
Graduation rate: +13%

STRATEGIC PLAN

Moloney led the development and implementation of the 2020 Strategic Plan, which mapped out the strategies that transformed UMass Lowell into a nationally competitive public research university with unprecedented gains in enrollment, academic preparedness, diversity, student success, fundraising and research expenditures.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

As part of the 2020 strategic plan, UMass Lowell has prioritized recruiting students and employees of color. To accelerate these gains, in 2020 Moloney established the Council on Social Justice & Inclusion to develop and implement recommendations to strengthen equity and inclusion across campus and to fight gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Since 2010, student diversity has increased more than 97% and diversity among employees is up 100%.

UMASS LOWELL & COVID-19

Moloney navigated UMass Lowell through the most difficult period in its history, including budget cuts approaching 20 percent in FY 2021, transitioning to a full online learning environment, managing the safe ramp-up of students and employees living, learning and working on campus; and the celebration of signature milestones like Convocation and Commencement. Despite two years of difficulty, UMass Lowell has emerged with steady enrollment, a strong financial foundation and remains well-positioned for the future.

CAMPUS INFRASTRUCTURE

In the past decade, 19 new buildings have been added or substantially renovated on campus, increasing the campus’ square footage by nearly 60%. The investments brought new life to the university with the addition of River Hawk Village and Aiken Field on East Campus, the renewal of the iconic Coburn Hall on South Campus and Perry, Dandeneau and Olsen Halls on North Campus.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Chancellor Moloney has grown community engagement and relationships with elected and appointed leaders in the city, and partnerships with business and industry, which has resulted in support for the university and its programs, increased opportunities for engagement for faculty and students, and built alliances such as the Lowell Green Community Partnership, the master agreement with the city, growth of the iHub incubator program and East Campus expansion plans.

STUDENT LIFE

Moloney restructured Student Affairs, which enriched the student experience and grew student activities and engagement, both on and off campus.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Long a proponent of integrating entrepreneurial lessons and opportunities throughout campus life, Moloney created UMass Lowell’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and established DifferenceMaker, a national model for entrepreneurial programming that engages more than 3,000 students a year in problem-solving activities and competitions.