UMass Lowell to Return to Full-On Campus Operations

03/19/2021

Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4994, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell plans to return to full on-campus operations for the fall 2021 semester, the university announced today.

“I can’t say enough about how grateful I am for everything you have done for our university, our students and each other during the past year,” Chancellor Jacquie Moloney said in a message to campus employees, adding that UMass Lowell is “emerging from this pandemic in a far stronger place than many of our peers across the country.”

“With vaccinations accelerating nationwide and multiple semesters of COVID-19 lessons learned and effectively implemented behind us, we believe we will be able to create a safe, social and interpersonal living and learning experience for all our students on campus,” Provost Joseph Hartman said. “This spring we’ve already increased our on-campus populations in classrooms and our residence halls. We’ve all learned through their absence just how important person-to-person interactions are.”

Current UMass Lowell students can begin registering for fall classes on March 26 and new students can do so through the admissions process.

For the second consecutive year, UMass President Marty Meehan is recommending a tuition freeze, a move Chancellor Jacquie Moloney and her administration strongly supports.

UMass Lowell will continue to adhere to national and state public health guidance in place, if any, come September. And while campus operations may not look identical to 2019 when the semester begins, university services ranging from student activities to the Campus Recreation Center to research and dining will all be finalizing and posting plans on the UMass Lowell website in the coming months to move as close to normal as possible. Details on the fall 2021 semester are available at Fall 2021.

The university will continue to be diligent this semester in testing and other steps to ensure the safety of the campus community.

“We certainly recognize that COVID-19 won’t disappear. In addition to continued enhanced cleaning and other public health measures, our weekly surveillance testing will continue. With a 0.4 positivity rate during the 2020-21 academic year out of more than 40,000 tests performed, UMass Lowell’s testing program has been essential to our ability to move forward. Thank you to our students for your responsible behavior in keeping our campus and our communities safe,” said Hartman. “While we’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish during the most challenging year in memory, a university is its people and the discoveries and creations that come from their interactions.”

UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu