Get daily Westford text alerts by subscribing here
State Rep. James Arciero, along with members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education recently visited the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Middlesex Community College in Lowell. This visit was one of many that the Committee has undertaken in their fact finding tour across the Commonwealth’s 29 higher education campuses.
At Umass Lowell, the contingent of members from the Joint Committee toured the bustling and expanding urban campus. The team also spoke to UML Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney, where the members learned about recent successes and current challenges facing the university. Following the Umass tour, the team went to Middlesex Community College where they met with a group of student leaders at the Cowan Center to discuss some of the issues facing students on that campus.
After the meeting, the group toured the campus making stops at the Asian Center, the health and science buildings, and the new dental clinic labs. Committee members also toured classes in the Talbot building, stopping to check in on the college’s esteemed biotech program, and a chemistry laboratory. Along these stops, they spoke with both faculty and students about current capacity and what else could be done to enhance the college’s programs.
The group made a final stop to the college’s food pantry, which assists in addressing the burgeoning food insecurity issue, or the lack of access to a sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food. The Higher Education Committee plans to resume the statewide college tours in January after the holiday.
