The fall semester is here!  

To some, the summer feels like downtime with most students away from campus, but it is when some of the most impactful work happens: faculty traveling to conduct research, staff laying the foundation for fall programs and courses, and students participating in career-building internships.

In fact, you could say that we're "on fire" here at McCormack! Let me give you a few examples.  

Locally, this summer has seen the Boston mayoral race heat up as we draw closer to the primary election. I hope you caught some of my interviews with the candidates (see selected photos below) on WUMB's Commonwealth Journal public affairs radio show; they continue on Sundays until the September 24 primary. Our Commonwealth Compact is co-organizing a debate on September 10 which focuses on issues of concern to communities of color.  

McCormack will also be co-sponsoring a pair of mayoral forums on September 19 and October 9 which will be broadcast live on Boston's NPR station, WBUR 90.9 FM.  

In mid-August, our exceptional staff at the Collins Center trained 200 municipal and nonprofit managers from four states on how to use data to manage performance. In the eyes of many, they are pioneers on the frontiers of management, accountability, transparency, and building trust in government. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone encouraged municipal managers to "let 'er rip," to "set goals and make investment decisions backed up by transparent data," and to "spread the good gospel of performance management."

From our Gerontology folks, read about their new $942,000 Pension Action Center grant from the Administration on Aging to help people recover lost earned retirement benefits and a new certificate on management of transportation options for seniors.

Globally, our faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance are engaged in bringing peace and stability to Nigerian hot spots where religious, cultural, and ethnic divides are plagued by civil conflicts. Also, Donna Haig Friedman, who directs our Center for Social Policy, offered enlightened testimony at a recent United Nations poverty conference.

And, I saved the best for last ... in collaboration with the new School for the Environment in the College of Science and Mathematics, our collaborative $3.1M Integrated Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant from the National Science Foundation will provide the fuel to help us train the next generation of environmental problems solvers. We are now among the top 100 universities to have earned this competitive, five-year grant and have earned a near record-high funding level with the major portion used for stipends and training expenses for our doctoral students in global governance and human security and three other PhD programs on campus.

I invite you to feel the fervent energy I feel each and every day. I hope that our news stories, our special events, and all our research and service activities ignite your enthusiasm to join us as we strive to make our local and global communities a better place for all.  

 Yours,