Wilson began his term in the wake of a public feud between then-Gov. W. Mitt Romney and system President William M. Bulger.
UMass president Jack M Wilson left Thursday after eight years as the system's president.AMHERST – Jack M. Wilson has ended his eight-year tenure as president of the University of Massachusetts with the flagship Amherst campus marking great strides in research and building, but mired in controversy over its chancellor and stifled by the state’s economic crisis.
Wilson began his term in the wake of a public feud between then-Gov. W. Mitt Romney and system President William M. Bulger. His last day in office was June 30.
Bulger was a former state Senate president with connections that could only help the system, but Romney repeatedly called for Bulger to leave after he refused to testify before a congressional committee investigating his fugitive mobster brother, James “Whitey” Bulger, who was caught last week after 16 years on the run.
Wilson “came in at a controversial time and he certainly had more than his share of issues to deal with,” said UMass Trustee Edward W. Collins Jr., of Springfield. “I think he was a great asset to the system. .¤.¤. I’m sorry to see him go.”
During Wilson’s eight years – one of which he served as interim leader – the cost of attending the university grew by 58 percent.
But the stature of the system rose as well.
“I think I’m most proud of the growth we’ve seen in this university in its stature in the world,” Wilson, 66, said recently.
The Times of London this year named UMass the 19th best university in the world, based on its reputation for teaching and research.
Last year, UMass was also ranked 56th worldwide in the Times’ annual Top 200, the only public university in New England to make the list.
During Wilson’s time, the endowment rose from $146 million to $522 million.
Those who know Wilson, who had headed UMassOnline before becoming president, said he improved the system through his focus on research and technology. Wilson was a professor of physics, engineering science, information technology and management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before coming to UMass.
Trustee and former board chairman Stephen P. Tocco said Wilson “put a focus on technology development and collaborations between the campuses. We started to received grant money and research funds.”
During Wilson’s tenure, research spending rose from $320 million in 2003 to $541 million in fiscal 2010. The university also received $170 million in research grants.
Ernest D. May, president of the UMass Faculty Senate, said, “Those grants are the work of individual faculty. The work of Jack Wilson has created an atmosphere and scenario in which those kinds of projects are going to flourish.”
Wilson was one of the key leaders in the creation of the $168 million Massachusetts Green High Performance Computer Center in Holyoke, a partnership with MIT, Harvard, Boston and Northeastern universities among its partners.
When built, the center will be capable of analyzing the mountains of data required to study everything from global climate change to human genetics.
Part of the challenge any project, Wilson said, is convincing skeptics. “The skeptics make it far harder,” he said.
When it came time to build the newly opened $50 million Student Recreation Center in Amherst, “We heard 185 reasons why it couldn’t be done.”
“We promised we were going to do this for the students,” he said. His role? “I’m the chief nudge.”
Also during his tenure, the Integrated Sciences Building, the Central Heating Plant, North Apartments were completed.
Among Wilson’s critics were those opposed to UMass taking over Southern New England School of Law in Dartmouth to establish a public law school last year. They said it was costly and unneeded. Wilson said it would cost no taxpayer money, and said the state has earned $800,000 in tuition.
Wilson drew the ire of many in May 2007, when he announced a restructuring in which he would have served as chancellor of the Amherst campus and president. Then-Chancellor John V. Lombardi would have stayed on for a year to help in the transition.
Lombardi left to become the president of the Louisiana State University. News of Lombardi’s departure touched off controversy, with supporters saying he was being ousted by Wilson and the trustees. State Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, was particularly critical. He declined comment for this story.
Wilson said he was surprised by the reaction. “I thought it would get some strong support in the Pioneer Valley delegation.” And he said Lombardi was the one who proposed the change.
Wilson said he was skeptical but then thought “it was something worth considering. It was pretty much rejected from all constituencies. .¤.¤. In the end it was informative. Sometimes you have to take a bit of a risk. You learn a lot.”
May, the Faculty Senate president, called that controversy “a significant speed bump,” but said, “we recovered from that.”
A bigger hurdle, many say, is the rising cost of attending the university that is making the public institution less affordable.
Tuition, mandatory fees and room and board for an in-state undergraduate at the Amherst campus jumped 58 percent since Wilson became president, from $13,980 a year in 2003 to $22,124 for the upcoming academic year.
During the same time, the state contribution has declined from $436 million to $429 million, according to Wilson spokesman Robert P. Connolly.
Wilson said he is proud that fees were kept at or below the rate of inflation until two years ago, when they jumped $1,500. (Up to $1,100 was rebated the first year with the help of federal stimulus money.) The most recent hike is 7.5 percent, something Wilson said is unavoidable to “maintain the kind of university we need.”
“I’m a data guy,” Wilson said. “What are parents paying? It’s a perfectly fair thing to ask questions.”
But he said, for a family earning less than $30,000, the student would pay $2,000 for everything including books and fees. For a family earning $150,000 or more the student ends up paying $17,000. “That’s quite a value,” he said.
“I understand the point of view that higher education should be free. I might be convinced to subscribe,” he said. Be he said the state has not committed to that.
Financial aid during Wilson’s tenure rose from $36 million in 2003 to $131.5 million, according to Connolly.
Max Page, the former president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, said in an email, “Jack Wilson presided over the greatest era of privatization in UMass’ history, which has meant skyrocketing tuition and fees, a decline in the number of full-time faculty and staff, and a profound weakening in the university’s public mission.”
Page said Wilson “did not cause the disinvestment in public institutions that we see across the commonwealth and nation. But in his unwillingness and inability to develop a coalition of faculty, students, staff, and alumni, he failed to get our public university the state support it needs to fulfill its mission.”
Tocco said the board and incoming president Robert L. Caret will “look at how do we fund the university.” He said the structure of the UMass system needs to be examined to make it more efficient.
“You can’t be in a job like that (the presidency) without upsetting someone sometime,” Collins said. And while there were some “negative things (during Wilson’s tenure), overall his interest and his heart were with what’s good for the university.”
He lauded Wilson’s “steady, calm, deliberate demeanor, about approaching controversial problems.”
Wilson said it now is his time to leave. “You have to turn it over, it’s important to keep yourself fresh, to keep the situation fresh. .¤.¤. I enjoyed every moment of it, and it’s been an honor.”
Wilson will be temporary head of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and serve as university distinguished professor of higher education, emerging technologies and innovation, based at UMass-Lowell.
Wilson did not slip away quietly last week. On the day he left, he announced the resolution with UMass-Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub. Holub would remain for one more year.
The evalutation committee report recommending against his reappoiontment had been leaked to the Boston Globe in May, leaving people on campus wondering Holub’s fate for more than a month. Wilson declined to comment on how or why that decision was reached.