About UMassOnline

President Robert L. Caret

In the ten years since its founding, as the unit that powers the marketing and technology support for online degree and certificate programs from the five UMass campuses, UMassOnline has proudly and skillfully heralded the University’s name, reputation, and quality programming among people and in places well beyond the reach of a traditional university system. As such, UMassOnline has defined, redefined, or greatly expanded the meaning and traditional limits of some terms and objectives that are integral to the University’s overarching mission and of chief importance to me. These are the University’s all-important outreach and connection to its community; its genuine commitment to diversity; and the mission of every unit within the University to aspire to be best-in-class as measured against its peer institutions.

UMassOnline brings a unique dimension to these objectives. Obviously, its community is global. Its ‘One World Class’ positioning not only acknowledges this international scope but recognizes as well the emergence over the past ten years of learners worldwide that are richer in diversity than ever before and becoming rapidly unified as one in their quest for an accessible, quality education. And, while driving this global awareness of the University’s distinctive distance learning initiative, UMassOnline has experienced tremendous growth in its own right. All of this has put the University of Massachusetts in the vanguard of universities offering online education.

Looking ahead, I have every confidence UMassOnline will continue in its second decade to explore and expand the University’s position as a leading provider of online education. In doing so, it will continue to test the presumed limits of the definition of community and the meaning of diversity, all to a standard of operational quality that will continue to be the benchmark for public institutions of higher learning everywhere.

Robert L. Caret
President
The University of Massachusetts

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