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UMass President Set To Deliver 'State Of The University' Address Monday

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — UMass President Marty Meehan will be delivering the first-ever "State of the University" address Monday evening.

Meehan is planning to recap the school's achievements from the past year, highlight the importance of the university to Massachusetts, and lay out his vision for the five-campus system's future.

Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Senate President Stan Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo are among those expected to attend the event along with faculty and students.

The address is scheduled to take place Monday at 5 p.m. at the UMass Club on Beacon Street in Boston.

The event will be streamed live on Massachusetts.edu, and broadcast on Facebook Live on the UMass Facebook page.

Meehan spoke with WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Suzanne Sausville about the address--and also about the cost of a UMass education.

"I'd like to see us be able to keep tuition and fees level," Meehan said. "When I graduated from UMass Lowell in 1978, I could actually work on weekends and summers and cover all the tuition and fees. Today, it's very difficult to do that, because the cost has shifted from the Commonwealth to students and their families."

He said the desire to keep college affordable for everyone was the reason the university teamed up with Gov. Baker to develop the Commonwealth Committment--where someone can attend UMass after two years of community college and get a four-year degree if they commute for about $30,000.

Meehan has been president since July, 2015.

The former congressman is a 1978 graduate and former chancellor of UMass Lowell. He's the first undergraduate alumnus to become president of the UMass system.

He also said he'll announce early this week who the new chancellor of UMass Dartmouth will be.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Suzanne Sausville reports

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