UMass Global Question

[tp_0722]

Hello guys,

My name is Tyler - new member here. I've been reading the board for a couple of weeks and I have to commend you all on the community here. I'm an experienced message-boarder and, pound for pound, the posters on this site seem to know their stuff more than most other fan sites.

I've created a new thread to ask a question about UMass Global.

A little bit of background: I work in the banking industry, and recently my employer partnered with a new tuition reimbursement company. UMass Global is one of the schools available for 100% reimbursement so that obviously caught my eye.

1) Does anyone have any experience with UMass Global? I know the UMass system recently "acquired" Brandman University and this is essentially a renaming, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

2) Do you all consider students enrolled at UMass Global to be true UMass students? Essentially what I'm asking is would it be silly for me to start rooting for the team(s) in Amherst? I know UMass Global isn't UMass Amherst, which I understand to be a very reputable and high-quality institution. I would never think to conflate the two from an academic perspective. I suppose my question is one of insecurity and concern: would I be welcomed by the fanbase at-large?

Am I worried about something that doesn't matter so much in the grand scheme of things? Maybe. Am I free to root for whichever program(s) I so choose? Sure. But I've always been someone who looks to attach to an in-group.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

[McKinney]

A number of fans are not alumni. People who grew up in the area, had friends/family who went to UMass, or some other connection to the university. Any and all are welcome!

[e_parade]

Whatever reason you want to root for UMass is good enough for us. Welcome to the club! I hope you like commiseration.

As for UMass Global - no experience with it myself...other than finding out right now that I literally drove by the campus of it two months ago when I was in Irvine...weird. But it seems like it would be similar to how the Harvard Extension school is affiliated with Harvard. Not technically Harvard, but enough so that Harvard fully endorses it as the parent institution. Sounds pretty cool. Best of luck with what you're going for there!