Celebrating a Decade of Growth and Impact at 10th Birthday Bash
Over 500 students, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate the college's 10th anniversary on April 8, 2025.
The Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) community came together to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a college during the CICS Birthday Bash on Tuesday, April 8. Over 500 faculty, students, and staff gathered to reflect on the college’s growth over the past decade and look ahead to an exciting future.
Attendees enjoyed boba tea, pizza, and of course, birthday cake with options to participate in a video greeting card station—where participants recorded messages celebrating the college’s achievements and offered well-wishes for the future—and sign up for mini-tours of the college’s new 90,000 square foot building, slated for completion in time for the Fall 2025 semester. Guests also lined up to pick up CICS swag, including a commemorative T-shirt featuring a design by informatics major Selena Luo ‘26.
In the spotlight
“CICS has come a long way in a relatively short time. We’re proud of the strides we’ve made in computing education and research, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone—every member of the CICS community—who has been part of this journey.”
The decade since the UMass Amherst School of Computer Science was elevated to the College of Information and Computer Sciences has been a time of tremendous growth for the university’s youngest college, with student enrollment almost tripling and the number of faculty more than doubling. Among other milestones, a $15 million gift from the MassMutual Foundation established the college’s Center for Data Science and the UMass Amherst Cybersecurity Institute in 2016 and a $18 million endowment from Robert and Donna Manning renamed the college in 2021.
The college also built on its history of innovative teaching during this time, launching an undergraduate degree in informatics in 2019, an online master’s program in computer science in 2021, and an undergraduate certificate in public interest technology in 2023.
“CICS has come a long way in a relatively short time,” said Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Dean Laura Haas. “We’re proud of the strides we’ve made in computing education and research, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone—every member of the CICS community—who has been part of this journey.”
As the celebration ended, organizers tallied the submissions to a word cloud with partygoers’ answers to the question, “What is one word you’d use to describe CICS?” “Inclusive,” “collaborative,“ and “innovation” appeared as the top picks—fitting words for a college defined by its mission of “Computing for the Common Good.”
View photos from the event
Download the infographic "10 Years of Impact & Growth"