Bursar disburses money and deals with financial aid/student accounts. Provost is chief academic officer.

Absolutely! I'll message you after a few weeks.

Totally understand! I would have done the same except my job wanted me to have in-person hours starting in November.

We knew beforehand it would be somewhere in western Mass. because of the proximity to my new job (professor at a university in a small town). We settled on the Forest Park/Longmeadow area because of the school my kids will be attending (we're Jewish). I did visit once and I loved it! Technically our house is in Springfield but it's right by the line that separates Springfield/Longmeadow and our kids' school is in Longmeadow.

I went up over Labor Day weekend and looked at about 7 houses and put an offer down that weekend. Our budget is very limited but we were still able to get a nice 4-bed house for 250. I think with a budget like 600 you should be able to get a great place in that area, just based on what I saw!

Just wanted to comment that my family (2 adults+2 kids) are moving from Oklahoma City to Massachusetts in two weeks! We picked Longmeadow for the schooling. I would be happy to offer any support to my fellow Okies moving to Mass. 😊