After years of dropping enrollment, the Labor Studies Center at UMass Amherst is getting help from the school’s administration. Chancellor Kumble Subaswammy released a three-year plan that includes financial support from labor unions. Subaswammy said he laid out the explicit goals in order to address financial and enrollment issues, and, he said, set the record straight. That’s after public criticism from the labor center’s former director.

The Chancellor said he’s optimistic and committed to the center, which he said differs from mainstream academic departments in a number of ways.

Click the audio player above to hear Subaswammy’s interview with New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan.