BOSTON – The University of Massachusetts board of trustees has approved a plan to spend $3.1 billion on new construction, renovations and other upgrades over the next five years that would help in part to fund a new academic building and repairs to four residence halls on the school’s Dartmouth campus.

“The University of Massachusetts is the engine that drives economic research and development in the commonwealth – creating the jobs, producing the talent, finding the discoveries and innovations that keeps the state competitive in the global world,” said Henry Thomas III, chairman of the board of trustees, in a statement. “Our infrastructure is one of the underpinnings of that work and we must work actively to continue to make improvements.”

The five-year plan would build on a $2.4 billion capital-improvements investment that has over the last decade, the university said, been in part a response to increased enrollment. There were 57,721 students enrolled at five UMass campuses in 2002 and 70,874 in 2012. •