University of Maine

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From the College

The University of Maine, the land-grant university and sea-grant college of the state of Maine, has a mission to provide teaching and public service and to carry out research for the state of Maine and the country. The University was established in 1865 as the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. When the institution opened its doors in 1868, it had 12 students and 2 faculty members. Today, the University of Maine has approximately 740 faculty members and 12,000 students who represent forty-eight states and sixty-five countries. The University of Maine is a participant in the New England Regional Program sponsored by the New England Board of Higher Education.

The University of Maine is the flagship institution of the seven-member University of Maine System. Two hundred four buildings sit on the University of Maine’s 660-acre central campus. Forests, botanical gardens, and other “green” spaces make up the rest of the 5,500-acre campus, overlooking the Stillwater River. Ivy-covered buildings and pathways shaded by evergreens create a campus that is inviting and picturesque during all four seasons. Students living on campus may select from a variety of housing options, from residence halls to apartment-style complexes to fraternity and sorority houses.

The University has more than 235 student organizations, including honor and professional societies, fraternities, and sororities. Ten women’s and nine men’s intercollegiate NCAA Division I athletic programs are part of the campus community. Numerous intramural and club sports give all students an opportunity to be physically active. Two gymnasiums, a field house, an indoor pool, a sports arena, a domed field, and a 10,000-seat athletic stadium are used for NCAA Division I athletics. A 14,000-square-foot recreation center, which opened in fall 2007, and the Maine Bound Center, with a climbing wall, provide opportunities for recreational sports. For students’ creative interests, there are two theaters, excellent music facilities, recital halls, and studios for dance and the visual arts. Community services include a newspaper, a radio station, a police and safety department, and a health facility.

The town of Orono is situated in central Maine, 8 miles north of Bangor, Maine’s third-largest city. The University of Maine is 240 miles north of Boston and 306 miles from Montreal. The Bangor area is served by daily air and bus transportation. The local area offers many opportunities for a wide range of recreational activities. Within an easy drive of the campus are many sites of great natural beauty such as Acadia National Park, Mount Katahdin and Baxter State Park, as well as several ski resorts, including Sugarloaf/USA and Sunday River.

The University of Maine offers more than eighty baccalaureate degree programs through five colleges: the College of Business, Public Policy, and Health; the College of Education and Human Development; the College of Engineering; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. The Division of Lifelong Learning also offers a Bachelor of University Studies degree for part-time adult learners.

The University of Maine is a year-round educational institution. The academic year is divided into two 15-week semesters, from early September to early May; a three-week May term; a summer session with two- to eight-week sessions; and a summer field session. The University offers evening as well as day classes.

All students in baccalaureate degree programs must meet the University’s General Education requirements. In addition, each academic college sets its own requirements in terms of grades and the number of credits and specific courses required for graduation. Information concerning specific graduation requirements can be found in the undergraduate catalog (http://catalog.umaine.edu). Academic advisers assist all students with completing their degree requirements and fulfilling their personal educational objectives.

The University of Maine provides many opportunities to encourage intellectual curiosity and recognize exceptional achievement. Outstanding entering first-year students are offered the opportunity to participate in the Honors College, one of the country’s oldest. Those who successfully complete the honors curriculum and the honors thesis graduate with Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors. Many academic colleges and majors also offer membership in various honor societies. Students and faculty members on campus are members of thirty-nine such societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Xi Sigma Pi, Kappa Delta Pi, Beta Gamma Sigma, and Alpha Zeta. The University also recognizes top graduates as cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude.

ROTC programs are available in the Army and Navy/Marine Corps.

At least forty departments of the University offer field-based learning programs, including internships, cooperative education programs, and field experience. Students are given academic credit and/or compensation for on-the-job experience in their major field.

The University of Maine offers a number of international student exchanges through the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), the College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS), and the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). The University also sponsors reciprocal exchanges between the University of Maine and such countries as Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, and Japan and sponsors a Junior Year Abroad Program in Salzburg, Austria. The Canada Year program, which is coordinated by the University’s Canadian-American Center, offers students the opportunity to study at various Canadian universities.

Fogler Library, which is located at the center of the campus, was built in 1942 and an addition was completed in 1976. It is Maine’s largest library collection and the eighteenth-largest library in New England. It contains 1,094,622 volumes and more than 1.64 million microforms, subscribes to 12,412 periodicals, and is a regional depository for more than 2 million government documents. Its departments include Reference Services, the Science and Engineering Center, Special Collections, the Learning Materials Center, Government Documents, and the Listening Center.

All departments on campus provide the necessary laboratories and equipment to support student and faculty research. Undergraduates have access to computer facilities through the University’s widespread wireless network as well as through computers located throughout the campus. All classroom buildings are wireless and all residence halls are connected to the University’s computer system which provides access to a variety of software programs and network services.

Among the other facilities on campus are the newly renovated Collins Center for the Arts, which includes the Hutchins Concert Hall (seating capacity of 1,435) and the Hudson Museum, an ethnographic and archeological museum with a permanent collection of 8,000 pieces of pre-Hispanic Mexican, Central American, and Native American artifacts. The University of Maine Museum of Art, located in downtown Bangor, is the only museum owned by the citizens of the state of Maine housing a permanent fine arts collection. Art Department Galleries, a public observatory, a planetarium, and the Page Home and Farm Museum are all part of the University of Maine campus community. Recently completed or renovated buildings include the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Building, the Wes Jordan Athletic Training Center, and art galleries and studios in Lord Hall. Renovations on the Collins Center for the Arts were completed in February of 2009.

Costs are adjusted annually by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees. For the 2008–09 academic year, tuition for undergraduate state residents was $239 per credit hour; for nonresident students, it was $686 per credit hour. (The average credit load for full-time students is 15 credit hours per semester, or 30 credit hours for the academic year.) Canadian and nonresident students who qualify for the New England Regional Program pay $359 per credit hour. Required University fees ($1900 per year for a full-time student) include the Unified Fee, which provides a variety of health-care services and admission to cultural, recreational, and athletic events. Books and supplies average about $1100 for the academic year. Room and board (nineteen meals per week) charges for the academic year were $8008. These costs are subject to change.

The University requires all financial aid applicants to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and encourages students to file online. The priority deadline to apply for aid is March 1. Awards usually consist of a combination of several types of aid, ranging from grants and scholarships to work-study jobs and student loans.

The University of Maine has approximately 829 full- and part-time faculty members and a student-faculty ratio of 15:1. A number of faculty members teach both undergraduate and graduate courses. Graduate students serve as teaching assistants in some departments. Faculty members are involved in both teaching and research and also serve as academic advisers to undergraduate students. In addition, the faculty takes an active part in the education of students outside of the classroom through seminars, workshops, and discussion groups and by serving as advisers to student organizations. Many faculty members also serve on the Student Advisory Committee, the Student Conduct Committee, and other organizations on campus that serve the needs of students.

An elected president, vice president, and vice president of financial affairs direct and coordinate Student Government programs at the University of Maine. Student Government works closely with the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and appoints 200 student representatives to the various University committees. These committees are involved with the planning and implementation of residence hall programs, student discipline, athletics, and cultural activities on campus. The work of the executive budgetary committee of Student Government includes the budgeting of approximately $400,000 in student activity fees. Student Government comprises five governing boards and the General Student Senate.

Admission to the University of Maine is a selective process. Successful applicants are those whose scholastic achievement, intellectual curiosity, and established study habits promise success in a comprehensive university environment. The admission committee reviews the strength of the high school curriculum, the grades received, the counselor recommendation, and either SAT or ACT scores as the primary criteria for admission. Student essays and information regarding the applicant’s school and community activities provide additional information that may help the committee evaluate potential for success.

The University recognizes advanced work completed in secondary schools by means of Advanced Placement tests. Also, students who demonstrate advanced knowledge may be exempted from certain courses and requirements if they pass examinations specially developed by the University’s academic departments.

An application form, which is available online, from the Admission office, or any Maine high school guidance office, should be submitted with the nonrefundable application fee. Electronic submission is preferred. The University of Maine is a member of the Common Application, which may be submitted electronically or by paper copy, and the online-only Universal College Application. Additional required documents include official high school transcripts along with counselor recommendations. Traditional-age applicants are required to submit scores from either the SAT or ACT.

Students are encouraged to submit their admission applications and all supporting documents by February 1. In addition, the University of Maine has an early action deadline of December 15. Students whose complete applications are postmarked by December 15 are reviewed by the end of January. Early action candidates are given first consideration for merit scholarships awarded by the Admissions Office. Students applying for the spring semester are encouraged to submit applications by December 1. Applications after these dates are processed on a space-available basis. Applications and all supporting documents should be sent to UMS Processing, P.O. Box 412, Bangor, Maine 04402-0412.