First Impression from the President

Links Related to this Story

As Maine's land-grant university, The University of Maine has a long-standing national reputation in fields most people quickly associate with land-grant schools, such as engineering, agriculture, and natural sciences. We're proud of that reputation.

However, the prominence of those programs often overshadows the fact that in most states, the land-grant university also includes unparalleled excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Such also is the case in Maine. Even with outstanding liberal arts colleges such as Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby, UMaine's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences each year serves more students, offers more degree programs, and confers more degrees than any other public or private school in the state. The quality behind those numbers is why UMaine and those three schools are the only ones in Maine to qualify for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious honor society.

A strong grounding in liberal arts and sciences is important in career and professional development. Our society depends on citizens and leaders who understand the history and perspectives of peoples, cultures, and conditions, and who have the skills to solve problems creatively, work together and communicate effectively, and complete projects successfully.

One way we intend to provide that experience is through expanding our current Honors Program — one of the nation's oldest, by the way — into a larger, full-fledged Honors College, one that will bring together ideas and perspectives from across our academic disciplines.

UMaine's Honors College offers the best of both academic worlds: the rigor and relative intimacy of small, select liberal arts colleges; and the breadth and diversity of a university education where students are offered highly focused programs in engineering, the physical sciences, and professional development. Thus, the Honors College represents the unique strength of UMaine itself: a school with the complexity of a large university but small enough to offer students a welcoming, desirable sense of familiarity, place, and comfort.

Peter S. Hoff
President