The University of Maine: A Comprehensive Overview of the State's Largest College
The University of Maine (UMaine) stands as the state's largest college or university, with a significant enrollment that underscores its role as a pivotal institution of higher education in Maine. This article delves into various facets of UMaine, from its historical roots and academic programs to its campus life and contributions to the state.
Introduction to the University of Maine
Located in Orono, Maine, the University of Maine is a public land-grant research university. It holds the distinction of being the flagship of the University of Maine System. With a fall 2024 enrollment of approximately 10,878 students, UMaine is the largest college or university in the state. The University of Maine's athletic teams, nicknamed the Black Bears, represent Maine's only NCAA Division I athletics program. The university's motto, "Dirigo," is Latin for "I direct."
Historical Development
The University of Maine's history is deeply intertwined with the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Founded in 1862 as a function of these acts, UMaine officially came into being in 1865. By 1871, curricula had been organized in Agriculture, Engineering, and electives. The Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station was founded as a division of the university in 1887. Gradually, the university developed the Colleges of Life Sciences and Agriculture, later including the School of Forest Resources and the School of Human Development, Engineering and Science, and Arts and Sciences.
Near the end of the 19th century, the university expanded its curriculum to place greater emphasis on liberal arts. In 1912, the Maine Cooperative Extension was initiated, offering field educational programs for both adults and youths. The School of Education was established in 1930 and received college status in 1958. The School of Business Administration was formed in 1958 and was granted college status in 1965. Women have been admitted into all curricula since 1872. The first master's degree was conferred in 1881; the first doctor's degree in 1960.
In 1968, when the University of Maine System was incorporated, the school was renamed by the legislature to the University of Maine at Orono, known informally as U.M.O. Its name was restored to the University of Maine in 1986, and the U.M.O. tag was dropped.
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Leadership and Governance
The president of the university is Joan Ferrini-Mundy, who was appointed in 2018. The senior administration governs cooperatively with the chancellor of the University of Maine system, Dannel Malloy, and the sixteen members of the University of Maine Board of Trustees (of which fifteen are appointed by the governor of Maine and one is the current Maine state commissioner of education). The Board of Trustees has full legal responsibility and authority for the university system.
Campus Overview
The University of Maine's campus spans 660 acres (2.7 km2). A tree-lined path runs through the Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamental Gardens. In 1867, the university rejected a campus plan by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City and the White House grounds in Washington, D.C. The plan's broad concepts, including the Front Lawn, were nevertheless adopted during the school's first fifty years and were oriented toward the Stillwater River. A second master plan was produced in 1932 by Carl Rust Parker of the Olmsted Brothers firm, which reoriented the campus center to the Mall, an open grassy area between the Raymond H. Fogler Library and the Memorial Union.
The campus is essentially divided into three sections: northern, southern, and hilltop. Each is located near or borders the mall. The northern section includes many of the athletic facilities, including Alfond Arena for basketball and ice hockey, Morse Field at the Alfond Sports Stadium for football, track and field, Larry Mahaney Diamond for baseball, Kessock Field (softball), the Field Hockey Complex for field hockey, and the Mahaney athletic/recreational dome.
The southern section of campus includes the Memorial Student Union, the Maynard F. Jordan Observatory, Lengyel Gymnasium and Athletic Field, the Buchanan Alumni House, and multiple administrative, residence, and academic halls. Collins Center for the Arts is on the southern part of campus. It provides the Hutchins Concert Hall, a 1,435-seat venue for performing artists from around the world, and the Hudson Museum. The Hilltop section of campus is populated largely with residence halls but also includes the 7-acre (2.8 ha) Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamental Gardens, as well as academic and recreational facilities. In 1978, the pre-1915 core of the campus, covering its earliest period of development, was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Student Life and Services
The University of Maine operates the "University Volunteer Ambulance Corps," an ambulance service fully licensed by the State of Maine. The service is operated by students and staff. UVAC's ambulances also provide aid to many surrounding towns and agencies. The service ensures a licensed Emergency Medical Technician is sent on every call. Greek life has existed at the University of Maine since 1874.
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The campus has two dining halls, Hilltop and York, and the Bear's Den Café & Pub in Memorial Union. In 2022, the university signed a contract to outsource campus dining services to Sodexo beginning on July 1, 2023. Sodexo provides food service at Maine's six other public universities. The deal requires Sodexo to pay the university a $3 million signing bonus and invest $7 million in dining hall improvements. In 2024, the high number of complaints about bad food led the university to form weekly focus groups of students.
Founded in 1875, The Maine Campus is a weekly newspaper produced by students. It covers university and Town of Orono events. The Campus is a direct-funded student organization and is not under the purview of student government.
Academic Programs and Research
The University of Maine offers more than 90 undergraduate major programs organized in five colleges: the College of Education and Human Development; the College of Engineering; the Honors College; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. UMaine also is home to one of the nation's oldest honors programs, now called the Honors College. The Honors College offers academically qualified students an opportunity for intensive, interdisciplinary study. Students are invited to become part of the Honors College during the admissions review process.
The University of Maine is also home to the Maine Business School, the largest business school in the state. The UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center, founded in 1996 with support from the National Science Foundation, provides research, education, and economic development encompassing material sciences, manufacturing, and engineering of composites and structures. Founded in 2018, the Multisensory Interactive Media Lab (MIM Lab) is moving into an era of 'Internet of Everything,' in which everything and everyone will be digitally embedded and connected. In the MIM Lab of the University of Maine, academic researchers develop novel enabling technologies to explore the immense potential for the communication of our experiences - shifting focus from the current age of information towards a new age of experience.
The University of Maine is responsible for over 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) of land across Maine which is used for research and recreation. Among the most prominent are: Aroostook Farm, (Presque Isle, Maine); Bear Brook Watershed, (Hancock County, Maine); Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, (Old Town, Maine); Holt Research Forest, (Arrowsic, Maine); Ira C. Darling Center, (Walpole, Maine); Lobster Institute, (Orono, Maine). The Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine was founded in August 1966 with funds appropriated by the Maine Legislature. The University of Maine Climate Change Institute dates to 1973 and the founding of the Institute for Quaternary Studies. In 2002, it was renamed.
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Athletics
The University of Maine participates in the NCAA's Division I level and is a member of the Coastal Athletic Association for football, Hockey East for ice hockey, and the America East Conference for all other sports. The school has won two national championships, both in men's ice hockey. In 1993, they defeated Lake Superior State University 5-4 behind a third-period hat trick by Jim Montgomery. In 1965, the football team competed in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida, against East Carolina. Although the official fight song of UMaine is "For Maine", the school's main spirit song is the better-known "Maine Stein Song". Written by Lincoln Colcord (words) and E. A. Fenstad (music), the tune rose to fame when singer Rudy Vallée arranged the current version. Vallee attended Maine from 1921 to 1922 before transferring to Yale, and his popularity helped make the song a national favorite.
Enrollment Trends and Accessibility
The University of Maine System (UMS) is the state’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development, and its seven public universities and law school are the most affordable in New England. Over the past two decades, UMS has awarded 106,362 degrees and spurred and strengthened thousands of small Maine businesses through its world-class research and development activities.
A formal Systemwide census taken shows 25,286 students enrolled, an increase of 3.1% compared to last year. Undergraduate headcount is now more than 20,000 students, the first year-over-year increase in at least two decades. The number of undergraduate transfers increased, largely due to the popularity of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s online competency-based YourPace program, and strengthened transfer pathways from Maine’s community colleges. Meanwhile, there are a record 4,965 graduate students enrolled, an increase compared to last year. Since 2020, the University of Maine (UMaine), the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA), the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) and USM have all seen meaningful graduate enrollment gains in majors like counseling, cybersecurity, engineering and computing, education and social work. Included in graduate enrollment data are the students pursuing doctoral degrees at UMaine, USM and UMFK.
The System is Maine’s strongest magnet for new talent. More than 8,300 students from outside of the state are enrolled this fall, advancing the workforce attraction goals in Maine’s 10-year economic strategy.
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