The University of Maine (UMaine) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. The University of Maine offers over 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 the Honors College, one of the nation's oldest honors programs.

With an enrollment of approximately 11,500 students, UMaine is the state's largest college or university. The University of Maine's athletic teams, nicknamed the Black Bears, are the state's only National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic program. Maine's men's ice hockey team has won two national championships (in 1993 and 1999), as well as appearing in 11 Frozen Fours.

It is classified among "Research 1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production".

History 19th century

The University of Maine was founded in 1862 as a function of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Established in 1865 as the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, the college opened on September 21, 1868, and changed its name to the University of Maine in 1897.

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. As a result of this shift, faculty hired during the early 20th century included Caroline Colvin, chair of the history department and the nation's first woman to head a major university department.

20th century

In 1912, the Maine Cooperative Extension, which offers field educational programs for both adults and youths, was initiated. 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. Since 1923 there has been a separate graduate school.

In 1906, The Senior Skull Honor Society was founded to "publicly recognize, formally reward, and continually promote outstanding leadership and scholarship, and exemplary citizenship within the University of Maine community."

In April 1925, The All Maine Women Traditions and Honor Society was founded. It is an honorary but non-scholastic honor society. The members are pledged "to uphold and promote the ideals, standards, and traditions of the University of Maine."

In 1968, when the University of Maine System was incorporated, the school was renamed by the legislature over the objections of the faculty 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. moniker was also abandoned and replaced officially with "UMaine" as the informal title with which to reference the Orono campus.

Organization and administration

The University of Maine is the flagship of the University of Maine System. 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. It appoints the chancellor and each university president, approves the establishment and elimination of academic programs, confers tenure on faculty members, and sets tuition rates and operating budgets.

UMaine is also one of a handful of colleges in the United States whose student government, which was established in 1978, is incorporated. It was incorporated in 1987 and is classified as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

Campus

Situated on Marsh Island, between the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, the University of Maine is the nation's only land grant university (other than the University of Hawaiʻi) on an island. The university occupies the small community of Orono, with a population of about 12,000 people, maintaining a campus. It has an enrollment of 11,989 students, inclusive of both undergraduate and graduate students, as of 2024.

The majority of the university property is in the Town of Orono and the Orono census-designated place. A portion of the university property is in Old Town.

The campus has 37 academic buildings, thirty administrative buildings, eighteen residence halls, eighteen specific laboratory facilities, fourteen Greek life houses, ten sports facilities, five museums, two dining facilities, two convenience stores, a student union, a cafe, a pub, an state of the art recreation and fitness center, and a 200'x200' air supported athletic/recreational dome.

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 Gym.National Register nomination for University of Maine at Orono Historic District, 2010 increase; available by request from the Maine State Historic Preservation Office The Mall is further bordered by one residence and five academic halls.

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. Other buildings on the northern section include the Cutler Health Center, two administrative halls, three residence halls, and multiple academic halls.

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 Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamental Gardens, as well as academic and recreational facilities. The campus is also designated as an arboretum.

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. In 2010, this was expanded to include the second major phase of development, which was completed through the end of World War II.

Student life Student body composition as of May 2, 2022 Race and ethnicityTotal White Hispanic Other Black Foreign national Asian Other Economic diversity Low-income Affluent

Ambulance service

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. The service has two ambulances equipped to provide paramedic-level care, and responds to approximately 500 calls per school year.

Greek life Greek life has existed at the University of Maine since 1874. Approximately 14% of University of Maine undergraduates are members of Greek letter organizations.

Sustainability The University of Maine was one of 16 colleges and universities listed in Princeton Review's "Green Honor Roll" of 2011. The guide notes that UMaine has a sustainability coordinator, a sustainability council, and "Eco Reps" in its residence halls.

Dining services The campus has two dining halls, Hilltop and York, and the Bear's Den Café & Pub in Memorial Union. Wells Dining Hall closed in fall 2022 due to a decrease in student enrollment. In fall 2023, the university deployed robots called Kiwibots to deliver food to students across campus. The Black Bear Exchange is the campus food pantry. The pantry is supported by the Good Shepherd Food Bank, donations, and food drives.

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. The dining halls began stocking its fresh fruit bars all day.

The Maine Campus

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. Stephen King wrote a weekly column for the Maine Campus in the 1970s called "King's Garbage Truck" and also published short stories such as "Slade" in the newspaper.

Academics

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. UMaine also offers a wide array of graduate programs, including more than seventy master's degree programs and thirty doctorate programs.

The University of Maine is one of only a handful of institutions to offer a combined developmental/clinical PhD to students accepted into their clinical psychology PhD program, as well as advanced degrees with distinct concentrations in developmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, and behavioral neuroscience. Along with offering a PhD in psychological science with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience, they also offer a neuroscience concentration for PhD students studying biomedical science.

It is the only institution in Maine ranked as a national university in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings. U.S. News categorizes UMaine as an institution that offers "a full range of undergraduate majors, master's, and doctoral degrees."