About Us
Learn more about the Graduate School and our staff
Welcome from the Dean
Welcome to the Graduate School! Whether you are a prospective student, current student, community partner, alum, or a faculty or staff member, I am glad that you are interested in graduate education at the University of Maine.
Graduate education offers a critical space to pursue questions that matter. It helps prepare scholars, researchers, professionals, and leaders to ask transformative questions about both what is already known, and about problems that lie beyond the current boundaries of our knowledge. As a result, graduate education can help us to create new knowledge, develop new approaches, and apply expertise to consequential problems. That is what makes graduate education both demanding and rewarding: for so many, it is the starting point of a journey that increases a person’s capacity to make a lasting difference in our disciplines, professions, communities, and world.
Graduate students are also at the heart of the work that happens at the University of Maine. As a learner-centered R1 university, graduate students are an integral part of a knowledge-building endeavor in which learning, discovery, and engagement are deeply interconnected. Graduate students conduct research and creative activity alongside faculty; teach and mentor undergraduate students; contribute to laboratories, centers, classrooms, and communities; and bring new perspectives and ideas to the questions our university seeks to answer.
That work also reflects UMaine’s distinctive public mission. As Maine’s land, sea, and space grant university, UMaine serves as the state’s R&D department. Graduate education is a critical part of the research and development infrastructure that helps Maine understand emerging challenges, develop new knowledge and technologies, strengthen its communities and economy, and prepare the people who will shape its future. At the same time, the questions pursued here and the knowledge created here extend far beyond Maine. Our best work combines local relevance with national and global impact.
Against this backdrop, the Graduate School exists to create the conditions in which graduate students can do this consequential work and thrive while doing it. From recruitment and admission through degree completion and professional formation, we work with faculty, programs, colleges, and partners across the university to support students’ academic progress, research and scholarship, professional development, and sense of belonging. We also advocate for graduate education and for the people whose work makes it possible.
I invite you to explore our programs, learn about the resources and opportunities available to graduate students, and get to know the extraordinary community of scholars that makes graduate education at UMaine possible. Most importantly, I hope you will find ways to engage fully in that community and contribute your own questions, experiences, and ideas to it.
I look forward to seeing what you will accomplish.
Warmly,
Dean of the Graduate School
A Brief History
Graduate work has been available at the University of Maine since the first master’s degree was conferred here in 1881. Since that time, graduate offerings have expanded significantly to include our current selection of over 70 master’s and 30 doctoral areas of study.
Beginning in 1923, graduate work has been a separate division of the University. This differentiation allows the Graduate School to meet the unique needs of the 2300-plus graduate students currently enrolled at the Orono campus on both academic and personal matters. We encourage you to contact our office (located on the lower level of Stodder Hall) at any time for information or materials related to graduate studies at the University of Maine.
Our Mission Statement
The mission of the Graduate School of the University of Maine is to produce engaged scholars and professionals by promoting excellence in all aspects of the graduate student experience. The School provides advanced education and professional training through innovative teaching, mentorship, research, and creative activity in established and emerging areas. This rigorous education prepares students to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of the state of Maine, the nation, and the global community.
