Professional Skills for the Liberal Arts Minor

Overview of Degree Requirements

Note: Effective Fall 2021

This minor is intended as a professional skills- oriented minor for liberal arts majors, focused on the acquisition of knowledge that will enhance their professional opportunities in the earliest years of their careers.

Minimum number of credits required to earn minor:  21

GPA requirements to earn minor:  Students graduating with a minor in a CLAS field must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better in the courses in the minor field that are credited toward completion of the minor.

Other Requirements: A minimum of 12 credit hours must be completed at the University of Maine.

Contact Information:  Timothy Cole, Associate Dean for Academics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 105A Stevens Hall, 207.581.3844, tmcole@maine.edu.

Courses in the Professional Skills for the Liberal Arts Minor

  1. Social Psychology. Take one of the following:
    • PSY 230: Social Psychology (3 credits)
    • PSY 208: Theories of Personality (3 credits)
    • PSY 251: Psychology of Motivation (3 credits)
  2. Leadership:
    • LDR 100: Foundations of Leadership (3 credits)
  3. Quantitative Skills. Take one of the following:
    • SOC 219: Statistical Reasoning in Sociology (3 credits)
    • PSY 241: Statistics in Psychology (3 credits)
    • STS 232: Principles of Statistical Inference (3 credits)
  4. Communication Skills (Public Speaking). Take one of the following:
    • CMJ 103: Public Speaking (3 credits)
    • CMJ 102: Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication (3 credits)
    • FRE 305: French Conversation and Composition: Social Issues (3 credits)
    • SPA 305: Applied Spanish (3 credits)
    • Note that students have this requirement waived if they achieve a rating of Intermediate (Low, Mid, or High) or higher on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) or the Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer (OPIc) of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
  5. Communication Skills (Professional Writing):
    • ENG 317: Business and Technical Writing (3 credits)
  6. Coding. Take one of the following:
    • COS 121: Coding for Everyone (3 credits)
    • COS 125: Introduction to Problem Solving Using Computer Programming (3 credits)
    • NMD 105: Creative Coding I (3 credits)
  7. Design. Take one of the following:
    • NMD 104: New Media Design (3 credits)
    • ART 110: 2-D Design (3 credits)
  8. Optional:
    • Internship (up to 3 credits) or Service Learning Course, as approved by the Associate Dean for Academics, CLAS. Examples include LAS 195 (1-3 credits), POS 487 SL, Practicum in Engaged Policy Studies (3 credits); many majors provide internship opportunities for their students.