UMaine Offers Full Schedule for Summer Courses and Programs
Contact: Lisa Daniel, (207) 581-3113, George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — While thousands of graduating college students have moved off campus at the University of Maine, thousands are flocking back classrooms, summer camps and field seminars soon as part of the UMaine’s ambitious Summer Session.
Summer programs involve all of the university’s colleges and academic disciplines, from arts and humanities to business, science and technology, as traditional and non-traditional students of all ages pursue extra credit, bolster professional or technical career interests, or take a class just for fun in a subject they’ve always wanted to explore.
“We have one of the most comprehensive summer programs in the country,” says Robert White, dean of the Division of Lifelong Learning. More than 500 courses are available on the Orono campus, at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, on-line with a video-streaming option and on television, beamed to more than 100 centers and sites throughout Maine. “We’re reaching out not only beyond the borders of the campus, but also beyond the borders of Maine,” White says.
While 79 percent of summer session registrants are degree-seeking students at UMaine, 21 percent are from other colleges and universities throughout the country, with many looking for professional development and career advancement.
Between classes, summer camps and conferences, the Orono campus bustles with as many as 20,000 students and conference visitors. More than 5,200 students have registered for summer session so far — a number White expects to rise above last year’s record-setting 7,200 registrations.
“All UMaine credit-bearing courses are offered in 18 different calendar sessions beginning the Monday after commencement through August,” he says. Morning, afternoon and evening classes are offered in sessions of three, five, six and eight-weeks, staggered from May 9 to Aug. 19.
Educational opportunities run the gamut from summer camps for young people in sports, adventure, arts, music and engineering to professional development courses for school teachers and specialty workshops and seminars in ecology, natural history and history-related arts. Some of the learning takes place on the coast, for instance, at the Darling Marine Center, the university’s marine laboratory near the mouth of the Damariscotta Estuary or the Humboldt Field Research Institute in Steuben. Graduate and undergraduate courses are available.
More information about the UMaine summer programs is available by calling the division in Chadbourne Hall on the Orono campus at (207) 581-3143 or visiting the web site at http://dll.umaine.edu/summer. Additional information also is available through the division on such things as career interest, research, study skills, tutoring information, time management and academic and educational counseling.