Core Curriculum

“The Core is where students learn how to learn for a lifetime, acquiring the perspective and disposition to transform themselves, their communities, and the world.”
– Senate Motion 25007

Beginning in the fall semester of the 2026-27 academic year, the new “Core Curriculum” will become the general education curriculum at the University of Maine. The University of Maine is committed to helping students branch out, explore, and be curious. As the State of Maine’s research university with the faculty, staff, and resources to provide comprehensive higher education, completing the Core will provide UMaine students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed with future goals. Courses and other experiences across five undergraduate colleges and learning locations state-wide, including our regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias, are open to every University of Maine student. Students are encouraged to take full advantage of all of these diverse offerings early in their degree program.

All University of Maine academic degree programs are based upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. This foundation complements all study programs, allowing students to design pathways that encourage branching out, exploring, and being curious without burdening the students or delaying them from degree completion. The foundation of the Core is developed primarily in the first two years of study; this foundation establishes the basic intellectual and academic skills needed to excel in all disciplines. Later years (third and beyond) build on this foundation by expanding and deepening these skills, developing greater expertise and comfort in communicating complex information, perspectives, and arguments.

For Students and Advisors
For Faculty and administrators

Students and Advisors:

New UMaine Core Requirements (Starting 2026-27)*

Minimal Total Required Credits: 40

*Note: For a summary of category descriptions, requirements, and outcomes, please see Senate Motion 25007 or the description and outcome tabs below. For the list of current requirements for the 25-26 Academic Year, please see the 25-26 UMaine Core Curriculum Requirements.

Human Values and Social Contexts

Minimum Required Credits: 18

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Students in Artistic and Creative Expression courses learn to solve problems in innovative, creative ways, to develop enhanced observational skills, to communicate ideas, information, and emotions through movement, sound, visual representation, or writing, and to cultivate an appreciation for aesthetic value and the cultural importance of the arts. Courses that involve artistic practice, such as musical performance, drawing, painting, sculpture, etc., may be repeated for credit toward this category.

Artistic and Creative Expression courses engage students in creative thinking and processes. A primary objective is to develop the skills and intellectual tools required to make artistic and creative decisions and to participate in, evaluate, or appreciate artistic and creative forms of expression. Artistic and Creative Expression courses are often 1 and 2 credit courses and it is acceptable to add up these credits in fulfillment of this requirement. In places where courses are repeatable for credits (i.e. music ensemble courses) these may be accumulated to fulfill this requirement.

Artistic and Creative Expression Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Artistic and Creative Expression will be able to:

Create or interpret artistic and creative forms of expression.

Develop skills and/or intellectual tools central to the artistic and creative process or its critique, using appropriate sources of information.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Students in Civic Literacy and Social Contexts classes learn the habits of mind and dispositions needed to become responsible members of communities. They cultivate sensitivity to how social contexts shape and limit civic institutions and practices (including customs and relationships as well as formal organizations), and examine the dilemmas that individuals, communities, and societies face as they explore questions of justice, equity, inclusion, and the greater good. Along the way, students learn to collaborate respectfully with those they disagree with and to maintain civility in dialogue.

Civic Literacy and Social Contexts Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core Civic Literacy and Social Contexts category will be able to:

Analyze civic institutions, practices, and social contexts using appropriate sources of information.

Recognize the interrelations between social contexts and civic institutions and practices.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Students in Environment and Sustainability courses learn how our natural environment shapes and makes diverse expressions of human life and culture possible, how these cultures, including beliefs, practices, and institutions, affect the environment, and formulate sustainable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Some courses may emphasize technical or scientific problems and solutions. Others may focus on institutional, historical, and political dimensions, and others may focus on the cultural, ethical, and philosophical issues underlying current environmental problems. Examples of particular points of emphasis in Environment and Sustainability courses include: (1) the role of both local and global environmental change on the quality of human and nonhuman life; (2) the pervasive impact of human consumption on environmental quality and quality of life; (3) the influence of historical, cultural, religious, economic, educational, social and political factors on human consumption and environmental quality; (4) the ethical and philosophical assumptions underlying environmental policies, conceptions of nature, and the place of humans in nature; and (5) sustainable solutions to environmental challenges.

Environment and Sustainability Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Environment and Sustainability will be able to:

Describe the influence of diverse factors, such as philosophical, cultural, religious, economic, social, educational, and political ideas and practices, on human consumption and environmental quality.

Interpret diverse types of information about environmental issues to develop their own perspectives and communicate these perspectives effectively.

Describe technical and/or scientific approaches for addressing problems that arise in the relationship between human consumption and the environment.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Students in Ethics courses learn to (1) analyze ethical issues arising in human life, using (2) an appropriate theoretical framework, (3) to evaluate moral values critically, and (4) apply these insights to real-world challenges. In Ethics courses, students learn to summarize, evaluate, and effectively communicate matters of value in their personal and professional lives. Moreover, they learn to maintain civility and respect with and toward those with whom they disagree to work collaboratively toward the common good.

Ethics courses: (a) teach methods of ethical analysis, and (b) engage the student in the study of ethical questions. Additionally, courses may deal intensively with ethical issues associated with a particular discipline or profession. Professional codes of conduct may guide this treatment, but a theoretical and evaluative component must also be included.

Ethics Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Ethics will be able to:

Describe and Explain the main issues and concepts relevant to ethical theory.

Evaluate the theoretical, literary, historical, or artistic texts through which fundamental ethical ideas and problems are presented.

Apply ethical ideas to situations of everyday life.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Human Cultural Traditions courses examine aspects of cultural history or historical practices individually or comparatively through the study of textual and/or material artifacts. Students in Human Cultural Traditions designated courses learn to interpret and analyze artistic, economic, educational, legal, linguistic, literary, philosophical, political, or scientific concepts, texts, and artifacts in their specific historical and cultural context. Students are introduced to one or more methodological practices concerned with analyzing historical cultural products and processes, their transmission, and their reception. Courses may focus on cross-cultural historical explorations of a specific concern or may explore a single historical cultural context broadly.

Human Cultural Traditions Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Human Cultural Traditions will be able to:

Describe and explain the sources and transmission of ideas, institutions, artifacts, and values within one or more traditional cultural lineages.

Analyze how cultural traditions circumscribe human experiences in a given society or define particular societies, past or present.

Recognize human traditions’ diversity and complex interconnectedness to develop a more nuanced understanding of our world.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Courses in the Global Perspectives category cultivate awareness of and engagement with the diverse perspectives, challenges, and opportunities in our interconnected world, preparing students to engage with global issues critically and responsibly. Students accomplish this through coursework emphasizing one or more groups’ experiences, perspectives, values, and cultural products. This coursework may take many forms, including but not limited to cultivating an awareness of the diversity of American cultures from a global perspective, emphasizing the relationships among or within diverse cultures, or introducing an unfamiliar culture through a course in that culture’s language(s). In all cases, students learn to reflect on their role(s) in diverse cultural expressions and develop strategies for respectful dialogue.

Global Perspectives Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Global Perspectives will be able to:

Recognize one or more groups’ experiences, perspectives, values, or cultural products.

Analyze how diverse cultures determine human experiences in one or more societies using appropriate sources of information.

Recognize the diversity and complex interconnectedness of global culture(s) to develop a deeper understanding of our world.

Quantitative Literacy

Minimum Required Credits: 6

Minimum Required Credits: 6

Quantitative literacy is formulating, evaluating, and communicating conclusions and inferences from quantitative information. Students develop quantitative literacy during their undergraduate experience through six credits of targeted coursework and frequent exposure to quantitative problems and analyses inside and outside their major. Quantitative Literacy coursework may take several forms, including but not limited to mathematics, statistics, data analysis, financial literacy, logic, or computer science.

Quantitative Literacy Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Core category of Quantitative Literacy will be able to:

Translate problems from everyday spoken and written language to appropriate quantitative or logical expressions.

Interpret quantitative information from formulas, graphs, tables, schematics, simulations, and visualizations and draw logical inferences from that information.

Solve problems using logical, arithmetical, algebraic, geometrical, spatial, statistical, or computational methods.

Represent information symbolically (numerically, graphs, tables, schematics, simulations, and visualizations) and in written and oral language.

Scientific Literacy

Minimum Required Credits: 7

Minimum Required Credits: 7

A course holding a Science designation focuses on one or more natural, physical, social, or behavioral science, including significant blending of presently accepted science with its application in common situations, discussion of the strengths and limitations of relevant scientific methodologies, and includes as a major component the observation of natural phenomena coupled with the gathering of data and its quantitative analysis, and its interpretation in an expository format. Courses holding a science designation focus on guiding students toward the scientific literacy necessary for modern life or training future science professionals. At least seven credits of courses designated Science are required to fulfill this category.

Science Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Science category will be able to:

Explain how objects and phenomena display consistent, understandable patterns over time through careful observation and systematic study leading to scientific knowledge.

Explain how scientific knowledge is subject to change as new observations and interpretations challenge current understanding.

Recognize that valid scientific information is durable if continually affirmed as new observations are made.

Minimum Required Credits: 1 credit minimum

Students in Laboratory Science learn scientific method(s), and how to apply them to draw conclusions based on empirical evidence, through the hands-on experience of working in a laboratory conducting experiments, collecting data, and interpreting results clearly and accurately. A Laboratory Science course brings basic knowledge to bear on solving practical problems. At least one course credit with a laboratory component is required to fulfill this category. All Laboratory Science courses are also Science courses.

Laboratory Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Laboratory Science Category will be able to:

Perform scientific inquiry employing aspects of scientific methodologies, such as literature review, observation, hypothesis, experiment, and evaluation. Note: This PLO is only required for Laboratory Science courses.

* May overlap with other requirements. The minimum total unique credits for the Core Curriculum is 40, which is our accreditor’s (NECHE’s) requirement.

Writing

Minimum Required Credits: 9

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Within First-Year Writing (3 credits), students are oriented toward ways of thinking and writing in academic contexts that allow them to generate and pursue lines of inquiry, use sources to provide context for ideas, and critically reflect on their own composing processes. Students must complete one of the following with a minimum grade of C (2.00):
– ENG 101 College Composition
– ENG 100 College Composition Stretch, Part I and ENG 106 College Composition Stretch, Part II

First-Year Writing Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Core categories of Writing Competency, students will be able to:

Produce a discipline-relevant project through multiple drafts and revisions.

Critically read a variety of source materials to identify audience expectations, context, purpose, and disciplinary conventions.

Use writing as a means to engage disciplinary problem-solving strategies and critical thinking.

Apply discipline-specific writing conventions (specialized terminology, layout, formatting, applicable citation protocols, choice of register, relevant level of detail, etc.).

Critically reflect on their composing practices and how they shift across contexts.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Writing Intensive courses are meant to build upon the skills learned in the First-Year Writing course and provide students with opportunities to practice composing in disciplinary contexts. In a Writing Intensive course, students are explicitly taught the writing conventions they will be assessed on, and they have an opportunity to revise their writing in response to feedback from the instructor. A substantial portion of the student’s final grade must be based on the quality of the written work. WI courses also incorporate frequent reading and writing assignments in ways that help students learn both the subject matter of the courses and discipline-specific ways of thinking and writing. These courses create a composing environment that is fostered by pre-writing, multiple drafts, feedback, revision, and reflection. May be completed within or outside of the major.

Writing Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Core categories of Writing Competency, students will be able to:

Produce a discipline-relevant project through multiple drafts and revisions.

Critically read a variety of source materials to identify audience expectations, context, purpose, and disciplinary conventions.

Use writing as a means to engage disciplinary problem-solving strategies and critical thinking.

Apply discipline-specific writing conventions (specialized terminology, layout, formatting, applicable citation protocols, choice of register, relevant level of detail, etc.).

Critically reflect on their composing practices and how they shift across contexts.

* May overlap with other requirements. The minimum total unique credits for the Core Curriculum is 40, which is our accreditor’s (NECHE’s) requirement.

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Because reading and writing are inextricably linked and are essential components of the learning process, Writing Intensive courses within the Major expose students to disciplinary-specific reading and writing practices. WI courses also incorporate frequent reading and writing assignments in ways that help students learn both the subject matter of the courses and discipline-specific ways of thinking and writing. These courses create a composing environment that is fostered by pre-writing, multiple drafts, feedback, revision, and reflection.

Writing Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Core categories of Writing Competency, students will be able to:

Produce a discipline-relevant project through multiple drafts and revisions.

Critically read a variety of source materials to identify audience expectations, context, purpose, and disciplinary conventions.

Use writing as a means to engage disciplinary problem-solving strategies and critical thinking.

Apply discipline-specific writing conventions (specialized terminology, layout, formatting, applicable citation protocols, choice of register, relevant level of detail, etc.).

Critically reflect on their composing practices and how they shift across contexts.

* May overlap with other requirements. The minimum total unique credits for the Core Curriculum is 40, which is our accreditor’s (NECHE’s) requirement.

Capstone

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Minimum Required Credits: 3 credits minimum

The goal of the Capstone is to draw together the various threads of the undergraduate program that bear directly upon the academic major in an experience that typifies the work of professionals within the discipline. Typically, the Capstone would conclude in the student’s last year of study. Students should consult closely with their academic advisor and review their Degree Progress Report in MaineStreet to explore the options for meeting this requirement.

Capstone Program Learning Outcome

Capstone courses have Program learning Outcomes determined by their major area of study.

Core Elective

Minimum Required Credits: 3

Minimum Required Credits: 3

At UMaine, students lead their way toward a future of their own making. Because the University of Maine values personal exploration and discovery, encourages students to be curious and branch out, and because UMaine recognizes that students have different interests, aptitudes, and life goals, the Core is designed to be maximally flexible and customizable through the Core Elective. To complete the Elective, complete an additional course (3 credits minimum) from any of the Core categories. The Core Elective cannot be an in-major capstone, but may be an additional capstone designated course outside the major.

* Core Elective may not include any course that meets the capstone requirement for the primary major.

Faculty and Administrators

Resources from the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA)

Core Curriculum assessment
Faculty Assessment Resources
Core Course Proposal Process

Stewardship

The Core Curriculum belongs to all faculty. Faculty provide stewardship for the Core through the General Education Stewardship Committee (GESC), a permanent committee composed of faculty and administrators that was formed by the University of Maine Faculty Senate in May 2022. While the GESC’s primary duty is to carry out Faculty Senate charges, it also generates ideas for improving general education at UMaine. These ideas are submitted in the form of proposals to the Faculty Senate throughout the academic year. On its own, the GESC has no authority to change policy, and the changes it proposes must first be approved by the Faculty Senate.

Committee Membership

The GESC comprises seven faculty (one who must be a current member of the Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum Committee) and five staff/administrators. Faculty identified to serve on this committee serve three-year terms, with a limit of two consecutive terms and four total terms. Faculty membership is selected by the Faculty Senate President, Vice President, and the Chair of the Academic Affairs Standing Committee.
Faculty Senate leadership works closely with the Provost or designee (Co-director of the General Education Stewardship Committee) to select administrative members. Administrative positions have no term limits and may vary based on the needs of the GESC.

Derek Michaud, Chair of Philosophy; Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Co-Chair

Ryan Weatherbee, Assistant Director of Assessment, Co-Chair

Gabriel Paquette, Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, ex-officio

Scott Marzilli, Associate Provost for Student Success and Innovation

Allison Gardner, Associate Professor of Arthropod Vector Biology

Debra Allen, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment

Faith Erhardt, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Student Success

Jack Campbell, Interim University Registrar

Liliana Herakova, Associate Professor

Ryan Dippre, Associate Professor of English/Director of College Composition

Jean MacRae, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

John Mascetta, Director, Advising and Academic Services Center & Explorations Program

Uriah Anderson, Associate Professor Of Psychology

Peter Schilling, Executive Director, Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Justine Hill, Assistant Registrar, Degree Audit

SM 25007: Motion to Change the General Education Core Categories, Outcomes and Policies (9 April 2025)
SM 22017: Motion to Form a General Education Stewardship Committee (4 May 2022)
SM 21000: Motion to Form a Committee to Recommend General Education Changes (5 May 2021)
SM 12000: Resolution to Adopt Updated General Education Student Learning Outcomes (25 April 2012)