Student Resources
- Student Clubs, Organizations and Activities
- Internships with Companies & Agencies
- Graduate Student Profiles
- Graduate Student Project Videos
- Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Student Clubs and Organizations
Association of Computing Machinery (ACM and ACM-W)
Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to create and/or update memberships in the University of Maine Student Chapter of ACM. ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. The student chapter serves as a gateway to forums, panel discussions, and symposia that further a student’s professional development.
ACM-W Chapter is very active and has the goal of supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing.
Cyber Defense Team
You will hear about this in class. The University of Maine Cyber Defense Team regularly competes locally and often qualifies for the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. It’s a great way to learn and build your resume for further employment opportunities in cyber security. See the team website as well as NECCDC.
Graduate Student Government (GSG)
The School may send two representatives to the Graduate Student Government; one representing graduate students in Computer Science and the other representing students in Spatial Information Science and Engineering and Information Systems. With representation and regular participation, graduate students may apply for funding for travel to conferences. The GSG also hosts an annual Grad Expo highlighting the work of graduate students from across the campus.
Volunteer to Help Others Learn to Code
Numerous initiatives are emerging in Maine and across the nation to help young people to learn how to code at earlier ages. Help others by participating in an Hour of Code, a local hack club or engaging with a grade school, middle school or high school over a longer period of time. By teaching others you can help others, have fun and learn a great deal yourself. Propose a project through the local ACM Chapter or contact Educate Maine for further suggestions.
Suggestions from Project>Login at Educate Maine :
- Newbies can start with Code.org games, which provide a very circumscribed introduction to coding concepts.
- Novices can learn programming concepts within a browser using Scratch, Snap or AppInventor and start coding within a “safe” browser-based environment at KhanAcademy and CodeAcademy.
- Then, intermediate coders have options that include browser-based and app-based development environments: C9 or VirtualBox.
- Obviously, at a certain point, a more expert learner needs deep machine access (e.g. the Terminal program where as a professional, you may work >95% of the time that you’re writing code).
Upsilon Pi Epsilon
UPE is the first and only existing international honor society in the Computing and Information Disciplines. Joining the Maine Alpha Chapter is by invitation only.
Other Campus Organizations
The campus has of course many additional organizations and activities in which students may get involved. See the Division for Student Life.
Other Ways to Make a Difference
Here are just some of the ways you can help shape the future by sharing your time and talents:
- Mentor high school students on how to design solutions to real problems in their communities using computers. For example, collaborate with a high school math or science teacher to have students collect and analyze complex environmental or social data in order to propose policy solutions or changes in community behavior.
- Introduce middle school students to a new language. For example, help an after-school program run a conceptual level computer science programming camp using applications like Scratch and Alice.
- Volunteer to talk to the public about your creativity, passion for technology and research. For example, give a talk or help teach a workshop at on-campus outreach events such as Expanding Your Horizons, 4H @ UMaine, and the UMaine Engineering Expo.
- Work with the SCIS to provide a resource for a Maine community.
Internships with Companies and Agencies
Two types of internship experiences are available typically for students in the School of Computing and Information Science.
- Internships Providing Experience (typically undergrad students)
- Internships Providing Experience and Academic Course Credits (typically grad students)
While students within other academic programs may accept unpaid internships, almost all SCIS students to date have accepted only paid internships from businesses and government agencies.
Internships Providing Experience
Many companies in Maine and across the nation are willing to supervise and work closely with students for a period of time in order to evaluate them as potential future employees. Students similarly are able to assess whether they might want to work for the company or a similar company in the future. Some companies have formal internship programs run by their organization whereby all student interns are exposed to certain aspects or operations of the company. With other companies the experience may differ little from a summer or part time job.
One avenue for finding relevant internship experiences with companies throughout Maine is to sign up with Project>Login. Create an account, complete a profile and upload a resume here. This will make your resume and interests available to all Maine IT companies looking for interns. But don’t stop there, check out the active openings that companies are advertising at project login. and keep checking back. Even though you may feel you don’t have many skills yet, submit your resume to the system by the end your first year in your degree program and keep updating it over time.
There are many other businesses throughout Maine that may be interested in bringing you on as a paid Intern that may not be actively looking but would consider you if you contacted them and you appear to have a match in interests.
Internships Providing Both Experience and Academic Course Credits (Graduate Students)
Assuming the course is approved for your Graduate Program of Study by your academic advisor and assuming that a company is willing to work with you and university advisors in providing an in depth internship experience, you may acquire 3 course credits by completing the requirements for SIE 590 Information Systems Internship.
Graduate students in the School of Computing and Information Science who have completed nine credits of required graduate course work qualify to enroll in SIE 590 Information Systems Internship. Students acquire practical training using knowledge acquired in their graduate program while gaining course credits working with a business or organization. Hosting organizations supervise and work closely with outstanding prospects for potential long-term employment. A description of the internship course and the expectations for both the student and the supervising organization are listed under the Sample Syllabus for the course. The attachments to the Sample Syllabus show the work plan and reporting requirements for the student. Most internships are likely to involve compensation for the student but this is not a requirement.
Additional Approvals for Foreign Graduate Students
Foreign students must gain the approval of the Office of International Programs (OIP) at the University of Maine in order to participate in the graduate internship course if they are going to be earning compensation while engaged in the Internship Program. Obtain from OIP and read the Application Procedures for Curricular Practical Training and complete the Curricular Practical Training Approval Request after the internship company or agency has been identified. In short, you must typically be enrolled for two semesters prior to taking the internship practical training course, you must take the course before all of your other graduate requirements are met, the course should be included on your graduate program of study and approved by your three member graduate committee making the course a required course, you must enroll in the course and the Director or the Graduate Coordinator for the School of Computing and Information Science must submit a letter of support attesting that these requirements have been met and that you are in good standing. If questions arise, please contact Sarah Joughin, International Student and Scholar Adviser, who approves such requests (joughin@maine.edu).
Participating organizations with needs for high level information system skills and who are seeking to review and consider internship applications from qualifying graduate students include those listed below as well as those listed through Project>Login. However, graduate students are free to seek out any additional companies and agencies to support your desire to obtain graduate course credits for an internship experience.