Gen Ed Curriculum

Every University of Maine academic program is based upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. The University’s goal is to ensure that all of its graduates, regardless of the academic major they pursued, are broadly educated persons who can appreciate the achievements of civilization, understand the tensions within it, and contribute to resolving them. This component of every program is called general education, and it amounts to about one third of every program. The design of general education at the University of Maine is meant to be flexible within the broad goals it seeks to achieve. It affords each student many ways of meeting its requirements, which fall under the six broad categories outlined below.

Students who have completed the UMS General Education Transfer Block at any other UMS institution currently accredited by NECHE will be regarded as having completed all of their General Education requirements except for the following, which must be taken at the University of Maine:

  • A minimum of three additional course credits in any of the UMaine Human Values and Social Context subcategory areas
  • A Writing Intensive course in the Major Degree
  • A Capstone Experience course
  • Any specific General Education courses required by the major

A student (completing more than one academic major or baccalaureate degree) need complete only one set of UMaine General Education Requirements. For example, a student completing a double major need complete the “writing intensive course in the major” and the capstone experience only for the designated primary major.

For more detailed information on General Education requirements at the University of Maine, please refer to the 2021-2022 UMaine Undergraduate Catalog.

Many students and advisors use the General Education Worksheet prepared by the Office of Student Records to ensure they are meeting their General Education requirements as their education and degree progress at UMaine moves forward.

UPCC and Gen Ed

One key element of the Undergraduate Program Curriculum Committee’s role is assessing whether or not an instructor’s requested Gen Ed category is appropriate for the course in question when reviewing new course proposals, as well as course modifications when an instructor wishes to add a Gen Ed category to a course. During its review, the committee will carefully examine the Student Learning Outcomes prepared by an instructor to ensure they are aligned with the requested Gen Ed(s).

To aid instructors preparing materials for UPCC review, here is a useful example showing strong Student Learning Outcomes written specifically for General Education approval.

Each General Education category has a detailed description that provides helpful guidance on what a course in that area generally entails as well as each one’s expected learning outcomes. The committee strongly recommends reviewing the appropriate description(s) when preparing to request a General Education approval.

Links to these descriptions are found below.

Service-Learning