Mission Statement
As a premier teacher education and public liberal arts college for the State of Maine, the University of Maine at Farmington prepares students for engaged citizenship, enriching professional careers, and an enduring love of learning.
Values and Vision
Given its history since 1864 of educating teachers and its distinctive contemporary mission, UMF has consistently been rooted in a vigorous tradition of education in service of the public interest. In embracing this tradition, UMF seeks to graduate individuals who will live purposeful, ethical, and personally rewarding lives, and who will strengthen the social fabric of the communities they inhabit in Maine and beyond. We recognize that success depends upon our ability to preserve continued, affordable access to higher education.
The university’s focus is undergraduate education in a residential setting. UMF also welcomes commuter students and provides limited graduate and continuing education opportunities where regional and statewide needs correspond with areas of academic strength in the university. Through its focus on high quality academic programs in the arts and sciences, teacher education, and selected professional fields, the University challenges students to be active citizens in a campus community that helps them find and express with confidence their own voices, teaches them the humility to seek wisdom from others, and prepares them for ongoing explorations of how knowledge can be put to use for their personal benefit and the common good.
Across our programs, academic rigor matters, as does a commitment to experience-based learning that enliven theoretical understandings of different disciplines and the relationship of those studies to a rapidly changing world. An ethic of civic-mindedness and individual and collective duty to foster positive social change is realized through the practice of liberal learning and a recognition that innovation, collaboration, and service with community partners are fundamental to the educational enterprise.
UMF’s sense of place is shaped by the aesthetic, environmental, recreational, and intellectual heritage of the western Maine region. The bounty of the landscape and the locale contributes materially to a range of academic fields at UMF, to the exciting diversity of the extra- and co-curricular life of the university, and to our reciprocal relationships in support of the important work of our neighbors in western Maine. To fulfill its complementary responsibilities to the region and to the State, the university also reaches out to national and international domains to broaden students’ educational experience and assure that they are well prepared for employment and citizenship in contexts that are richly diverse and global.
In order to fulfill this mission and vision, UMF:
- Observes an undergraduate enrollment cap of approximately 2000 FTE students;
- Seeks to admit talented students from all regions of Maine, and other states and countries;
- Supports multiple modes of teaching and learning, but prioritizes face-to-face instruction with highly qualified faculty in settings that allow close relationships between students and their instructors to flourish;
- Attempts to assure that all students can meet high academic standards by providing access to well-designed academic and personal support services;
- Assists students in meeting their goals for timely graduation;
- Challenges students to set high aspirations through an Honors program, extensive support for undergraduate research, internships, opportunities to create individualized majors, and leadership development activities;
- Invests special attention in the first-year and sophomore year experiences, recognizing that these are powerful determinants of college success and graduation;
- Works to foster a close alliance and coordinated programming among Academic Affairs and Student Affairs;
- Commits to providing rich opportunities for student growth and development through residential, co-curricular, and extra-curricular programming;
- Models responsible environmental stewardship;
- Assesses its programs along with student learning outcomes for the dual purposes of continuous improvement and accountability;
- Maintains a vigorous commitment to need-based financial aid;
- Works closely with a Board of Visitors and other community partners to assure meaningful dialogue about the university’s role in the region and our shared responsibility to provide opportunities for students to practice civic engagement and develop genuine social and political commitments.
Environmental Sustainability Vision Statement
UMF is committed to environmental stewardship and to graduating responsible global citizens who care about the environment. As an educational institution, we are committed to being a leader in promoting the sustainable use of the Earth’s resources. Teaching about sound environmental practices must be an intrinsic part of our campus culture; their benefits will be made apparent to students, faculty, staff, and our surrounding community, all of whom can participate in efforts to enhance environmental sustainability. Environmental issues should be studied broadly in courses and programs across the curriculum.
In addition to educating our community, we will demonstrate by our own policies and practices that we are good environmental stewards. Sustainable practices will be an integral part of our campus management and operations in building and renovating, in reducing pollution and waste, in using appropriate energy resources and materials, and in protecting and incorporating the native environment in our campus spaces. Indoor and outdoor environments should be healthful and aesthetically pleasing. We will also set goals for ourselves in terms of reducing energy usage and carbon emissions and monitor our progress towards them.
Student Learning Outcomes
Based upon our mission, UMF at an institutional level aspires to the following learning outcomes for all students who complete a baccalaureate degree. Our students will:
- acquire knowledge and expertise appropriate to their academic majors;
- attain basic literacy in several disciplines and be able to think and work across disciplinary boundaries;
- develop the habits and skills of inquiry, invention, and reflection that are necessary for life-long learning and effective citizenship and transferable to any professional endeavor;
- develop an integrated understanding of global issues (including the role of the United States), cultural diversity, and the physical and natural world;
- attain the leadership and relational skills appropriate to complex organizations;
- be able to utilize information technology and adapt to ongoing technological advances;
- be able to recognize ethical issues and differences in ethical perspectives and consider the ramifications of alternative actions;
- be well prepared to act responsibly as:
- environmental stewards;
- advocates for lifelong health and wellness;
- models of respect for human diversity;
- participants in civic undertakings and discussants of public policy.
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