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UM Presidents on The Honors College
From the University of Maine Strategic Plan 2000-2005:
Key Goal #1
Strengthen the commitment to providing a first-class, highly relevant
undergraduate educational experience in all programs.
Operational Plan
- Create an Honors College to promote and signify academic excellence in the University’s core mission and to facilitate integration of research experiences for all undergraduates.
From President Kennedy's
Installation Address:
The new model builds on our strategic plan from 2000. That
plan—which emphasized the creation of an Honors College, interdisciplinary
programs and collaboration across Maine’s diverse institutions-- has been a
driving vision for me and for UMaine for the past several years. We must
focus our planning and our work on maintaining the momentum we have
established with regard to this contemporary and meaningful approach to our
historic mission; we are already well on our way.
From
President Hoff's 2000 State of the University address:
One way to underscore the rigor and quality of our
undergraduate offerings would be to create an Honors
College, building on our existing Honors Program. Our
honors college would offer UMaine students the best of
both stellar academic worlds—the focus, intimacy, and
challenges of the best liberal arts schools, as well as
the breadth of academic diversity, co-curricular and
extra-curricular activities, and exposure to
graduate-level education and populations that are part
of a land-grant university experience. As we have
discussed it, the Honors College would not draw students
away from one of the five existing colleges; instead,
they would hold “dual citizenship” in the college of
their discipline and in the Honors College.
The Honors College will be more than an academic option.
Our belief is that its existence and its approach to
scholarship will set a higher standard for achievement
and aspirations across the entire University. We
envision it as becoming a signature element of The
University of Maine — a prestigious point of reference
when people think and talk about our strengths and
reputation.
From
President Hoff's 2001 State of the University address:
Goal One is to provide a first-class undergraduate
educational experience in a stimulating campus
community. We will accomplish that through a balance of
a liberal education and professional preparation--that
is, a grounding in, and appreciation for, the arts and
sciences, blended with the skills necessary to be
successful in any line of work. The two go hand in hand.
Our society - and its security and prosperity- depend on
citizens and leaders who understand the history and
perspectives of peoples, cultures, and conditions, and
who have the skills to solve problems creatively,
communicate and work with others, use technology
effectively, complete projects successfully, and adapt
to rapid change in a global society.
One way we intend to provide that experience is through
expanding our current honors program--one of the
nation's oldest, by the way--to create an Honors
College. This college will be interdisciplinary,
bringing together ideas and perspectives from across the
disciplines. The curriculum and format will challenge
select students as rigorously as any program that they
could find anywhere. The students accepted into the
Honors College will meet and study in small groups, and
for many of them, will live in the same residence hall,
Colvin Hall. Like our current Honors program, it is
similar to the academic approach found at small,
selective liberal arts colleges like Bates, Bowdoin and
Colby. But unlike those programs, ours will integrate
academic and research programs outside the liberal arts.
Moreover, it will not segregate elite students, isolated
from the rest of the student body and the five
colleges-it will integrate their work into traditional
majors. No other program like this exists in Maine; and
in New England, only UMass-Amherst has anything that
resembles it, and even their honors college presents a
higher degree of isolation from the mainstream. We think The Honors College will make UMaine even more appealing
to prospective students.
From President
Hoff's 2002 State of the University address:
A FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE
As specified in our current strategic plan, the transformation of our venerable Honors Program into a full-fledged Honors College this year represents a cornerstone of our focus on quality. Along with the strong academic programs in each of our colleges, The Honors College sends a message to prospective students that they can have as challenging and productive an academic experience here as at any college or university in the country-and at a fraction of the cost. Just as I chose the honors program at my home state university over attending Cornell and Stanford, I hope many of Maine's best students will choose to come here for our Honors College and all the great majors we offer.