Table Of ContentGOALS
An education at the University
of Maryland at College Park
strives to cultivate intellect by
teaching students to extend prin
ciples and ideas to new situa
tions and to new groups of peo
ple. It aims to provide students
with a sense of identity and pur
pose, a concern for others, a
sense of responsibility for the
quality of life around them, a
continuing eagerness for knowl
edge and understanding and a
foundation for a lifetime of per
sonal enrichment. It enlivens stu
dents to enlarge the common
understanding, to develop
humane values, to celebrate tol
erance and fairness, to contribute
to the social conscience, to moni
tor and assess private and collec
tive assumptions, and to recog
nize the glory, tragedy, and
humor of the human condition.
Specifically, undergraduate edu
cation at College Park seeks to
enable students to develop and
expand their use of basic acade
mic and intellectual tools.
Students are educated to be able
to read with perception and plea
sure, write and speak with clari
ty and verve, handle numbers
and computation proficiently,
reason mathematically, generate
clear questions and find probable
arguments, reach substantiated
conclusions, and accept ambigui
ty. Students also study in depth
and acquire a substantial compe
tence in a coherent academic dis
cipline. A College Park education
helps students to become aware
of the variety of ways of know
ing, the complexity of being
human, and to understand their
place in history and in the con
temporary world. Students learn
to analyze and appreciate artistic
creations, to identify and evalu
ate moral questions, to synthe
size and integrate knowledge,
and to become intellectually flex
ible, inventive, and creative.
From: Promises to Keep: The College Park Plan for Undergraduate Education
Approved by the Campus Senate
March, 1988
HISTORY
In 1859, on the site now occupied
by Morrill Hall, Charles Benedict
Calvert, a wealthy planter and
later congressman from
Riverdale, established the
Maryland Agricultural College.
Its purpose was to educate the
sons of Maryland farmers and to
cultivate the free flow of ideas.
After the Civil War, the College
became one of the nation's first
land-grant colleges under the
Morrill Act of 1867, and by 1900,
had begun to bring prosperity to
the state through its agricultural
outreach programs.
As it did so, it changed the state
and was itself transformed. By
the early 20th century, the
College had expanded its offer
ings into engineering, business,
and the liberal arts. Women were
admitted as students in 1912; by
1929, they numbered more than
300, had graduated from every
college in what now was a uni
versity, and had become active
participants in all aspects of cam
pus life. Shortly before World
War I, graduate work began. In
1920, the college merged with the
In 1888, the campus
long-established professional
consisted of an ad schools in Baltimore, and the
Maryland Agricultural College
ministration build
changed its name to the
ing, a classroom University of Maryland.
Along with much of American
building. and a labo
society, the University was fur
ratory. As the Mary ther transformed by World War
II. The University revised its cur
land Agricultural
riculum to provide a strong
College, it became foundation in the liberal arts and
sciences and reshaped its offer
one of the nation's
ings in advanced studies to create
first land-grant insti a series of "majors" that would
serve the emerging needs of
tutions in 1865.
industry, government, and soci developed to accommodate stu
ety for highly-educated citizens. dents who wanted to pursue cross
However, like the state of which disciplinary studies; teacher evalua
it was a part, the University of tions encouraged students to cri
Maryland was segregated by tique the quality of classroom
race, and barred African instruction, and periodic reviews of
Americans from attending programs and administrators
College Park. Beginning in the became standard.
post-war period, Maryland's In 1988, the General Assembly of
black citizens asserted their right Maryland designated the
to attend the state's premier pub University of Maryland at College
lic university with ever greater Park as the flagship institution for
force and power. In 1950, a suc the newly-expanded University of
cessful lawsuit required the Maryland System. As well as pur
University to allow a young black suing a serious research mission
man, Parrin Mitchell of and continuing its high level of ser
~
Baltimore, to attend graduate vice to the state, the University
classes at College Park. In the . rededicated itself to providing the The university's
following year, Hiram Whittle, highest quality graduate and close links to Balti
another Baltimorean, became the undergraduate education.
first African-American under Increased undergraduate opportu more, Annapolis,
graduate student admitted to this nities for research and individual and Washington,
institution. Still, it was not until study, the development of the
D.C., provide excit
the 1954landmark Supreme College Park Scholars Program and
Court ruling in Brown v. Board the expansion of the University ing opportunities
of Education that the University Honors Program, the creation of for internships,
of Maryland Board of Regents CORE, the general studies pro
agreed to accept all qualified stu gram, the establishment of the research, cultural
dents without regard to race. The Center for Teaching Excellence, all activities, and
once segregated college is now a affirmed the legislature's designa
recreation.
multicultural, international tion of flagship.
university. After almost a century and a half,
The evolution of College Park the University of Maryland at
mirrored the pattern of social College Park seems to bear little
change in other ways as well. In resemblance to the Maryland
the 1960s, students here as else Agricultural College. Yet, at heart,
where sought more opportunities it remains the same: an engine of
for self-expression as they joined economic growth, to be sure; a
in the movement to create an great research university, yes; a
egalitarian society. Their con source of enlightenment for the citi
cerns in part led to the expansion zens of the state and the world, of
of curriculum offerings into new course. But, above all, this is a
areas, such as Afro-American place where the life of the mind
Studies, Women's Studies, and remains primary, and where noth
Urban Studies. A wider choice of ing is more valued than the open
electives encouraged students to and vigorous exploration and dis
explore various disciplines; the semination of both new and old
Individual Studies Program was ideas.
RESEARCH Opportunities for conducting
research abound at the University
of Maryland at College Park and
in the surrounding area, both for
faculty to advance their own
expertise and bring their insights
with them into the classroom, and
for students to begin their explo
ration of their special interests
with practical experience. On
campus, special facilities and a
number of organized research
centers, bureaus, and institutes
promote the acquisition and
analysis of new knowledge in the
arts, sciences, and applied fields.
The University's enviable loca
tion-just 10 miles from down
town Washington, D.C., and
approximately 30 miles from both
Baltimore and Annapolis
enhances the research of its facul
ty and students by providing
access to some of the finest
libraries and research centers in
the country including the Library
of Congress, Folger Shakespeare
Library, National Archives,
National Library of Medicine, and
National Agricultural Library. In
the Baltimore area are the Enoch
Pratt Free Library and the
Maryland Historical Association
Library. The state capital at
Annapolis is home to the
Maryland Hall of Records.
In recent years, several research
opportunities have been created
specifically for undergraduates.
As early as the second semester of
freshman year, students are eligi
ble to participate in the
Undergraduate Research
Assistant Program. As research
assistants, students develop close
intellectual relationships with
faculty mentors and collaborate
on faculty research projects.
Multidisciplinary Senior Sunu:ner
Scholarship grants enable stu-
• Undergraduate stu
dents are encour
aged to begin their
own explorations
through access to
state of the art facili·
IV
ties and resources.
I ,
dents to spend the summer
between their junior and senior
years working closely with faculty
mentors on scholarly, research, or
artistic projects while earning aca
demic credit.
Additional, discipline-specific
research opportunities are avail
able off-campus. UMCP is leading
a cooperative excavation of the
ruined city of Caesarea Maritima
in Israel, where Pontius Pilate
lived while serving as Roman
governor of Judea. Elsewhere, A major research
students participate in archeologi
university attracts
cal digs at Cape May, N.J., and in
Historic Annapolis. Aided by the top faculty who bring
Maryland Sea Grant, College Park
their research inter·
zoologists and microbiologists
study the fisheries of the ests and insights to
Chesapeake Bay.
the classroom.
Research internships are available
through academic departments T
and Experiential Learning
Programs. The sites include fed
eral agencies and private organi
zations such as the National
Zoological Park, Congressional
Arts Caucus, Smithsonian
Institution, Women's Legal
Defense Fund, the National
Institutes of Health, National
Archives, and the U.S.
ACCREDITATION
Department of Agriculture.
Students may work in Annapolis
or on Capitol Hill through the The University of Maryland at College Park is accredit
Maryland Legislative Internships. ed by the Middle States Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools and is a member of the Association
of American Universities. In addition, individual col
leges, schools, and departments are accredited by such
groups as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools
of Business, the American Chemical Society, the
National Association of Schools of Music, the
,.....----··--
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and
Mass Communications, the Committee on Accreditation
of the American Library Association, the American
Psychological Association, the Engineering
Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board
for Engineering and Technology (see College of
Engineering for a listing of accredited engineering pro
grams), the National Council for Accreditation of
Teacher Education, the National Architectural
Accrediting Board, the American Dietetic Association,
the Planning Accreditation Board of the American
Planning Association, the Council on Rehabilitation
Education, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling
and Related Educational Program, the Institute of Food
Technologists, the Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists, and the Educational Standards Board of the
American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
v
Microcomputer facilities, man
LIBRARIES aged by the Computer Science
Center, are available for use by
students in Hornbake and the
Engineering and Physical
Sciences Library. Hornbake
Library, the undergraduate
library, provides reference, circ1
lation and reserve services in all
subject areas to undergraduate
~tudents. A late-night study roo
1s open 24 hours during the fall
and spring terms. Nonprint
Media Services serves as the ce
tral audio-visual department fOJ
the UMCP libraries. The recent:
renovated and expanded
Theodore R. McKeldin Library i
the main research library of the
UMCP library system.
M~Keld~'s reference works, pe1
od1cal~, Circulating books, speci
collechons and other materials
provide support for research a
teaching throughout the
University, with special emphas
on the humanities, the social sc·
ences, and the life sciences. The
five branch libraries on campus
offer extensive resources which
provide essential support for sr.
~
cialized study, research, and
Seven libraries and teaching. The branches are the
Architecture Library, the Art
numerous special col·
Library, the Engineering and
lections provide rich Physical Sciences Library, the
Music Library, and the White
material and technical The seven libraries which make
Memorial (Chemistry) Library.
up the University of Maryland
support for teaching Among the outstanding special
at College Park library system
I and research. offer outstanding resources and holdings of the libraries are the
International Piano Archives at
services. The holdings of the
Maryland, a world-renowned c
libraries include over 2.4 million
lection of piano performance
volumes, more than 5 million
materials in the music library; t
microform units, almost 26,000
National Trust for Historic
current periodical and newspa
Preservation Library; the
per subscriptions as well as over
Maryland Room-a major center
843,000 government documents,
for Maryland studies; the
205,000 maps, and extensive
Katherine Anne Porter Collectio
holdings of phono-records, films
the Gordon W. Prange Col!ectio
and filmstrips, slides, prints, and
of Japanese-language publica
music scores. The libraries also
tions, 1945-49; the U.S. Patent
feature a Technical Reports
Depository Collection; the
Center collection of some 2 mil
Government Document and
lion items-one of the most out
Maps Room, featuring U.S. gor·
standing collections of its kind in
ernment publications as well as
the nation. VICTOR, the
publications of the United
L~braries' online catalog, pro
Nations, the League of Nations
VIdes access to bibliographic
and other international organiza
records of most materials in the
tions, maps from the U.S. ArrilY
libraries of 11 institutions in the
Map Service and the U.S. .
University of Maryland System,
Geological Survey; the East ASia
as well as other libraries around
Collection; and the National
the country. In addition, the sys
Public Broadcasting Archives
tem offers information about arti
located in Hornbake LibrarY·
cles in over 100,000 journals.
VI
Desktop computers
are part of a campus
wide network of work
station and micro
computer laborato
ries.
COMPUTER Students at College Park are part
of an academic community that
SCIENCE
enjoys free access to networked
computer resources and facilities
CENTER
that are among the best in the
country. The Computer Science
Center maintains these resources
and provides a vast array of aca
demic computing services to stu
dents, faculty and staff.
Workstation laboratories called
Open Labs feature IBM,
Macintosh, and UNIX environ
ments, and provide high-quality
laser printing. Open Labs are
found in academic buildings, dor
mitories, libraries, and parking
garages and are staffed with com
puter-experienced students
Effective July 5, 1989, any student, faculty, or staff member with a (called First-Aiders) who can help
currently validated identification card at one of the following with problems operating the
computers or the software on
Maryland colleges and universities is entitled to direct borrowing
them. Free computer accounts
Privileges at any of them: the eleven institutions of the University enable users to store class work
on a networked server, download
of Maryland System; Morgan State University; St. Mary's College of
classroom support materials and
Maryland; and the UM Center for Environmental Estuarine Studies.
other electronic information from
For more information, please contract the library circulation desk at campus networked resources
such as inforM, or send electronic
Your home institution.
mail to professors, peers, or
friends at other universities. And,
for additional help using the
computers and software, non
credit, short-term, "peer training"
is available to students through
out each semester.
VII
UNDERGRADUATE
PROGRAMS OF STUDY
Social Studies UNDERGRADUATE
A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL Speech and English STUDIES
OF ENGINEERING College Park Scholars
Theatre and English
Biological Resources Engineering Division of Letters and Sciences
Chemical Engineering Special Education Individual Studies Program
Civil Engineering Law and Health Professions
Pre-Dental Hygiene
Electrical Engineering
COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND Pre-Dentistry§
Engineering
HUMAN PERFORMANCE Pre-Law§
Fire Protection Engineering Family Studies Pre-Medical Technology
Materials and Nuclear Engineering Health Education Pre-Medicine§
Mechanical Engineering Pre-Nursing
Kinesiology
Pre-Optometry§
Pre-Osteopathic Medicine§
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE Pre-Pharmacy
AND NATURAL RESOURCES COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM Pre-Physical Therapy
Pre-Podiatric Medicine§
Agricultural Sciences
University Honors Program§
Agriculture/Veterinary (combined)
COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES §Advising Available
Agricultural and Resource Economics
Biochemistry
Agronomy
Biological Sciences
Animal Sciences CAMPUS-WIDE
Biological Resources Engineering Chemistry CERTIFICATES
Horticulture Entomology Afro-American Studies
Nutrition and Food Science Microbiology East Asian Studies
Landscape Architecture Plant Biology Women's Studies
Natural Resources Management Program COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND Zoology
MANAGEMENT
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Accounting
Business/Law
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND Finance
HUMANITIES General Business and Management
American Studies Logistics and Transportation
Art Management and Organization
Art History and Archeology Management Science and Statistics
Asian and East European Languages and Marketing
Cultures Personnel and Labor Relations
Chinese Production Management
Classics Transportation, Business and Public
Dance Policy
English Language and Literature
French Language and Literature COLLEGE OF COMPUTER,
Germanic Studies MATHEMATICAL, AND
History PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Japanese Astronomy
I
Jewish Studies Computer Science
Linguistics Geology
Music Mathematics
Philosophy Physical Sciences
Romance Languages Physics
Russian Area Studies
Russian Languages and Literature
Spanish and Portuguese Languages COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
and Literature Early Childhood Education
Speech Communication Elementary Education
Theatre Human Development
Women's Studies Secondary Education
Art
English
COLLEGE OF BEHAVIORAL AND Language Arts
SOCIAL SCIENCES Foreign Language
Afro-American Studies Mathematics
Anthropology Music
Criminal Justice and Criminology Science
Economics
Geography
•
Government and Politics
Hearing and Speech Sciences
Psychology Cultural and ethnic
Sociology
diversity are part of
the educational tradi·
tion at Maryland.
VIII
