UMUC has fulfilled its principal mission of providing higher education opportunities to nontraditional students for 60 years. Founded in 1947 as the College of Special and Continuation Studies, UMUC has grown to become one of the largest institutions in the University System of Maryland—both in terms of enrollments and its global scope—while earning accolades for the quality of its programs and its innovative use of technology.
UMUC is one of the eleven degree-granting institutions that make up the University System of Maryland. It is the component of the University System dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities for adult students–throughout the state of Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, in military communities around the world, and increasingly via distance education. In recent years, UMUC has provided courses to students in more than twenty countries on all seven continents. When the University of Maryland began its programs in Asia in 1956, General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, Pacific Commander, remarked that “the sun never sets on the University of Maryland.” His comment is still true today.
UMUC worldwide offers degree programs from the Associate of Arts through the Doctor of Management, undergraduate and graduate certificates, a graduate program that provides an accelerated route to teacher certification in the state of Maryland, and noncredit leadership development programs that respond to the needs of the lifelong learner.
Throughout all the University’s many programs, certain features stand out: UMUC’s commitment to serving nontraditional students, its academic quality, its active presence throughout the state of Maryland, its international scope as a global university, and its long partnership with the U.S. military.
UMUC places a high priority on student learning and embraces the concept of learning assessment within instructional delivery and teaching practices. To provide evidence of student learning, the University adheres to a comprehensive learning assessment process that assesses student learning in specific core learning areas. Embedded within the curriculum of each degree program, these core learning areas represent the knowledge, skills, and dispositions expected of all UMUC graduates. Undergraduate core learning areas are effective communication, technology fluency, information literacy/research competence, quantitative literacy, critical thinking, scientific literacy, historical perspective, globalization/ diversity, scientific literacy, and specialized knowledge. Graduate core learning areas are effective communication, technology fluency, information literacy/research competence, quantitative literacy, critical thinking, globalization/diversity, and specialized knowledge. Assessment data for these core learning areas are used to continuously improve the quality of UMUC’s academic programs.
Establishing university programs in Asia and the Pacific has not been easy for students, faculty, or administrators. During the years of America’s military involvement in Southeast Asia, students studied during blackouts, faculty members (who were sometimes driven to class in armored vehicles) shouted over mortar fire, and textbooks were occasionally air dropped.
University of Maryland University College is meeting today’s challenge of the changing needs of military communities. UMUC faculty increaslingly use computer-assisted teaching techniques, and online Distance Education courses, designed for students who cannot easily attend regularly scheduled classes, are routinely available to students around the world. At the same time, UMUC continues to improve its library services, especially through the availability of online resources. UMUC Asia enters its 50th year ready and able to provide lifelong learning opportunities for American citizens serving their country abroad.