The University of New England (UNE) is a private, coeducational university with campuses in Biddeford, Maine, Portland, Maine, USA, and a campus in Tangier, Morocco. The Biddeford campus sits on 540 acres, the Portland campus on 40 acres, and the Tangier Campus on 3.7 acres. During the 2015â€"2016 academic year, 12,245 students were enrolled in UNE's campus-based and online programs.
UNE's institutional history dates to 1831, when Westbrook Seminary opened on what is now the UNE Portland Campus. The UNE Biddeford Campus was founded in 1939 when College Séraphique opened as a high school and junior college for boys of Quebecois descent. In 1952, that institution became a four-year liberal arts college named St. Francis College. In 1978, St. Francis College merged with the New England Foundation for Osteopathic Medicine to become the University of New England. In 1996, the University of New England merged with Westbrook College. In 2014, UNE opened a campus in Tangier, Morocco.
UNE is the largest private university in the state of Maine and the largest educator of healthcare professionals for Maine. It is organized into six colleges that combine to offer more than 70 undergraduate, graduate, online, and professional degrees. Known predominantly for its programs in the sciences and health sciences, UNE also offers degrees in the marine sciences, environmental science, business, education, the humanities, and many other subjects. Its College of Osteopathic Medicine is the only medical school in Maine, and its College of Dental Medicine is the only dental college in northern New England.
On February 21, 2017, UNE announced that Dr. James Herbert, formerly of Drexel University, will succeed current UNE president Danielle N. Ripich at the close of her 11-year tenure, effective July 1, 2017.
History
In 1939, a boys-only high school and junior college called the College Séraphique was founded in Biddeford by Father Decary and the Franciscan friar of St. Andre's parish.
In 1952, the school changed its name to St. Francis College and began granting bachelor's degrees with state approval in 1953. The high school program was phased out by 1961, and the college was first accredited in 1966.
The school became co-educational for the first time in 1967 and the Franciscans withdrew from the administration of the college in 1974.
To survive dropping enrollment, St. Francis College entered into an agreement with the New England Foundation for Osteopathic Medicine to establish the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine on the same campus, and in 1978 the two merged under the new name of the "University of New England". In 1996, Westbrook College merged with the University of New England. The merger took place under the terms of the original 1831 Westbrook charter, and the combined institutions became Westbrook College before changing the name back to the University of New England. The campus of the former Westbrook College is now known as the UNE Portland Campus.
In December 2010, the university received the largest gift in its history -- $10 million from the Harold Alfond Foundation to build the Harold Alfond Forum on the Biddeford Campus, and to support interprofessional healthcare workforce education.
The Alfond Forum, which opened fall 2012, includes a 105,000-square-foot (9,800Â m2) athletics complex featuring an ice hockey rink with 900 seats; a basketball court with 1,200 seats; classroom space; a fitness center; and multi-purpose indoor practice courts that can also be used for performances and other events, with a combined seating capacity of 3,000.
This provides the largest gathering space on both the Biddeford and Portland campuses. The complex is located between UNE's new synthetic blue turf field and Sokokis Hall.
In March 2014, UNE launched its $60M "Moving Forward Campaign," the largest in UNE history.
As of 2016 UNE is a sponsor of IR Tanger, a Moroccan soccer team.
Campuses
UNE offers three distinct campuses that provide students with a range of learning environments. The university’s two campuses in coastal Maine, USA, house undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, while its campus in Tangier, Morocco provides an innovative semester-abroad program delivered to UNE students at no extra cost.
Biddeford Campus
The Biddeford Campus covers 539 acres (218Â ha), with 0.75 miles (1.21Â km) of ocean frontage where the Saco River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The 26 buildings on the campus include the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, the Pickus Center for Biomedical Research, and the Marine Science Center.
The Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences houses Maine's only medical school: The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine.
UNE's Biddeford Campus is also home to the George and Barbara Bush Center, which houses material anchoring the Bush legacy in Maine, including memorabilia on loan from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A & M University. The Center includes a replica of the Oval Office during Bush’s term in the White House and a statue of the former president. Each year, UNE hosts an annual lecture at its Biddeford Campus that is attended by the former president and his family.
The UNE Biddeford Campus also includes the Harold Alfond Forum, which offers 105,000 square-feet (9,800 m2) of athletic and learning space, including: an NHL-size ice hockey rink with 900 seats, a basketball court with 1,200 seats, classrooms, a fitness center, and multi-purpose indoor practice courts that are also used for performances and lectures. A $10 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation facilitated the building’s construction and the development of associated programming.
UNE also owns Ram Island, off the coast of the Biddeford Campus, which serves as a field station for student and faculty researchers.
Portland Campus
The 41 acres (17 ha) Portland Campus (43°40′59″N 70°17′44″W) is designated a national historic district. It provides a quintessential New England quad in a suburban neighborhood, just a short drive from Portland’s downtown waterfront.
The UNE Portland Campus houses the university's Westbrook College of Health Professions, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Dental Medicine. The College of Dental Medicine, which is housed in the $14.5 million Oral Health Center, graduated its first class in 2017. It is Maine's only dental college.
Other features of the UNE Portland Campus include the Art Gallery, the Maine Women Writers Collection, and the Center for Global Humanities. The Center for Global Humanities, which was founded by leading cultural studies scholar Anouar Majid in 2009, hosts scholars from around the globe for public lectures. Past lectures have featured Noam Chomsky, Sherwin Nuland, and Bill McKibben as speakers.
Tangier Campus
In January 2014, UNE opened a campus in Tangier, Morocco, within the campus of the American School of Tangier, the oldest American school in Morocco. The campus consists of two buildingsâ€"one for academic programming and the other for student and staff housing. It also includes an outdoor court colored UNE's trademark blue. Undergraduates take courses delivered in English in the sciences, humanities, and languages.
UNE undergraduates may spend a semester or entire academic year at the Tangier Campus, which offers organic chemistry labs and other facilities that allow students in the health sciences to stay on track with their majors while gaining international experience.
UNE students visit famous Moroccan cities like Casablanca, Fez, and Marrakesh, natural wonders like the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert, and a UNE satellite program in Seville, Spain.
The UNE Tangier Campus also hosts the Tangier Global Forum, a public lecture series designed to encourage discussion and examination of the burning issues facing the global community today. American, Moroccan, European and other thinkers present lectures designed to provide new insights into histories and cultures critical to a better understanding of our world. On May 12, 2017, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell visited the UNE Tangier Campus to present a lecture titled "Is Peace Possible in the Middle East?"
Academics
The University of New England is an innovative health sciences university grounded in the liberal arts, with two distinctive coastal Maine campuses and unique study abroad opportunities, including programs in Seville, Spain, and UNE's campus in Tangier, Morocco. UNE has internationally recognized scholars in the sciences, health, medicine and humanities; offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs; and is home to Maine's only medical school and dental school.
It is one of a handful of private universities with a comprehensive health education mission including medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing and an array of allied health professions. UNE's interprofessional education initiatives prepare future healthcare professionals to practice comprehensive and collaborative team-based care. Both graduate and undergraduate students engage in research and scholarship alongside dedicated faculty who are committed to their academic and professional success.
College of Arts and Sciences
The UNE College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 40 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Popular majors include biology, business, education, environmental science, marine science, marine entrepreneurship, and psychology.
Westbrook College of Health Professions
The UNE Westbrook College of Health Professions prepares students for careers in the healthcare fields, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. Students participate in clinical simulations, inter-professional learning experiences, service learning, and other experiences that enable them to transition smoothly into the workforce upon graduation.
College of Osteopathic Medicine
The UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine is the only medical school in the state of Maine. Its graduates constitute 25 percent of primary care physicians practicing in rural parts of Maine, and 10 percent of practicing physicians in the state. Founded in 1978, it is accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) and the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
College of Dental Medicine
The UNE College of Dental Medicine is the only dental school in northern New England. Accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, it offers opportunities for students to treat patients in UNE’s Oral Health Center during their first three years and at clinical sites throughout New England in their fourth years.
College of Pharmacy
The UNE College of Pharmacy is housed in the only facility in Maine devoted exclusively to academic study and research in the field of pharmacy. The building provides 48,000 square feet of learning space on four floors, including a drug information center, three teaching laboratories, and lecture halls and classrooms equipped with the latest technologies. The college is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).
College of Graduate and Professional Studies
The UNE College of Graduate and Professional Studies offers online degrees and certificate programs. In 2015, the college enrolled students from all 50 U.S. states and 27 countries. Popular programs include degree and certificate courses in education, social work, public health, health informatics, and medical education leadership.
Centers of Excellence
The University of New England has several centers of excellence for research and scholarship. These university-wide centers build on existing programs in marine science and neuroscience, humanities and interprofessional education.
The centers are designed to provide opportunities for collaborative research and scholarship programs for interdisciplinary, multi-investigator and multi-institutional awards. The centers are also designed to expand undergraduate research at UNE and explore opportunities for future doctoral programs, and include:
- The Interprofessional Education Collaborative
- Center for Excellence in Health Innovation
- Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN)
- Center for Global Humanities (CGH)
- Center for Excellence in Marine Sciences
- Center for Enrichment of Teaching & Learning
- Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for the study of Pain and Sensory Function
- Center for Excellence in Aging and Health
Rankings and accolades
UNE’s programs have received national and international recognition in recent years:
- The 2016 edition of The Princeton Review’s Best 380 Colleges guide ranked UNE among the top 15% of U.S. four-year colleges and universities.
- The Brookings Institution ranks UNE first among all Maine universities and colleges for its ability to increase students’ career earnings.
- U.S. News and World Report includes UNE in its list of “America’s Best Colleges.â€
- Forbes includes UNE in its ranking of “America’s Top Colleges.â€
- UNE received the New England Board of Higher Education’s 2015 Maine Merit Award for excellence in innovation.
- PayScale.com ranks UNE 276th out of 1002 colleges with high salary potential for graduates.
- College Raptor named UNE “the best hidden gem†among Maine colleges and universities.
- Online Schools Center includes UNE in a list of “30 Amazing Colleges at the Beach.â€
- Best Master’s Programs ranks UNE among the “50 Most Affordable Online Graduate Schools.â€
- The Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education Ranked UNE 325th among US Colleges and Universities
Athletics
University of New England teams participate as members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Nor'easters are a member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) for thirteen of the school's current varsity sports; for women's ice hockey, the Nor'easters belong to the New England Hockey Conference. Men's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, and volleyball. The University announced in December 2014 that it planned to add men's football (2018) and women's rugby (2016) as varsity sports.
There are also many club sports and intramural sports.
Notes and references
External links
- Official website
- Official athletics website
