The University of Vermont

Founded in 1791, The University of Vermont, or UVM (from the Latin name Universitas Viridis Montis, which means University of the Green Mountains), is the fifth-oldest university in New England (after Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown). UVM was the first university to declare public support for freedom of religion and, in 1875 and 1877, became the first to admit women and African Americans, respectively, to its chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society.

The University of Vermont is a close-knit community of scholars. The average undergraduate class size is 23; the student-faculty ratio is 15:1. In many ways the University feels like a small liberal arts college - invigorated by the resources of a major research university. The University offers more than ninety programs in its seven under-graduate colleges and schools: the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Social Services, the College of Engineering and Mathematics, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the School of Business Administration, and the School of Natural Resources. In addition, the University's internationally recognized College of Medicine and the Graduate College offer 72 master's degree programs and 20 doctoral programs, plus the Doctor of Medicine. High achieving students find exceptional opportunities through the University's innovative Honors College.

Mission

UVM's mission is to create, interpret, and share knowledge, to prepare our students to lead productive, responsible, and creative lives, and to promote the application of relevant knowledge to benefit the State of Vermont and society as a whole.

The University lives out its mission through research, teaching, and service. This tripartite mission supports a full range of inquiry and application within the University and in the broader community. Our fundamental mission of generating and sharing knowledge encompasses a broad spectrum of endeavors, including discovery, the integration of new knowledge into an existing discipline or body of knowledge, and the application of knowledge to a variety of contemporary problems.

Goals

• To sustain programs that emphasize the highest quality scholarly work, preparing students for productive, responsible, and creative lives.
• To provide a foundation of excellence in research and creative activities that generates new knowledge and understanding, enriching the intellectual environment for students, staff, and faculty alike.
• To promote the examination and understanding of diverse perspectives and experiences to prepare our students to live in harmony with others in an increasingly pluralistic society.
• To share and interpret knowledge, and to engage in the relevant application of knowledge to a variety of contemporary problems, integrating scholarship, creative activities, and service within the curriculum, the research mission, and in outreach and engagement.
• To encourage students to develop the capacity to use their knowledge for the benefit of society and to develop qualities of good citizenship and the capacity for leadership that they will carry with them throughout their lives.
• To enhance research-based lifelong learning opportunities for individuals and communities throughout Vermont and beyond.
• To foster a campus environment characterized by shared responsibility, community, civility, and justice. To nurture the relationship of the University to the State of Vermont and its citizens in order to enhance the quality of life for all persons in the state.