UMM: Unique Academic Opportunities

UMM has everything you'd expect at a quality liberal arts institution... and special opportunities you can't find anywhere else.

Research scholarship... and scholarships!

The opportunity to expand the body of knowledge in a field by participating in scholarly research is a hallmark of superior undergraduate institutions. UMM takes great pride in its undergraduate research programs. Each spring, the campus hosts the Undergraduate Research Symposium, an annual showcase of investigation, creativity and scholarship presented by students who have participated in independent research, capstone projects, or exploration with faculty, some through the Morris Academic Partners or Undergraduate Research Opportunities financial stipend programs.

Reaching out through the Center for Small Towns

UMM is home to the Center for Small Towns, an outreach program extending University resources to rural Minnesota communities. Students participate in internships and service learning projects, assisting citizens with a wide range of tasks including surveys, data analysis, wastewater infrastructure, technology implementation, asset mapping, inventorying renewable energy assets, increasing activity among senior citizens and civic involvement in youth, increased and affordable access to healthcare through collective purchasing, and GIS mapping, among many others.

Renowned guest speakers

In addition to participating in the Twin Cities campus' "Great Conversations" series via ITV downlink, UMM offers an impressive number of lecture programs bringing noted speakers to campus:

Campus Activity Council Convocations
The Driggs Lecture
Midwest Philosophy Colloquium
The Barber Lecture
First Year Seminar Convocations
The Latterell Lecture

Ralph Nader at UMM

Odds are, you'll study abroad.

UMM students enjoy an educational experience with a strong global perspective. Programs such as Study Abroad, the English Language Teaching Assistant Program (ELTAP), and Global Student Teaching (GST) send almost 50% of UMM students to international destinations before graduation. Next stop: China! UMM is currently participating in a unique student exchange pilot program between our campus and universities in China.

Sometimes the Chancellor can't get a ticket!

All that jazz may be happening at other college campuses, but few undergraduates can say they've performed alongside the nationally and internationally renowned musicians who participate each spring in UMM's annual Jazz Fest, co-hosted by the UMM Jazz Ensembles and the Campus Activities Council Performing Arts Committee.

Three days of jazz clinics are followed by three nights of sold-out performances featuring jazz groups and guest artists such as Jamey Aebersold, Wayne Bergeron, Richie Cole, Steve Houghton, Ingrid Jensen, Eric Marienthal, Ellis Marsalis, Red Rodney, Ed Shaughnessey, Bobby Shew, Dave Stahl, Butch Thompson, Ross Tomkins, Bobby Watson, Ernie Watts, Sarah Jane Cion, Sherrie Maricle, Sarah Morrow, and Jane Bunnett.

Some years, not even the chancellor can get a ticket!

UMM and PBS

Soon to enter its 18th season, the Pioneer Public Television program, "Prairie Yard and Garden," is produced by UMM's Media Services Department, affording UMM students the opportunity to work on a popular and highly-esteemed PBS series. PBS stations frequently share locally-produced programming; "Prairie Yard and Garden" is broadcast across the country by stations including key markets in Chicago and California.

Opera Workshop

Students get hands-on experience with a wide variety of magnificent material when they participate in UMM's Opera Workshop, a course that culminates in a public showcase each spring. The event provides many students (and area residents) with their first exposure to one of music's most exhilarating forms.

Maximum interaction with esteemed guests

Endowed professorships have long been a hallmark of the nation's finest institutions of higher learning. UMM's Distinguished Visiting Professorship was made possible thanks to a generous Campaign Minnesota contribution by Dr. Elizabeth "Bettina" Blake, UMM vice chancellor and academic dean emerita and professor emerita of French.

The Distinguished Visiting Professorship seeks to provide maximum interaction with national and international persons of accomplishment; in the spring of 2005, UMM was pleased to welcome Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, renowned historian and scholar and the founder of the Grammy-winning "Sweet Honey in the Rock," for a two-week visit that included public lectures and performances, class visits, and rehearsals with campus choirs.