Introduction to College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park, the flagship institution of the University of
Maryland System, had its origin in 1859 as the Maryland Agricultural College. It became
one of the country's first land-grant institutions in 1867. The state assumed authority
over the College in 1920 and formed the University of Maryland by joining the College with
the long- established professional schools in Baltimore. In 1988, the General Assembly of
Maryland designated College Park campus as the flagship institution for the newly-expanded
University of Maryland System, which consists of 11 campuses across the state and offers
programs at some 200 sites worldwide. As well as pursuing a serious research mission and
continuing its high level of service to the state, the University rededicated itself to
providing the highest quality graduate and undergraduate education. The University
maintains its commitment to students through teaching excellence, exemplary academic
resources, and personal attention.
The University of Maryland, College Park, is an internationally recognized research
institution offering master's degrees in 80 areas and doctoral degrees in 68. There are
over 3,000 faculty members (2,410 full-time), 14 percent of whom are members of minority
groups and 31 percent of whom are women. Each year, the University confers nearly 2,000
graduate degrees, approximately 500 of which are doctoral degrees and 1,500 are master's
degrees. Of these, 13 percent are earned by minority students and 48 percent are earned by
women. The University of Maryland is accredited by the Middle States Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools and is a member of the Association of American
Universities. Furthermore, individual colleges, schools, and departments are accredited by
a variety of specialized groups and relevant governing bodies.
The Graduate School is committed to creating a scholarly community in which a diversity
of ideas, student experiences, individual backgrounds, and perspectives is welcomed and
encouraged. As of fall 1996, there are approximately 33,000 students at the University,
8,100 of whom are enrolled in graduate programs. University of Maryland, College Park
graduate students come from virtually every state in the Union and 140 foreign nations.
Minority students comprise 15 percent of the total student body; 7 percent of our graduate
students are African American, 5 percent are Asian American, 2 percent are
Hispanic/Latino, and less than 1 percent are American Indian.
Opportunities for conducting research abound at the University of Maryland and in the
surrounding area. The dynamic research environment allows students from all disciplines to
undertake scholarly exploration of their special interests and gain practical experience.
Faculty are able to advance their own expertise and bring their insights with them into
the classroom. 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.
Location
Nestled on 1,300 acres in the suburban town of College Park, the university is located
in the center of the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The university's unique location just
9 miles from downtown Washington, D.C., and approximately 30 miles from both Baltimore and
Annapolis enhances the research of its faculty and students by providing access to some of
the finest libraries and research centers in the country. Within easy access of the campus
are 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 in historic Annapolis houses the Maryland Hall of Records. UMCP is accessible by
the METRO rapid transit rail system and bus routes, as well as the MARC commuter trains,
all of which have stops in College Park.
Washington, D.C., is rapidly becoming the nation's capital in cultural and intellectual
activity as well as political power. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the
Filene Center, and the many fine area theaters regularly present performances by the
world's most exciting and renowned artists. The Smithsonian Museums and the National
Gallery of Art, among others, sponsor outstanding collections and special exhibits that
attract national attention. In addition to cultural activities, the nation's capital
provides interested students the opportunity to observe and participate in the work of
federal institutions; to sit in the galleries of Congress; to watch the Supreme Court in
session; and to attend public Congressional hearings. The possibilities for personal
enrichment offered in this exciting cosmopolitan area are indeed enormous.
Outside the metropolitan area and just minutes from the campus, the Maryland
countryside is pleasantly rural. Maryland offers a great variety of recreational and
leisure activities in its many fine national and state parks, from the Catoctin Mountains
in Western Maryland to the Assateague Island National Seashore on the Atlantic-bound
Eastern Shore, all within a pleasant drive from the campus. Recreational and outdoors
opportunities in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware are all within driving distance of
campus.
Special Research Resources
The College Park Campus is in the midst of one of the greatest concentrations of
research facilities and intellectual talent in the nation, if not in the world. Libraries
and laboratories serving virtually every academic discipline are within easy commuting
distance. There is a steady and growing exchange of ideas, information, technical skills,
and scholars between the university and these centers. The libraries and facilities of
many of these centers are open to qualified graduate students. The resources of many more
are available by special arrangement.
In the humanities, the Library of Congress and the Folger Shakespeare Library, with its
extensive collection of rare manuscripts, are among the world's most outstanding research
libraries. In addition, Dumbarton Oaks; the National Archives; the Smithsonian
Institution; the World Bank; the National Library of Medicine; the National Agricultural
Library; the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore; the libraries of the Federal
Departments of Labor, Commerce, Interior, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban
Development, Transportation, and approximately 500 other specialized libraries are all
within a few minutes drive of the College Park campus. The campus is also the site for the
newly constructed National Archives II, the largest archives in the world with the most
complete set of records and documents about this nation's history. These resources make
the University of Maryland one of the most attractive in the nation for scholars of all
disciplines.
The proximity of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center of the United States
Department of Agriculture has stimulated the development of both laboratories and
opportunities for field research in the agricultural and life sciences. The National
Institutes of Health offer unparalleled opportunities for collaboration in biomedical and
behavioral research. Opportunities are also available for collaborative graduate study
programs with other major government laboratories, such as the National Institute of
Science and Technology, the Naval Research Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the
Goddard Space Flight Center. The long-standing involvement of the state of Maryland in the
development of the commercial and recreational resources of the Chesapeake Bay has
resulted in the establishment of outstanding research facilities for the study of marine
science at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, with
research facilities at Horn Point near Cambridge, at Crisfield, and at Solomons Island,
Maryland.
Campus facilities are excellent for research in every discipline. Work in the
behavioral sciences, particularly in learning, is centered in laboratories equipped for
fully automated research on rats, pigeons, and monkeys.
Research in the physical sciences includes: superconductivity, smart materials and
structures, rotocraft engineering, material and surface science, laser and optical
physics, ion-beam lithography, electronic packaging, novel plasma devices, automation and
robotics, advanced computer studies and remote sensing. This research is conducted in
laboratories with leading- edge equipment.
Students also have access to research farms, greenhouses, and even laboratory-equipped
vessels for research in the Chesapeake Bay. The University also owns and operates one of
the world's largest and most sophisticated long-wavelength radio telescopes as part of a
three-university consortium known as the Berkeley- Illinois-Maryland Array (BIMA) located
at Hat Creek in Northern California.
Since 1951, students and faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park, have
benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU is
a consortium of 87 colleges and universities and a management and operating contractor for
the U.S. Department of Energy located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ORAU works with its
member institutions to help their students and faculty gain access to federal research
facilities throughout the country; to keep its member informed about opportunities for
fellowship, scholarship, and research appointments; and to organize research alliances
among its members.
Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the DOE facility that ORAU
manages, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, as well as faculty enjoy access to a
multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students can participate in
programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences,
biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry, and mathematics. Appointment and program
length range from one month to four years. Many of these programs are especially
designed to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students pursuing degrees in
science- and engineering-related disciplines. A comprehensive listing of these
programs and other opportunities, their disciplines, and details on locations and
benefits can be found in the ORAU
Resource Guide.
Distinguished Faculty
The University of Maryland, College Park is committed to hiring and retaining the best
faculty possible. Listed here are some of the distinguished faculty in residence at
Maryland. The title of Distinguished
University Professor is the highest honor that the University bestows upon a
member of its faculty. Distinguished University Professors are recognized for
their exceptional accomplishments in scholarship and teaching and for their contributions
to the University. The Distinguished
Scholar-Teacher program, established in 1978, honors a small number of faculty
members who have demonstrated notable success in both scholarship and teaching.
By
honoring the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher with this prestigious award, we reaffirm our
commitment to excellence in teaching and scholarship. The Distinguished
Scholar-Teach Program is sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and Administered by
the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Libraries
The Libraries on the College Park campus contain over 2.3 million volumes and subscribe
to some 26,000 periodicals and newspapers. Additional collections of research materials
are available on microfilm, microfiche, phonograph records, tapes, films, and in
electronic formats.
The Theodore R. McKeldin Library is the largest library on campus and the principal
library for graduate use in the humanities, social sciences, agriculture, and life
sciences. Special collections and research materials include the papers of former Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew, Romeo Mansueti, Katherine Anne Porter, and Djuna Barnes; the
archive of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; the photo archives of
the Baltimore News-American; Maryland documents; and the files of the Industrial Union of
Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America and other labor unions. The University
Libraries are also a regional depository of U.S. Government publications; the Government
Documents/Maps Room in McKeldin includes these U.S. Government publications and maps, as
well as documents of the United Nations, the League of Nations and other international
organizations, and maps from the U.S. Army Map Service. McKeldin also houses the
collection of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Library.
The Gordon W. Prange Collection, one of the world's largest repositories of published
and unpublished Japanese-language materials from the Allied Occupation period, is housed
in McKeldin Library and consists of Japanese newspapers, monographs, periodicals,
pamphlets and newsletters, textbooks, maps, news photographs, and political posters
produced primarily in the period 1945 to 1949, a time of Allied civil censorship controls.
The materials range from children's books and women's magazines to business, scientific
and technical publications. The collection is especially rich in fiction and poetry,
including reprints and first editions. These rare manuscript materials have attracted
scholars from around the world and have been utilized frequently in recent Japanese and
Western scholarship on post- World War II Japan. They are complementary to the American
government documents which are housed in National Archives II adjacent to the College Park
campus. The East Asia Collection, available since the mid-1960's, includes Japanese,
Korean, and Chinese language monographs, periodicals, and newspapers. It currently
contains about 74,000 catalogued items, and is particularly strong in scholarly works on
the humanities and behavioral and social sciences and in reference and serial
publications. With the exception of the Japanese Division of the Library of Congress, this
is the largest East Asian language collection to be found in any academic institution in
the tri- state region of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Graduate students at UMCP are not served by McKeldin alone; the UMCP Libraries system
also includes six branch libraries. Although the Hornbake Library's collection of books,
periodicals, reserves, and other materials is primarily for the undergraduate student,
this library does offer ample study space and a 24-hour study room during fall and spring
semesters as well as a room serving persons with disabilities. Hornbake also houses
Nonprint Media Services, the central location for audio-visual materials in the library
system and the campus, and the Music Library with books, periodicals, music scores and
parts, and recordings in both music and dance. The Music Library's special collections
include items from the American Bandmasters Association Research Center, the National
Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Research Center, the International
Clarinet Society Research Library, and the International Piano Archives at Maryland. The
National Public Broadcasting Archives, dealing with the history and development of public
broadcasting, and the Library of American Broadcasting are also housed in Hornbake
Library.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Library (EPSL) contains materials in physics,
engineering, mathematics, and geology with other significant collections in computer
science, environmental sciences, water resources, and aerospace science. EPSL is also a
U.S. patent and trademark depository library and its large Technical Reports Center
contains collections from NASA, ERDA, Rand Corporation, and other agencies and
organizations.
The Charles E. White Memorial (Chemistry) Library is a collection of chemistry,
biochemistry, and microbiology materials. Materials include books, periodicals, major
indexes, and comprehensive spectra collections.
Architecture students are served by the Architecture Library with materials on
architectural design, theory and history, urban design, landscape architecture, and
building technology. This library's special collections include rare architecture books
dating as far back as the seventeenth century with materials on world expositions from
1851 to 1937.
For art students, the Art Library collects materials in art history, studio art, art
education, photography, graphic arts, interior design, and textiles. Special collections
include art reproductions and art exhibition catalogs.
Research is supported in the UMCP Libraries with a variety of technological tools. The
online catalog (VICTOR) identifies library materials from the collections of libraries on
all campuses in the University of Maryland System. Access to this information is available
through public terminals located throughout the library systems and through network and
telephone connections using terminals in homes or offices, as well as libraries around the
country. It also offers information about articles in over 16,000 journals through the
UNCOVER file. VICTOR also provides links to hundreds of other library catalogs and
databases including 150 files offered by DIALOG, a major database vendor. Research is also
supported through the fee-based CARS (Computer Assisted Reference Services) for accessing
hundreds of remote bibliographic, textual and numeric databases, as well as through the
free use of over 60 automated reference tools in the libraries. The newly opened
Electronic Reading Room further enhances the advanced research tools available to all
students, faculty, and staff. UMCP's libraries are constantly updating their available
technology resources.
In the McKeldin, Hornbake, White Memorial, and Engineering and Physical Sciences
Libraries, library users can run their own computer searches utilizing a variety of
dial-in services and CD-ROMs for information in education, social sciences, life
sciences, business and patents. In conjunction with the Computer Science Center, ESPL and
Hornbake Libraries offer microcomputers for the use of anyone in the UMCP community.
Research is also supported through a variety of user consultation services, including
directional assistance, basic reference help and in-depth consultations for complex
information problems. Such help may be requested at the reference desk of any of the
libraries.
Borrowing library materials is aided by several services in addition to basic
circulation assistance. Direct borrowing privileges at the other University of Maryland
System libraries are available for registered UMCP graduate students. Inter-Library
Loan
services are available through McKeldin Library's ILL office to obtain loans or
photocopies of materials from other libraries that are not available at UMCP.
Special Opportunities for Artists
Advanced work in the creative and performing arts at College Park is concentrated in
the Tawes Fine Arts Building and the Art- Sociology Building. The Maryland Center for the
Performing Arts, currently under construction, will provide approximately 318,000 square
feet of modern classrooms, laboratories, studios, practice rooms, offices, a library,
performance halls and theaters. Creative work is greatly stimulated by the close
interaction that has developed between the students and faculty of the university and the
artists and scholars at the National Gallery, the Corcoran Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum,
the Phillips Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, as well as the musicians of the
National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and small musical groups.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Filene Center (Wolf Trap Farm Park)
have further enhanced the climate for creative artists attending the university.
Outstanding work on campus in theater, dance, radio, and television is aided by the
proximity of the campus to the National Theater, the Arena Stage, the Morris Mechanic
Theater and numerous little theater groups in the Washington and Baltimore area. There is
a frequent and steady exchange of ideas and talent between students and faculty at the
University with educational and commercial radio and television media, as a consequence of
the large professional staffs that are maintained in the Washington area.
Accreditation
The University of Maryland is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools and is a member of the Association of American Universities.
Individual graduate programs may be accredited by their appropriate agencies. Check with
the graduate program of your interest for particular accreditations.
