New YourPace Public Policy BA from UMF Powered by UMPI

[bjcheung77]

Awesome find. This program does seem interesting, they're using learning resources wisely and offering this as a joint partnership between institutions within the same U of Maine system. I'm more interested in future degree options they may be providing this way... Hopefully, they'll offer Masters level programs that are similar to the UMPI MAOL, MSB, etc.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Excellent find, Jonathan! My brother would love this degree. There are two different webpages pointing to the same degree, although only one mentions CBE. Unfortunately, the page mentioning CBE has fewer classes, with just a few upper level courses. Hopefully they add more classes.  

Hopefully!

Does anyone know how many upper level credits are required to graduate with the B A in IS - Public Policy? I looked through a few pages, but I couldn't find the graduation requirements.

In the UMF catalog, under Academic Policies: Graduation Requirements, for any UMF bachelor's:

Residency Requirements

All students in baccalaureate degree programs must earn the following from the University of Maine at Farmington: 1) a minimum of 12 of the credits required by their major program(s) at the 200 level or above*, and 2) a minimum of 30 of the total required credits.  [ * ] This requirement may be waived under special circumstances by the provost or a designee of the provost. Courses taken from another institution as part of the National Student Exchange or approved study abroad programs are counted toward the residency requirement.

and for any UMF Bachelor of Arts:

Completion of at least 120 credits and all requirements for a specific program (see descriptions of each major), with a minimum cumulative grade point average of at least 2.000.

Then for the Interdisciplinary Studies - Public Policy program specifically, there is no apparent further upper-level requirement except that the program requires ANT 360 and POS 300.

It's possible there's some other upper-level requirement lurking in some other source. My provisional guess is that there isn't.

Do you apply through UMPI or UMF?

Yes! The two institutions now share this undergraduate YourPace application form at maine.edu. maine.edu is owned by the superordinate University of Maine System. UMF is presumably the party that will accept the application.

[Samhain408]

I would've done this instead of the BLS.

[ss20ts]

Yes! The two institutions now share this undergraduate YourPace application form at maine.edu. maine.edu is owned by the superordinate University of Maine System. UMF is presumably the party that will accept the application.

The U of M system processes applications regardless of which campus students apply to.

[SophiaPrincess]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

[ss20ts]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

Every bachelor's degree is required to complete the GEC. The GEC is to build your general knowledge. The GEC has already required a minimum of 2 different sciences. There's plenty of degree plans on here which cover the GEC and changes to it what transfers from Sophia for it. Without seeing his transcripts there's no way to know why they're not accepting the chem course.

[SophiaPrincess]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

Every bachelor's degree is required to complete the GEC. The GEC is to build your general knowledge. The GEC has already required a minimum of 2 different sciences. There's plenty of degree plans on here which cover the GEC and changes to it what transfers from Sophia for it. Without seeing his transcripts there's no way to know why they're not accepting the chem course.

Here is a screenshot of the relevant section of his DPR when his Sophia Chemistry was accepted two weeks ago. Now they say it is not acceptable. Since Sophia Chemistry is still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org, I don't know how they are rejecting Sophia Chemistry for the GEC. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  


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[Robson]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

Did you check Maine Street? The different Maine Universities might accept different transfer credits differently.

[SophiaPrincess]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

Did you check Maine Street? The different Maine Universities might accept different transfer credits differently.

Thanks for your comment. Yes, my brother got the DPRs from MaineStreet. I'm not sure about the different requirements between schools because UMF's Academic Catalog doesn't fully specify GEC details. Since both UMPI and UMF YourPace programs are administered at UMPI, one would think the requirements are the same.  Another difference I've noticed is that UMF doesn't seem to offer tutoring to online students like UMPI. UMF won't even respond to my brother's polite inquiries about tutoring. He's contacted multiple relevant departments.

UMF doesn't seem interested in supporting online students online. Rather, it appears the BA-IS-PP is narrowly focused on people working in the capital, who are able to make the 30 minute commute to Farmington for support, and that the online aspect is just for the convenience of working students, see discounts section:   https://www.umf.maine.edu/academics/prog...ic-policy/

[ss20ts]

My brother matriculated into this degree program but has had nothing but problems. He has had four revisions to his Degree Progress Report, by Jessica no less. So far, everything but financial aid seems to be handled by staff at UMPI. After accepting his Sophia Chemistry course in a previous DPR, Jessica now says it is not acceptable and he needs another science class. They did accept his Sophia biology course and lab. 

I'm not sure why a Public Policy degree has a science requirement. They signed him up for ENV 110 without asking. Cody says it is a requirement but it looks like my brother just needs any two science classes if I am reading the catalog correctly. Has anyone heard about Sophia Chemistry being rejected? It's still listed at Sophia as accepted by UMPI, https://umpi.sophia.org

Did you check Maine Street? The different Maine Universities might accept different transfer credits differently.

Thanks for your comment. Yes, my brother got the DPRs from MaineStreet. I'm not sure about the different requirements between schools because UMF's Academic Catalog doesn't fully specify GEC details. Since both UMPI and UMF YourPace programs are administered at UMPI, one would think the requirements are the same.  Another difference I've noticed is that UMF doesn't seem to offer tutoring to online students like UMPI. UMF won't even respond to my brother's polite inquiries about tutoring. He's contacted multiple relevant departments.

UMF doesn't seem interested in supporting online students online. Rather, it appears the BA-IS-PP is narrowly focused on people working in the capital, who are able to make the 30 minute commute to Farmington for support, and that the online aspect is just for the convenience of working students, see discounts section:   https://www.umf.maine.edu/academics/prog...ic-policy/

UMF's catalog absolutely does list out the General Education requirements. Doesn't look like the lab science was completed and that is required. So he should find out if he completed the chem lab if that will be accepted. This program at UMF is brand new so there are going to be bumps in the road. During the summer many colleges are on reduced staff. Some are closed all day on Friday or part of the day. Patience is key when working with a new program especially at a small university. 

https://catalog.farmington.edu/content.p...navoid=427