https://www.uvm.edu/cas
The College of Arts and Sciences at UVM combines the advantages of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a major research institution. Students receive an excellent liberal education through close interaction with nationally and internationally recognized scholars. This close interaction helps students acquire the deep knowledge and scholarly discipline that allows them to think critically about the issues they will undoubtedly confront in their professional and personal lives. The college's academic programs acquaint students with the intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic heritage of our complex world. They also prepare students for entry into rewarding careers in a diverse range of fields and for a variety of advanced study opportunities. Increasingly, professional schools, corporate managers, and graduate schools seek individuals who have a broad liberal arts background.
In UVM’s College of Arts and Sciences, students are encouraged to develop depth and breadth of knowledge, as well as the critical thinking and communication skills that are the hallmarks of a liberal education. Students begin developing these skills in a first-year seminar or other first-year experience, and, as they complete degree requirements, they explore a wide range of disciplines spanning literature, the humanities, the arts, foreign languages, the natural and social sciences, and mathematics. The college offers over forty majors or co-majors and more than fifty-five minors from which students may choose.
The Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is located at 438 College Street.
First-Year Programs
Beginning university-level study is challenging. The College of Arts and Sciences offers students programs that help them complete their first year successfully and acquire the skills and background necessary for them to excel throughout their undergraduate careers.
In their first semester, students are encouraged to enroll in a First Year Seminar (FYS), which is designed to help students begin to meaningfully engage with the liberal arts as a cornerstone of their UVM education. FYS courses are interactive and writing intensive. In these seminars, students approach significant issues from a variety of perspectives, developing their critical thinking, oral, and written communication skills. FYS courses also help students discover their interests and reach their academic goals. Every FYS course satisfies the university Writing and Information Literacy 1 (WIL1) requirement and most also fulfill a Catamount Core Liberal Arts requirement. Recent topics have included “Planetology,” “Frankenstein and Climate Change,” “History of the Wild,” and “Chasing Happiness." More than fifty different courses like these are available each year to first-year students.
Another First-Year experience for students in the College of Arts and Sciences at UVM is participation in one of our Liberal Arts Scholars Programs (LASP). These are organized around six disciplinary areas: arts, earth and environment, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and world languages and cultures. Students in these residentially based programs enroll in four connected seminars or classes and live together. The Liberal Arts Scholars Programs are designed for highly motivated first-year students with strong academic records. Admission is by application following formal acceptance to UVM.
Pre-Professional and Graduate School Preparation
Whether a student is interested in medical or dental school, a career in the law, or graduate work in other fields leading to either academic or professional degrees, the College of Arts and Sciences offers excellent opportunities to prepare them for their future.
Medicine and Dentistry
All paths to a career in medicine or dentistry are unique and often reflect personal academic interests. However, there are several courses in the sciences, social sciences, and the humanities that medical and dental schools recommend or require prior to applying. These courses are outlined on the Pre-Med UVM website and can, in most cases, be easily completed by College of Arts and Sciences students before graduation, regardless of major or area of focus. Since the practice of medicine involves both art and science, medical schools are eager for students who have studied a range of subjects. A CAS advisor can help students plan out a timeline for completing these courses along with their degree requirements. The Career Center’s Health Professions Advisor is available for guidance throughout a student's time at UVM, as well as after graduation.
Because the College of Arts and Sciences at UVM offers the advantages of a small liberal arts college within the context of a research university, students have ample opportunities to pursue scholarly and creative projects with faculty who are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in their fields. Meaningful experiences in laboratories, libraries, archives, and studios help students grow in many of the thinking, reasoning, and character competencies that medical and dental schools expect to see in their applicants.
Growth years between college and medical school matriculation have become the norm. The average age nationally for starting medical school is ~25. CAS graduates routinely pursue impactful experiences before beginning their medical education, including Fulbright (and other) Fellowships, clinical or bench research, hands-on patient care, public health responsibilities, social service work, and teaching, to mention but a few. Currently, CAS graduates are enrolled in medical schools across the country.
The Pre-Medical Enhancement Program (PEP) is a joint program across the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the College of Medicine that provides highly qualified pre-medical students with enhanced opportunities that help them prepare for their futures. Interested students apply to PEP in the second semester of their first year. Students accepted into PEP are assigned a practicing physician-mentor who introduces them to the concepts of patient care and practice management through clinical experiences and regular office-based consultations.
The PEP coordinator in the College of Medicine is a source of information on opportunities for medical research experience and volunteer/employment possibilities in the health sciences or health policy fields. On a monthly basis, students receive listings from this office about special educational offerings within the College of Medicine and the Academic Medical Center. PEP students also participate in practice interviews with members of the University of Vermont Pre-Medical Committee. In their junior year, PEP students can apply to the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine. More information is available in the graduate and professional school section of the Career Center's website.
Law
Many UVM students consider attending law school immediately following graduation or after a few years of full-time employment. UVM has successfully placed its graduates in leading law programs around the country, including at Yale, New York University, Columbia, and the University of Michigan.
The University of Vermont (UVM) and Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) offer unique 3+2 and 3+3 dual-degree programs. These dual-degree programs allow highly focused students to earn both a bachelor’s and a J.D. from two distinguished institutions in less time and at less cost. In addition to these dual-degree programs, VLGS offers a guaranteed admission program for UVM graduates.
Unlike pre-medical programs, where students must take a prescribed set of courses, there is no pre-law curriculum. “What law schools seek in their entering students is not accomplishment in mere memorization,” states the Association of American Law Schools, “but accomplishment in understanding, the capacity to think for themselves, and the ability to express their thoughts with clarity and force.” The Association suggests a broad-based education in the liberal arts that includes work in English, humanities, logic, mathematics, social sciences, history, philosophy, and the natural sciences. The University of Vermont provides guidance to its pre-law students through the Career Center and faculty and staff advisors in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Graduate Study in Other Fields
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences pursue graduate education in a variety of fields ranging from ethnomusicology and history to journalism and immunology. Recent UVM College of Arts and Sciences graduates have been accepted to institutions such as the University of Wisconsin, Brandeis, Harvard, University of Michigan, Yale, New York University, Princeton, Cornell, Berkeley, Tufts, Duke, London School of Economics, University College London, and University of Toronto.
Secondary Teaching
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences interested in becoming certified to teach in secondary grades (7-12) should review the College of Education and Social Services section titled Teacher Education. All requirements must be fulfilled as listed in the CESS Secondary Education State Approved program and not simply the sequence of professional courses.
Students interested in a career in secondary education can also pursue the Accelerated Master’s Pathway in Secondary Education that prepares them for the classroom and enables them to earn a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts in Teaching in five years.
Degree Requirements
Second Bachelor's Degree
Laptop Requirement
Degree Requirements
Catalogue Edition
Students must comply with the degree requirements as stated in a single catalogue edition in place during the time they are enrolled. The catalogue edition to be followed is the one in effect at the time the student matriculates at UVM, unless the student requests in writing to follow an edition that is published subsequently during their enrollment at UVM. Students may not mix requirements from different catalogues.
Students who do not complete the degree within 7 years must comply with the requirements in the catalogue current at the date of readmission. Disputed rulings may be appealed to the Committee on Academic Standing.
Credits and GPA
A student must earn a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 in a program comprised of a minimum of 120 semester credits.
Of the 120 credits required, students electing a minor offered by the college must complete 96 credits in courses offered by departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. The remaining 24 credits may be taken in courses offered by any academic unit at the University of Vermont.
Students electing certain approved majors within the college, a dual degree, or a minor offered by another school or college of the university must complete 84 credits in courses offered by the departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. The remaining 36 credits may be taken in courses offered by any academic unit of the University of Vermont.
If a student combines a major offered by the college that calls for 96 credits in college courses with a second major offered by the college that calls for 84 credits in college courses, 84 credits in college courses will be required.
There are limits on the number of certain types of credit that can be applied to the 120 credits required to graduate with a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences:
- Up to 8 credits of Physical Education (PEAC).
- Up to 18 credits of Military Studies (MS).
- Up to 12 credits of Internship courses, which include all courses numbered x991 or that include “Internship” in the catalog title, CAS 2920, CAS 3922, and NFS 3890. Student Teaching Internships are exempt from this rule.
Residency
A student must be matriculated in the College of Arts and Sciences and enrolled in coursework at UVM during the period in which they earn 30 of the last 45 credits applied toward the degree.
Distribution Requirements
Students must complete coursework that, when combined, meets the university’s Catamount Core Curriculum (CCC) requirements and the College of Arts and Sciences requirements. In most cases, completing the college requirements will result in completing the university requirements as well. Courses used to satisfy these requirements may not be taken on a pass/no pass basis.
- FOUNDATIONAL WRITING. 1 course with a WIL1 designation
- ARTS. 3 credits in courses with an AH1 Arts designation
- LITERATURE. 1 course with an AH2 designation
- HUMANITIES. 2 courses with an AH3 designation
- SOCIAL SCIENCES. 2 courses with an S1 designation
- NATURAL SCIENCES. 1 course with an N1 designation and 1 course with an N2 designation; or 2 courses with an N2 designation
- QUANTITATIVE REASONING: 1 course with an MA designation and 1 course with a QD designation
- COMMON GROUND VALUES: 1 course with a D1 designation, 1 course with a D2 designation, and 1 course with an SU designation
- LANGUAGE: 2 courses/at least 6 credits in the same foreign language at the appropriate level, as determined by the offering department. Typically, these courses carry GC2, OC, and/or WIL2 designations.
Approved courses include ASL, CHIN, FREN, GERM, GRK, HEBR, ITAL, LAT, JAPN, SPAN, and RUSS numbered 1100 to 1299, or 2100 to 2299, or 3000 to 3990, or 4000 to 4990. Coursework offered in foreign languages taken at other institutions may also meet the distribution requirement if approved by the School of World Languages and Cultures.
Students with previous experience in the language will be placed according to their level of attainment, regardless of how many or how few years they may have studied it. For placement in advanced language courses (3000 or above), first-year students should consult with the program that offers the language they wish to pursue. Students may not take a language course lower than the level most recently attained except with the permission of the department. This expectation does not apply to literature or civilization courses.
Students electing to study French or Spanish must take an online placement exam to be able to register for courses used to satisfy this requirement, even if they have not formally studied the language in the past. See program websites for access to online placement exams.
Major
A student must complete an approved major in the College of Arts and Sciences by satisfying the requirements specified by the department or program supervising the major and by maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.00 in the major field. Unless specifically required, no more than 45 credits in courses with the same departmental prefix may be used toward completion of the 120 credits required for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and no more than 50 for a Bachelor of Science degree. At least one-half of the credits used toward the major requirements must be taken at the University of Vermont. Application of credits earned elsewhere to completion of the major is subject to approval by the appropriate department chair or program director. No courses applied toward satisfaction of major requirements may be taken on a pass/no pass basis.
Minor
A student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree must complete a minor. A student pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree has the option of completing a minor.
Minors must be approved by the College of Arts and Sciences; a student’s minor must be in a field other than the major. Students must complete the minor by satisfying the requirements specified by the department or program supervising the minor.
Only 1 course may be applied toward completion of both a major and a minor requirement, or to two majors, or two minors. At least one-half of the credits used toward completion of the minor requirements must be taken at the University of Vermont, and application of credits earned elsewhere toward completion of the minor is subject to approval by the appropriate department chair or program director.
A student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.00 in the minor field. Students may choose any set of applicable courses from the transcript to satisfy the minor requirements. The GPA of these chosen courses must be at least 2.00. Courses used to satisfy a minor may not be taken pass/no pass.
Completion of a second major in CAS or a co-major in another unit at UVM will satisfy the minor requirement for Bachelor of Arts students. Completion of a second degree in CAS or another unit at UVM will satisfy the minor requirement, and multiple courses can overlap from one degree to another.
Second Bachelor's Degree
The Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences are not tagged degrees that include the major as part of the formal name of the degree. Consequently, someone who has completed either a B.A. or a B.S. in Arts and Sciences will not receive a second degree should they complete an additional major within the same degree.
If a B.A. or B.S. graduate of Arts and Sciences is readmitted and/or completes an additional major beyond the one used toward the original diploma, the additional major and course work will be added to the transcript. A second degree will only be awarded when the additional course work completed satisfies the requirements for a different degree with a different major from the one initially awarded (i.e., B.A. graduate with major in anthropology completes requirements for B.S. with major in chemistry).
Students who do not complete the degree within 7 years must comply with the requirements in the catalogue current at the time of readmission. Students readmitted to complete a second degree, or to complete an additional major within the same degree must also comply with this rule.
Laptop Requirement
Beginning with the Fall 2020 semester, all undergraduate students are required to have a laptop computer that meets the minimum specifications determined annually by the university. Students are not required to purchase a new laptop if they have an existing laptop that meets the established specifications. If students need to purchase a laptop, they are not required to purchase it through UVM.
Governing Independent Study
College of Arts and Sciences students can receive credit for a project or program of independent study which is supervised by a faculty member from an academic department or program within the university. In general, these projects are carried out under courses designated as either independent studies or, sometimes, internships. Projects of this nature must conform to university guidelines for independent study. There is no limit on the number of independent study credits that may be earned over the course of a degree program, though there are some limits within specific majors.
Governing College Honors
- The College Honors program provides high achieving undergraduates who possess unusual initiative and intellectual curiosity with opportunities to pursue two semesters (6 credits) of independent research or a creative project under the direction of a faculty sponsor. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences may apply for College Honors if they have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.40 or higher at the time the application is submitted. The research or project must have been approved by the sponsoring department and by the College Honors Committee. All application materials must be turned in to the committee by the deadlines posted on the College Honors website, typically during the first semester of the candidate's senior year. To achieve College Honors, students must present a satisfactory thesis or creative project and pass an oral exam upon completion of the Honors project. Students who wish to consider undertaking a College Honors project during the junior year should contact the office of the dean for information concerning an exception.
- Some departments/programs in the college, including Economics, Geography, Global and Regional Studies, History, and Political Science, sponsor departmental Honors programs. Participation in these programs is limited to those students who are specifically recommended by their department/program. Each department/program will define what is required to earn departmental Honors. Students who successfully complete these programs are granted degrees with departmental/program Honors. Since these programs are administered directly by sponsoring departments/programs, students should consult their faculty advisors or department chairs/program directors for further information.
Governing Study Abroad
Students should refer to the general university regulations and procedures pertaining to study abroad. For Arts and Sciences students, the following additional policies pertain to the application of credit earned in a study abroad program:
- Students must complete 30 of their last 45 credits for their degrees while in residence at UVM. One-half of the credits applied toward the satisfaction of major requirements must be completed at the University of Vermont. One-half of the credits applied toward the satisfaction of minor requirements must be completed at the University of Vermont.
- A student who is on probation may not enroll in any university-sanctioned study abroad program.
Governing Transfer into the College
Students who wish to internally transfer into the College of Arts and Sciences from another UVM college must be in good academic standing, which is defined by the following:
- the student cannot have any incomplete (I) or missing (M) grades; and
- the student must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher (in at least 12 credits completed at UVM and within their most recently completed semester)
If the student’s cumulative GPA is above 2.0 but the most recent semester GPA is below 2.0, a student might be admitted to the college but placed on academic probation.
If a prospective transfer student has junior or senior standing, that student will be required to meet with a College of Arts and Sciences Student Services advisor prior to the transfer.
Governing Academic Standards
The following criteria for academic probation and dismissal, while making allowances for the student in the first semester, are designed to encourage academic work of quality at least equal to the minimum standard required for graduation.
Probation
- A student who earns a semester grade point average higher than that which merits dismissal, but below 2.00, is placed on probation. To avoid dismissal from the university, a student who has been placed on probation must earn a 2.0 semester average in 12 credit hours (either during the subsequent semester or over multiple semesters) and enroll in all courses for a letter grade. No student will be removed from probation until the required 12 credits have been completed and both the semester and cumulative averages are at least 2.00. A student who is on probation may not enroll in any university-sanctioned study abroad program.
- First-Year Students. Following the first semester of enrollment, a student who earns a semester grade point average higher than that which merits dismissal, but below 1.67, is placed on probation and must, in the following semester, satisfy the same probationary requirements as described above. All first-year students who have a cumulative grade point average that is below 2.00 after completion of the second semester will be placed on probation.
Dismissal
A student who does not satisfy the condition of probation, or who earns a semester grade point average of 1.00 or lower, or who earns failing grades in one-half of the semester credit hours attempted (excluding courses in physical education and military studies) will be reviewed for consideration of dismissal for low scholarship. Dismissed students may apply for re-entry directly to the College of Arts and Sciences after one year. The re-entry application must include an official transcript demonstrating the completion of 12-15 credit hours with a grade point average of 3.0 or above completed outside of UVM.
Re-entry Following Dismissal
A dismissed student who presents evidence of their ability to perform satisfactorily may be considered for re-entry on probation following a one-year separation from the university. Dismissed students may apply for re-entry directly to the College of Arts and Sciences and must demonstrate the completion of at least 12-15 credit hours of course work outside of UVM and earn a grade point average of 3.0. A student who has been dismissed for a second time will not be considered for re-entry on probation until at least three years have elapsed and the above re-entry conditions have been met. Further information regarding re-entry may be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s office by contacting cas@uvm.edu or 802-656-3344.
