uAPS Overview

In this section:

Undergraduate Applied and Professional Studies (uAPS)

Within the Undergraduate Programs of the College of Continuing and Professional Studies (CCAPS), Undergraduate Applied and Professional Studies (uAPS) focuses on courses of study and credentials to support the key economic sectors in the state of Minnesota with future leaders well versed in leading-edge knowledge and its application to contemporary business challenges. Comprising the Bachelor of Applied Science degree and its related offerings, uAPS offers a variety of credential options--majors, minors, and certificates--as well as individual courses to prepare students to advance their professional careers. 

uAPS is a partnership between the University of Minnesota and statewide industry, with outreach efforts to community colleges.  It provides a career-oriented, practical approach to education that blends theory and practice, linking the classroom with the workplace. Many uAPS students have work experience, and many work full-time. Academically qualified instructors generally work in the fields they teach. Thus, both students and instructors can share real-world experiences and practical knowledge to analyze emerging business and industry trends and needs and apply problem-solving strategies to create customized solutions.

To ensure a market-driven course of study:

  1. Each discipline focuses on a “niche” workforce need.
  2. Internal partnerships have been forged with other University of Minnesota colleges.
  3. Input from industry advisory groups is regularly garnered.
  4. Courses use online learning technologies as appropriate to the audience served and student learning outcomes. Course development includes qualified instructional designers and content developers/editors. Courses range from fully or partially online to entirely classroom-based while using companion resource websites.
  5. Emphasis is placed on developing professional faculty who are highly experienced in application of their discipline.

At the program’s launch around the turn of the twenty-first century, when it was known as the Bachelor of Applied Science Program (BAS), five existing individual U of M applied bachelor’s degrees were consolidated into the first B.A.Sc. (Bachelor of Applied Science) majors. The roster of B.A.Sc. degree offerings has since evolved and is now administered under the Undergraduate Programs division of CCAPS Degree and Credit Programs.  The former BAS areas are now known as Undergraduate Applied and Professional Studies (uAPS). In 2023, uAPS disciplines include:

  • Construction Management (major, minor, and certificate)
  • Health Services Management (major, minor, and certificate)
  • Information Technology Infrastructure (major, minor, and certificate)
  • Applied Business (certificate and study area. Also, ABus courses are integral components of all three uAPS majors)


College of Continuing and Professional Studies (CCAPS) 

Since 1913, then known as the General Extension Division, the College of Continuing and Professional Studies has served a diverse community of experienced adult learners and organizations by linking them to thought leaders and knowledge at the University of Minnesota and beyond. Through unique and inspiring learning opportunities that span the University's breadth of academic disciplines, motivated adults explore new possibilities to enrich their personal and professional lives. Each year, the College serves nearly 4,000 adults working toward personalized or applied degrees, certificates, and minors; or accessing the University's credit evening, distance, or summer courses. Annually, an additional 6,000 adults who are not seeking academic credit take advantage of the College's short courses, seminars, workshops, retreats, and events. These noncredit offerings are developed to address current industry topics or to engage the intellect for personal development.

Mission

The mission of the College of Continuing and Professional Studies is to provide high-quality continuing education and lifelong learning opportunities for professional development, personal enrichment, career transitions, and academic growth. The College of Continuing and Professional Studies helps fulfill the University of Minnesota's outreach mission and facilitates access to outstanding education for a diverse community of adult learners within Minnesota and beyond by utilizing delivery systems and technologies that expand access. 

The mission of the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, though it now also applies to traditional students, has always been differentiated by its identification of an audience of working adults who seek education on a part-time basis for career enhancement or personal enrichment. This audience desires education from the University of Minnesota because of its commitment to quality educational offerings, whether they are noncredit or credit-based.


University of Minnesota  

History

The University of Minnesota was founded as a preparatory school in 1851, seven years before the territory of Minnesota became a state. Financial problems forced the school to close during the Civil War, but with the help of Minneapolis entrepreneur John Sargent Pillsbury, it reopened in 1867. Known as the father of the University, Pillsbury, who was a University regent, state senator, and governor, used his influence to establish the school as the official recipient of public support from the Morrill Land-Grant Act, designating it as Minnesota's land-grant university. William Watts Folwell was inaugurated as the first president of the University on December 22, 1869. In 1873, two students received the first bachelor of arts degrees. In 1888, the first doctor of philosophy degree was awarded. The Duluth campus joined the University in 1947, the Morris campus in 1960, the Crookston campus in 1966, and the Rochester campus in 2006.

Mission

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world. The University's mission, carried out on multiple campuses and throughout the state, is threefold: 

  1. Research and Discovery: Generate and preserve knowledge, understanding, and creativity by conducting high-quality research, scholarship, and artistic activities that benefit students, scholars, and communities across the state, the nation, and the world. 
  2. Teaching and Learning: Share that knowledge, understanding, and creativity by providing a broad range of educational programs in a strong and diverse community of learners and teachers, and prepare graduate, professional, and undergraduate students, as well as non-degree-seeking students interested in continuing education and lifelong learning, for active roles in a multiracial and multicultural world. 
  3. Outreach and Public Service: Extend, apply, and exchange knowledge between the University and society by applying scholarly expertise to community problems, by helping organizations and individuals respond to their changing environments, and by making the knowledge and resources created and preserved at the University accessible to the citizens of the state, the nation, and the world. 

In all of its activities, the University strives to sustain an open exchange of ideas in an environment that embodies the values of academic freedom, responsibility, integrity, and cooperation; that provides an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and intolerance; that assists individuals, institutions, and communities in responding to a continuously changing world; that is conscious of and responsive to the needs of the many communities it is committed to serving; that creates and supports partnerships within the University, with other educational systems and institutions, and with communities to achieve common goals; and that inspires, sets high expectations for, and empowers individuals within its community.