In a recent appearance on KGVO's Talk Back, University of Montana officials Paula Short and Dr. Tom Crady emphasized the ability for students to receive a science-based degree combined with humanities.

Vice President for Enrollment Enhancement Tom Crady compared an engineering degree to a STEM degree enhanced with the humanities that can be found at UM.

"It's absolutely crazy to think that an engineering program can be the end all, be all," Crady said. "With a liberal arts education you learn to work with people in groups. At Cray computer where my son works, the first thing had had to do was work on a team, and if people didn't pull their weight on a team, even though they were great engineers, they didn't last very long. So, that component is absolutely crucial. The liberal arts are the place to be, and I've been doing this for 34 years."

Director of Communications for the President's Office, Paula Short echoed Crady's thoughts.

"You can get a number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and math) degrees at the University of Montana," Short began. "This is on our website, all of the degrees we offer at the University of Montana. You can get degrees in bio-chemistry, bio-physics, chemistry, computer science, and wildlife biology, and I haven't even have time to highlight all the degrees. We have STEM degrees, but we are not the engineering school in the state, that is a well-known fact. However, the truth of the matter is STEM careers need liberal arts thinkers and liberal arts thinkers need STEM thinkers. You can get both here and be more successful in whatever career you're choosing."

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