University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

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Coordinates: 18°24′10″N, 66°3′0″W

University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras

Seal of UPRRP
Established March 12, 1903
School type Public; Land-grant & Sea-grant
Anthem Alma Máter (Himno de la Vida)
Rector Gladys Escalona de Motta
Location San Juan, Puerto Rico
Enrollment 15,002 undergraduate

4,053 graduate
Faculty 1,060
Endowment $221 million, USD
Campus 274 acres (1.1 km²), urban
Sports teams Gallitos (Bantams/Roosters, male)
Jerezanas (female)
Homepage www.uprrp.edu

The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (UPRRP) —or Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras in Spanish— is a state university located in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. UPRRP is the largest campus of the University of Puerto Rico System, and the first public university in the history of Puerto Rico. It's full of a complex and long history of struggles, development and possibilities, explained further here.

Contents

[edit] History

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The University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras campus, and its distinctive clock tower.
The University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras campus, and its distinctive clock tower.

In the year 1900 the Escuela Normal Industrial (Normal Industrial School) was established in Fajardo, Puerto Rico as the first Higher Education institution of Puerto Rico, dedicated to those who would become teachers on the island. At the time it only had 20 students and 5 professors.

A year later, in 1901, it was moved to the town of Río Piedras, because the roads to Fajardo were in a terrible condition. In the mild and studying-favourable nature around what was known by the time as "La Convalecencia" - the summer residence of the Spanish Governours of Puerto Rico- was placed, temporally, the Normal School. Its objectives were still the formation of new teachers for the island.

On March 12, 1903, under the administration of the Public Instruction Commissioner, Samuel McCune Lindsay, the 2nd Legislative Assembly approved a law creating the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, trespassing there all the funding of the Insular Normal School. This School became the first Department of the University, origin of the now Faculty of Education and nucleus of the University of Puerto Rico.

Now legally established, the University of Puerto Rico, started its first academical year (1903-1904) with a roll of 173 students. Due to the scarcity of teachers in the island, most of these students received designations of the Department of Public Instruction to teach on schools without ending four years of college. This explains why the first graduation on June 1907, only had 13 graduate students.

In 1907 the first class of the normal course of four years graduated after being legally established the University. Here were students like Carlota Matienzo, Isabel Andréu, Loaíza Cordero, Marina Roviro, and Juan Herrero.

On September 22 of 1913, the Departments of Law and Pharmacology opened. The University at the time demanded only 8th grade diploma, but with the expansion of its courses, these requirements grew also. After 1917, the Departments of Normal , Liberal Arts, Pharmacology and Laws demanded High School diploma.

The Bronze Circle inside of the Tower
The Bronze Circle inside of the Tower

Curiously the small bell at the time, to call people to class, was ringed by Demetrio Valdejulli, who made this labour until 1920.

On February 21st 1931, Dr.Carlos E. Chardón was appointed to chancellor of the University. Due to his efforts and influences, a generous quantity of money was assigned to the University, which were used to make an expansion of the buildings, to Río Piedras and Mayagüez Campus. This made the University of Puerto Rico into a prestigious centre. Chardón resigned to the post of Chancellor in 1936, being succeeded by Juan B. Soto. The most important part of this period was the expansion of the buildings of the University as part of a plan for rehabilitation of Puerto Rico.

Antonia's mural at the Humanities Building of the University of Puerto Rico
Antonia's mural at the Humanities Building of the University of Puerto Rico

The symbolical Tower, constructed in 1937 received the name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who at the time was President of the United States, in recognition to the interest and help he placed to the University and its construction. Its the entrance of the Tower's Building. On the entrance of the Tower, in a bronze circle, the coat of arms of the American nations are placed, as symbol of Panamerican Union.

The University was focus of social upheaval during the 1960 and 1970's, when nationalist students protested for civil rights, the independence of Puerto Rico, and taking out of the campus the ROTC. In 1970 Antonia Martínez was murdered by the police when they repressed students. As the shouting started in the street, everyone in the building she was in the Ponce de León Avenue got to the balconies to see what was happening. She was, like many others, watching the events, policemen attacking at the students, some even friends of her and allegedlshouted at the Police ¡Asesinos! (Assassins!). A policeman turned and shot her at the head, killing her and injuring a room-mate. A mural of her story and of her exists on the Humanities Department.

[edit] Administrative Division

The famous clock tower, in the campus's main building.
The famous clock tower, in the campus's main building.

There are four Deans - Academic Affairs (lit. Asuntos Académicos in Spanish), Student Affairs (lit. Asuntos Estudiantiles), Graduate Studies and Investigational Affairs (Estudios Graduados e Investigación, and Administration.

[edit] Academic Affairs

Academic Affairs (DAA in Spanish Decanato de Asuntos Académicos) instigates academic excellence, giving guidance and orientation for harmonical planning with the Campus Strategic Plan. It implants academic politics, and looks for the efectivity on the improvement of all personnel. It promotes and designs institutional investigations and coordinates accreditation processes. It evaluates the programmes given in the University, while trying to improve the institutional effectiveness.

It's responsible for the suitable development of the services in the Libraries, Register, Admissions and Continuated Education. It assesses the Rector and the adequate units, such as the Administrative Council and the Academic Senate on the development of new politics, and efficacy of processes, planification, and academic decisions.

It's organised with a Dean heading it, with the help of the Associated Dean and 3 Auxiliar Deans, each assigned a certain area of concern such as Foreign Students, General Studies, Commerce Faculty, the Library System, etcetera.

[edit] Student Affairs

The Deanship of Students is the leader organisation, compromised with an ever-changing academic population. They try to bring the most advanced technological resources in order to be of help in the services given at the University to Students.

Its stated mission is to "provide students with quality services in order of attending and satisfying the needs to propitiate the physical, emotional, social and recreational well-being of the student" as written on its page.

Some of the services it gives to the University among others, are:

  • Medical Services
  • Cultural Activities
  • Economical Assistance
  • Orientation

[edit] School of Graduate Studies and Research

The Deanship promotes, coordinates and facilitates initiatives to develop graduate programmes, creative labour and investigations. The DEGI (for Spanish Decanato de Estudios Graduados e Investigación) is to be to the vanguard of changing styles on Higher Education, Academic Management, Learning Communities, and Technological Changes so that changes on the campus' organisations better the institutional environment of all areas, mostly those where Graduate Studies impact more. It should be the catalyst of favourable institutional changes.

Faculties having to do with it are:

Some of the investigations being made by the deanship are:

The Deanship motto is "Aprendiendo del pasado, transformamos el presente, para construir el futuro." (Learning from our past, we transform our present, in order to build the future.)

[edit] Administration

The Deanship of Administration is the unit that offers essential services to the universitary community: it implements and guards for the proper fulfilment of the reglamentations that rule over administrative processes of the Campus and the entire Universitary System. It planifies, coordinates, evaluates and supervises labours related with different administrative and operative processes, but over all, they ensure quality services that have a positive aspect on student life, teaching and learning scenarios, investigational areas, laboural areas of conformities, according to the Campus mission and the Public Administration that commands the University.

Besides the emphasis placed on the quality of services, they work to strengthen the learning components and to establish policies and practices leading to a reduction of its role. In order to do so, the Deanship of Administration has the Dean's Office and six principal offices; these being:

  • Finances
  • Purchases and Supplies
  • Universitary Library
  • Human Resources Office
  • Governmental Ethics Committee
  • Complementary Services

At the same time, the Office of Complementary Services its constituted by seven units:

  • Internal Mail and Messengers
  • Reproduction Centre
  • Central Archives
  • Printing Division
  • Food Services
  • Telephonic Services

[edit] School and Colleges

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[edit] School of Architecture

Arquitectura

[edit] College of Business Administration

The College of Business Administration, previously College of Commerce, was established on Campus on 1926 with a roll of 70 students on a nocturnal programme. From its beginning, it has offered preparation of university level in many areas of Business Administration. It also offers a Bachelor's Degree in Administration of Office Systems, which substituted the Secretarial Sciences Bachelor's Degree.

In 1958 the Centre for Commercial Investigations and for Academical Initiatives with the purpose of promoting investigation and contribute in the creation of knowledge in the area of Business Administration. Eventually, Cooperative Education, Link (Enlace), International Commerce Development and Enterprise Development programmes, in order to have a narrower collaboration with business world.

In the academic year of 1970-71, the Graduated School of Business Administration began offering Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA) being the first of its kind in the Caribbean. In addition to Master's Degree the School offers altogether with Law School and the Doctoral Programme of Business Management the MBA/JD Programme which is built towards guidance on professional practice, whilst the Doctoral Programme is orientated towards investigation.

Student population on the College of Business Administration is composed by approximately 2,800 sub-graduated students and 400 graduate students. This College roll is the 3rd highest in the Río Piedras Campus. Of this roll, nearly 530 degrees are conferred per annum in Bachelor's, and 50 in Graduate. 63% of the students of the College are female, similar to the 67% of population of Río Piedras Campus being female.

[edit] School of Communication

The School of Communication (COPU, formerly known as Comunicación Pública in Spanish, from where the acronym comes COmunicación PUblica) was established in 1972 with a masters degree in Public Communication. A bachelors degree was created in 1977. Following a curricular revision that went into effect in 2002 three undergraduate majors were developed:

In addition, two concentrations were developed for the masters programme:

[edit] College of Education

Educación

[edit] College of General Studies

[edit] History of the College

The General Studies Division was created in 1943 and becomes a College in 1945. The creation of the general studies programme is the cornerstone of the 1942 University's Reform. Inside of the University's System, the College has the particularity of being constituted as a multi and inter disciplinarian, wherein three great sections of knowledge converge: Humanities (including Vernacular Spanish, its literary and linguistic components), Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, and English as a second language, including its literary and linguistic components.

[edit] Courses

The College of General Studies offers these courses, which will vary depending on the requirements asked by the different Colleges the student heads to.

[edit] College of Humanities

Humanidades

[edit] School of Law

Derecho

[edit] College of Natural Sciences

Ciencias Naturales

[edit] Graduate School of Planning

Planificación

[edit] College of Social Sciences

The College of Social Sciences (CISO, Ciencias Sociales in Spanish, from where the acronym comes CIencias SOciales) was established in 1943 and bears with the mission of teaching Universal Knowledge on Social Sciences and social comprehension of the nation.

It offers studies in:

[edit] EGCTI

EGCTI (Escuela Graduada de Ciencias y Tecnologías de la Información) - Graduate School of Informatic Sciences and Technologies

[edit] Continuing Education Division

Educación Continuada

[edit] Academic Senate

The Academic Senate is the official forum of the academic community. Its members participate on the institutional processes, establishing academic rules, collaborating with other organisms of the University's system, and completing the tasks that the General Rules of the University of Puerto Rico legally binds them to.

The Senate is composed by 68 persons:

  • 1 President ex-officio (Rector of the Campus)
  • 18 ex-officio Senators (15 deans and 3 students)
  • 37 elected senators of the the staff meetings
  • 12 Student Senators widely elected.

[edit] Committees

Chapter XIV of the Rules of the Academic Senate of the Río Piedras Campus establishes that there will be the next committees:

  • Calendar Committee
  • Academic Affairs Committee
  • Staff Affairs Committee
  • Student Affairs Committee
  • Law and Rules Committee
  • Academic and Honorific Committee

[edit] Campus population

  • Students: 21,500
  • Faculty: 1,060

[edit] External links


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