University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

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University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus
Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras
Famous clock tower
Famous clock tower
Established: 12 March 1903
Type: Public
Endowment: US $221 million
Chancellor: Gladys Escalona de Motta
Faculty: 1,060
Students: 21,909[1]
Undergraduates: 17,850[2]
Postgraduates: 3,186[3]
Doctoral students: 773 [4]
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Campus: Urban, 274 acres (1.1 km²)
Magazine: Diálogo
Colours: Red and white
Nickname: La IUPI
Mascot: Roosters [gallitos](masculine) and bantams [jerezanas](female)
Affiliations: Public university system
Website: 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.

Contents

[edit] History

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 Governors 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 academic 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 center. 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. It's 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. [5]

The University was the focus of social upheaval during the 1960 and 1970's, when nationalist students protested for civil rights, the independence of Puerto Rico, and taking the ROTC out of the campus. 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, on 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, and allegedly shouted at the Police ¡Asesinos! (Assassins!). A policeman turned and shot her in the head, killing her and injuring a room-mate. A mural of her and her story existed on the College of Humanities, until administrative personnel covered it with paint.. Other stories claim that she was shot by mistake.[6]

[edit] Organization

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

The Rio Piedras Campus is a collegiate university. The Chancellor of the Campus is Gladys Escalona de Motta, who is the top academic and administrative officer and presides over its two deliberative bodies: the Administrative Board and the Academic Senate. The Administrative Board, composed of the deans, two senators representing the faculty, and one student senator, advices the Chancellor in matters pertaining to the university program. The Board makes recommendations on leaves and faculty aid applications, and grants promotions and tenures. The Academic Senate, in turn, is the official academic forum. It is composed of the deans, the director of the library system, elected faculty representatives from all the colleges and schools, student representatives, and representatives from the staff of academic advisors.

The Campus counts with four administrative divisions known as 'Deans'. These include Dean of Academic Affairs (lit. Decanato de Asuntos Académicos in Spanish), Dean of Student Affairs (Decanato de Asuntos Estudiantiles), Dean of Graduate Studies and Research (Estudios Graduados e Investigación), and the Dean of Administration (Decanato de Administración). Three schools are under the Dean of Academic Affairs. These include the School of Communication, the Graduate School of Planning and the Graduate School of Informatic Sciences and Technologies and they are represented on the Administrative Board by the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Colleges have a dean, an associate dean, assistant deans, department chairs, and other administrative directors.

[edit] Academic Affairs

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

It is responsible for the suitable development of the services in the Libraries, Register, Admissions and Continued 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 is organized with a Dean heading it, with the help of the Associated Dean and 3 Auxiliary 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 organization, 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:

[edit] School of Graduate Studies and Research

The Deanship promotes, coordinates and facilitates initiatives to develop graduate programs, creative labor 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' organizations better the institutional environment of all areas, mostly those where Graduate Studies impact more. It should be the catalyst of favorable 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 university community: it implements and guards for the proper fulfillment of the regulations that rule over administrative processes of the Campus and the entire University System. It plans, coordinates, evaluates and supervises labors 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, investigation areas, labor 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
  • University 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 Center
  • Central Archives
  • Printing Division
  • Food Services
  • Telephonic Services

[edit] School and Colleges

[edit] School of Architecture

Nanette Rodriguez is currently UPR's principal architect for new facility design and modernization.

[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 Center 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 programs, 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) making it 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 Program which is built towards guidance on professional practice, whilst the Doctoral Programme is orientated towards investigation.

Student enrollment in the College of Business Administration is approximately 2,800 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. This College enrollment is the third highest in the Río Piedras Campus. Nearly 530 Bachelor's degrees and 50 Graduate degrees are conferred annually. 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

The Eugenio María de Hostos College of Education (in Spanish Facultad de Educación Eugenio María de Hostos) is the biggest and oldest college of the University of Puerto Rico, founded in October 1, 1900 as the Normal School of Teachers (Escuela Normal para Maestros) in the Puerto Rican eastern city of Fajardo. The College have an estimate of 4,500 students who study in six different colleges of the University. The College headquarters are located in the New Building of Education in the south of the campus, and administrate 9 buildings in all the campus, including a house in down town Río Piedras District in San Juan.

The academic offers of the college include Philosophy of the Education, Human Development, Sociology, Psychology of the Education, Studies of Special Education and Students with Disabilities, Junior Elementary Literature, Nutrition, Cooking, Technology, Graphic Arts, etcetera. Even thou, the college make affairs with other faculties in the campus to prepare the High School Education schedule as Spanish, English, Science, Mathematics, History, Social Studies, Art, Theatre, Commerce, Secretary and others. Physical Education and Sports are offered in the Sports Complex at the north side of the campus, also belong to the College.

The dean is Angeles Molina Iturrondo Ed. D. and the other three administrative deans are: Dr. Hector Claudio, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs; Dr. Lizette Velazquez, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs; and Mrs. Luz María Rivera, Assistant Dean of Administration.

Carlos López is the student representative to the Academic Senate of the Río Piedras Campus and José E. Santiago is the president of the College of Education Students Council (Consejo de Estudiantes de la Facultad de Educación).

The college moved to Río Piedras once the University was founded in March 12, 1903

[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 program 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

Established in 1943, the faculty currently has about 2,000 students in the undergraduate program and about 300 students in its graduate program. This faculty offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in various disciplines such as Fine Arts, Drama, Hispanic Studies, English, Comparative literature, Philosophy, History, Modern Languages, Linguistics, Music, Translation, Interdisciplinary Studies, among others. It has various investigation centers, as well as seminars, specialized libraries in Fine Arts, Philosophy, Music and English, and counts with the publication of several educational magazines.[7]

[edit] School of Law

See University of Puerto Rico Law School.

[edit] College of Natural Sciences

The College of Natural Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus was established in 1943, in the city of San Juan in the central northern area of the island.

Degrees are offered in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Environmental Science, General Science, Mathematics, and Physics.

The college annually admits approximately 2,700 students, including those who continue graduate studies at the Medical Sciences Campus.

Those students who transfer to the Medical Sciences Campus will be part of any of the following programs:

  • Medical Technology
  • Nuclear Medicine Technology
  • Veterinary Medicine Technology

About 300 students annually go on to graduate studies in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. There are doctoral programs available in Biology, Mathematics, and Physics Chemistry.

About 1,980 have graduated from these programs between 1995 and 2000.

  • 1,578 students graduated with a bachelor's degree
  • 102 students earned their master's degree, and
  • 59 students received a doctorate degree

The College of Natural Sciences has been distinguished for offering students a high-quality education. Thanks to this, a large percentage of the students are prepared to continue doctoral studies in many fields of research.

During the past 30 years, the College of Natural Sciences has undergone a dramatic evolution. Students not only pursue studies in Medicine, but are also well prepared to enter professions which involve other areas of research. Likewise, they are well trained to pursue graduate studies in science related fields.

Throughout its history, the college has made a great impact in science and technology in Puerto Rico and is well positioned to be increasingly competitive in research and education at an international level.

Facilities

  • Animal House
  • Botanical Garden
  • Center for Educational Production Services
  • Computing Center
  • Department of Chemistry Support Facilities
  • Glass Blowing Workshop
  • Electronics Workshop
  • Field House at El Yunque
  • Greenhouse
  • Herbarium
  • Instrumentation Workshop
  • Machining Workshop
  • Natural Sciences Library
  • Zoology Museum

[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 the Departments of:

[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 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] Greek life

Fraternities

Sororities
* Member of Concilio Interfraternitario de Puerto Rico (Inter-Fraternity Council of Puerto Rico)

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://autoestudio.uprrp.edu/SelfStudy/APPENDICES/APPENDIX%2018.pdf
  2. ^ http://autoestudio.uprrp.edu/SelfStudy/APPENDICES/APPENDIX%2018.pdf
  3. ^ http://autoestudio.uprrp.edu/SelfStudy/APPENDICES/APPENDIX%2018.pdf
  4. ^ http://autoestudio.uprrp.edu/SelfStudy/APPENDICES/APPENDIX%2018.pdf
  5. ^ Translated from "Historia del Recinto de Río Piedras"http://www.uprrp.edu/recinto/index.php (Spanish website)
  6. ^ Comisión por la Verdad y la Justicia
  7. ^ UPR-RP Facultad de Humanidades

[edit] See also

[edit] External links