University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM is the second-largest university campus of the University of Puerto Rico system. In addition to its status as a land-grant university, it is also a member of the sea-grant and space-grant research consortia. In 2009, the campus population was composed of 12,108 students, 1,924 regular staff members, and 1,037 members  of the education staff. In 2013, the student population remained relatively steady at 11,838, but the instructional faculty dropped to 684. In the second semester of 2019 around 12,166 students where enrolled. UPRM has been accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) since 1946. History. The University of Puerto Rico was created by an act of the Legislative Assembly on March 12, 1903, emerging as an outgrowth of the Normal School, which had been established three years earlier to train teachers for the Puerto Rican school system. In 1908, the benefits of the Morill-Nelson Act declared  applicable to the island, fostered the rapid growth of the university. Evidence of that growth was the establishment of the College of Liberal Arts at Río Piedras in 1910 and the College of Agriculture at Mayagüez in 1911 as a land-grant university. The founding of the institution is credited to D.W. May (Director of the Federal Experiment Station), José de Diego and Carmelo Alemar. In 1912 the name of the institution was changed to the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts or "Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecánicas" (CAAM). In 1918, an earthquake and a fire caused significant damage  to the institution. The ruins of the entrance of one of the buildings, Degetau Hall — which not only withstood the earthquake, but proved to be almost indestructible after the rebuilt hall was torn down in the late 1950s — would later become the emblem of the institution. In 1988, the archway (the portico) was rebuilt, landscaped and turned into a monument. The campus rectory was located at the José de Diego building, the oldest standing edification within the campus, built in 1911. The building was inscribed in the National Historic Building Registry as an architectural patrimony. In 1940, a clock tower  was built into the main building. In 1993, the building underwent a restoration. In 1929, the Liga Atlética Interuniversitaria was created at the Mayagüez campus. The LAI is an athletic organization, similar to the NCAA, created with the purpose of promoting and regulating sports activities. It originally consisted of a three event competition: basketball, baseball and track and field. Currently the competition consists of more than 25 sports. In 1942 as a result of university reform, the campus was organized with a considerable degree of autonomy into the Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, and Science under the direction of a vice -chancellor. In the 1950s the institution saw more programs added when the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Nuclear Center were established. The Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly reorganized the University of Puerto Rico's system in 1966. This reorganization of the system lead to the controversial change of its name to University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez Campus, which is used in the present day as the official name of the institution. In 2007, 35.4% of all Engineering degrees were granted to women at UPRM, one of the largest percentages in US universities. The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez  is the second largest Hispanic-serving institution in the United States. In 2010 the campus went on strike as part of the 2010–2011 University of Puerto Rico strikes. In 2017 in response to budget cuts to the University system by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico the campus students voted to join the University of Puerto Rico strikes, 2017. Organization. UPRM is comprised by the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, and the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. The College of Agricultural Sciences includes the Agricultural Experiment Station. Administrative Board. The  Administrative Board of the Mayagüez Campus consists of the Chancellor as presiding officer, the deans, two academic senators elected among those faculty members of the Senate who are not "ex officio", senators, and an elected student representative. The President of the University serves as an "ex officio" member. The Board acts as an advisory body to the Chancellor, prepares the development plan of the Campus, approves the proposed budget prepared by the Chancellor, and grants tenure, promotions and leaves of absence. Academic Senate. The Academic Senate at UPRM is composed of the members of the Administrative Board, the Director of  the Library, the Director of the Counseling Office, representatives elected from the faculties whose total must not be less than twice the number of the elected "ex officio" members, an elected member of the Library and Counseling Office, and ten student representatives. The Academic Senate is the official forum of the academic community. Its main task is to participate in the formulation of academic processes within the University's legal structure. Campus. The UPR-Mayagüez campus encompasses approximately 315 acres (1.27 km2). The campus has a sports complex that includes a gym, a weight room, rooms for dance/aerobic classes , courts for basketball, a tennis and volleyball complex, a natatorium, an outdoor sports field and the Rafael A. Mangual Coliseum. The Hotel Colegial serves as the only on campus dorms and is reserved for athletes. The campus offers two cafeterias, a bookstore, a Popular Bank branch, a lounge called La Cueva de Tarzán (Tarzan's cave) and a computer center, although several academic departments also operate their own computer laboratories. In 2016 after more than a decade in planning MUSA, a museum of art, was inaugurated on the campus. In 2019 a new cafe was opened in the College of  Business Administration. The campus also contains the ruins of a historic structure called La Casilla del Caminero. The Mayagüez Campus General Library serves the campus community as well as residents of Mayagüez. Academics. The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez consists of four major colleges: UPRM offers 52 bachelor's programs, 28 master's programs and five doctoral programs. UPRM offers undergraduate and graduate education in all of their four colleges. Doctoral programs are offered in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. The College of Agricultural Sciences includes the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Agricultural  Extension Service. UPRM College of Engineering graduation rates are higher than the University of Wisconsin, Texas A&M University, University of Washington and the University of Minnesota. It has increased the percentage of its faculty with doctorates from 66.5% in the 1999-00 academic year to 79.4% in 2007. As of Fall 2013, the Campus had 684 instructional faculty (660 full-time and 24 part-time), which includes those who are tenured, on tenure-track, and not on tenure-track. In terms of student enrollment, a total of 11,838 students were enrolled (10,944 undergraduates and 894 graduates). The Mayagüez campus is  one of two land-grant universities in the tropics and the only one where Spanish is the native language (although English is also used extensively). The campus provides a unique setting and, to some extent, it is in a privileged position to serve as an international center for studies, training, and research in the fields of agricultural sciences. The academic calendar has two semesters: fall (early August to mid-December) and spring (early January to mid-May). While textbooks and research materials used at the University of Puerto Rico are often in English, Spanish is the language of instruction in  most courses at UPRM, and students are required to have a working knowledge of the English language. The individual professor decides the language used in class lectures and in student evaluation activities. Research. UPR-Mayagüez is one of the most important centers in the Atlantic region for the study of tropical marine science due to its location, facilities, and first-rate researchers. The research facilities includes the Puerto Rico Water Resources and Environmental Research Institute, the Caribbean Coral Reef Institute (CCRI), the Research and Development Center, the Agricultural Research Station and the Caribbean Atmospheric Research Center (ATMOSCarib). The College of  Engineering offers modern computerized laboratories for teaching, measuring fatigue and fractures in different materials, designing manufactured products and the processes to build them, and computer design. There is a Center for Civil Infrastructure used to design structures resistant to natural disasters and transportation systems. Other research areas include development of solar powered vehicles and boats, use of satellite photography to study earth phenomena, and study of the environmental impact of industrial toxins. The Departments of English, Humanities, and Hispanic Studies also produce first-rate scholarship that is recognized around the world. Some of the most important fields include digital humanities , Caribbean cultural studies, and transnational topics. The campus hosts several conferences on cutting-edge humanistic topics each year. In addition to the numerous research laboratories under direct faculty supervision, the Mayagüez campus has several research and development institutes that provide valuable support for research activities. Arts and Sciences is the College with the largest portfolio of funded research at the university and the highest number of patents, mostly from the Physics Department. Most of the science education funded efforts are in the following areas: science and mathematics education, detection of explosives, environmental sciences, biotechnology, ecosystems and conservation, oceanic processes, nanotechnology  and advanced materials, human behavior and energy. Its researchers, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are at the forefront of areas such as tsunamis, nanotechnology, protein, oceanic processes, bio‐markers, coral reefs, applied economics, disasters, monitoring of seismic activity, biodiversity and physical oceanography. The research facilities includes a campus-wide wireless network available to the whole university community (over 80 access points), Internet 2 Institution with an OC3 access line, robust video conference facilities, online course development platform, 42 academic computer labs for students (1,032 computers estimated), about 5,000 computers estimated including administrative, faculty and research facilities and a strong campus network  backbone infrastructure interconnecting over 40 buildings fiber optics. The Puerto Rico Seismic Network, in charge of monitoring seismic activity for the Caribbean region, is on the campus. College of Engineering. The college is accredited by ABET. It is among the top 10 U.S. universities in the field of engineering in number of students enrolled. The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez produces around 600 engineers every year. A National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) report for the 1996-1997 academic year indicates the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez graduated by far the largest number of Hispanic  engineers. Student life. Athletics. The University's mascot is a bulldog named Tarzán. Tarzans for men and the Janes for women sports team, respectively. The Mayagüez campus is a member of the LAI (Liga Atlética Interuniversitaria). It is the only university that participates in all sports sponsored by the LAI. It currently participates in 16 men's sports and 12 women's sports with a total of 373 athletes. Its main building is the Rafael A. Mangual Coliseum. The campus has had an Olympic swimming pool in the Natatorio RUM and a Tennis Center since the 2010 Central American and  Caribbean Games. Since September 1, 2003, the Mayagüez campus competes as an independent university in the NCAA's Division II. It participates in men's basketball, baseball, cross country running, soccer, swimming, tennis, track (outdoor), volleyball, taekwondo, and sport wrestling and in women's basketball, cross country running, swimming, taekwondo, and tennis. Activities. The campus has over 100 student organizations. Some annual events include: Radio Colegial. In 2007 a group of students from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)-UPRM Chapter, created an Internet Radio Station starting with one weekly radio program and then broadcasting its programming through a  web portal Student organizations. There are hundreds of student organizations in each faculty of the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus including but not limited to the following: