University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Informations

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 land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM is the second-largest university campus of the University of Puerto Rico system.

UPRM has been accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) since 1946. Also, the engineering undergraduate program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the nursing undergraduate program is accredited by the National League for Nursing (NLN) and the Chemistry Department is recognized by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The College of Business Administration is going through the process of the AACSB accreditation. The Mayagüez campus of the University of Puerto Rico has been a member of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) since 1966.

UPRM continues its development in the best tradition of a land-grant institution. It is a co-educational, bilingual, and non-sectarian school comprising 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 and the Agricultural Extension Service. 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.

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. Eloquent 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 1940s — 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.

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.

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.

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 campus also offers two cafeterias, a bookstore, a bank, a lounge called La Cueva de Tarzán (Tarzan's cave) and a computer center, although several academic departments operate their own computer laboratories. Classes are conducted in English or Spanish.

The Mayagüez Campus General Library serves the local campus community as well as residents of Mayagüez and nearby towns. It fully supports UPRM education and research mission and objectives by providing adequate library and information resources, facilities and services.

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 and M, 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).

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