UPR's situation is not only financial

Sunday, January 02 2010

Jeannette Ortiz-Ortiz | PRSSA Río Piedras

With various solutions presented by the government and rejected by a small group of students supporting a strike, the University of Puerto Rico is experiencing once more the political bias it has endured for more than a century. Students do not seem to reach out for the integrity the Middle States Commission on Higher Education has when it establishes the seriousness of the educational institution undergoing a second strike in less than a year. It is quite certain that $800 is a lot to take in, but it would be worse to imagine every single student being affected by the actions the Commission might take if the existing problem continues.

The situation is to be analyzed with solemnity when the university’s administration has to submit written reports in three months about the current circumstances and the actions taken toward the functionality of an institution with almost 19,000 students. According to the statement from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education issued on November 19, 2010 to Chancellor Ana Guadalupe, the University of Puerto Rico has not complied with the following standards considered to be crucial for accreditation:

Affiliation 3 that requires the institution to be operational, with students actively pursuing their degree programs,

Standard 3, Resources that requires the availability and accessibility of the necessary resources to achieve the institution’s mission and goals.

Standard 4 (Leadership and Governance) that requires a system of governance that clearly defines the roles of institutional constituencies in policy development and decision making, with sufficient autonomy to assure institutional integrity and to fulfill its responsibilities of policy and resource development, consistent with the institution’s mission and

Standard 11 to provide the appropriate program length required for the granting of credits and degrees.

The administration, therefore, is forced to make the necessary adjustments to comply with the regulations of the respected accreditation commission. The alteration of the institution’s budget may not be the most acclaimed proposition at the moment and it is certainly not fair for those who cannot afford it, but solutions have been offered and the government has taken action.

However, when students are continuously presenting pretexts to continue a strike by intimidating students and professors who want to continue with their day-by-day routine inside the campus, the only reason behind the scheme is political. The question to be asked then is what to do when an infinitesimal group wants to control the majority through hidden ideological imposition and closes the best-acclaimed university in the island.

A conspicuous movement of education, not necessarily political, is indispensable when students want to disguise political agendas with educational matters. Providing information from both sides of the conflict and facilitating resources does not only help students understand what they are experiencing, but incite them to act upon facts and decide what is better for them as Puerto Rico’s future professionals.