Management University of Puerto RicoIn the voice of the Deans of the Campus Río Piedras, Caye and Mayaguez, they believe that the proposed university reform, Promoted in the Senate, It must go through several adjustments to suit the financial reality in which the institution lives.

The senator introduced the measure, listed as Senate Bill 172 Jose Vargas Fedot On February 4 and its content has been working for several years by a multi-sectoral committee consisting of teachers and students, among others.

In a virtual table open in various media, the university administration clarified their claims about what they understand from the components to the extent that they have to go through changes since, for example, it eliminates the decision-making authority from the president of the institution and university presidents and transfers it to the university council.

As a result of components like these, according to the head of the Mayagüez campus (RUM), Agustín Rullán Toro, The current administrative district will only approve the UPR strategic plans and budget submitted by the University Council.

“The project, as presented … I can tell you that the philosophical basis from which it starts are principles that are all very good. The President of Mayaguez University said during the hypothetical presentation that he is talking about depoliticization, decentralization, independence, good governance and many things that I think are important principles in terms of Philosophical. “

“However, the details that lead to implementing these philosophical principles, in the proposed manner, we believe will be a big problem for the university,” he added.

Given this, Roland Toro realizes that the legislation has to go through “serious amendments” before it can be approved by the legislature.

Some of the concerns raised by the university administration also included the transfer of executive powers to the deliberative bodies, which they argued was a proposal that would add a layer of bureaucracy to the UPR administration.

“The decisions will require being present in these bodies, taking them to vote, and perhaps going to the committees and we are very concerned that this will paralyze the university. A bureaucratic university in itself, and we will add a serious layer of bureaucracy to move it and make decisions in a timely manner.”

The reform will affect accreditation

He said that while writing the university reform, the main concern that the presentation kept was how the procedure would affect the UPR accreditation process. Jennifer Alicia CastilloAssociate Vice President for Accreditation and Evaluation.

Accreditation was one of the issues that caught the institution most attention after it was in danger of losing it in early 2019 because the UPR did not provide the information requested by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE).

However, in June of that year, the UPR was able to retain it after the delivery of documents and after several visits by MSCHE representatives to the campus.

According to Alicia Castillo, the reform is setting aside compliance requirements completely, specifically under the UPR governance standard.

“This standard is very clear in how it defines the CEO’s obligations for each accredited institution, and it defines the functions and obligations of that governing body of the university. Any institution that wants to be accredited and remains so must follow these standards literally. In this case, the official explained that the standard that I mentioned is affected. directly.

He added, “It is extremely important that this entire reform, amendments, and whatever it is you want to present due to the serious concerns that the university community suffers from, is always viewed through the lens of accreditation, which is something that this project lacks.” .

The management offer also included the participation of the president of the Rio Piedras campus, Luis A. Verao Delgado And Dean of the Caie Unit, Luis Tapia Maldonado.

It also claims that it is within the absence of evidence to consult the university community or the Ministry of Higher Education.

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