University of Puerto Rico at Humacao

Humacao, Puerto Rico, 00791

Last updated on May 24, 2025

Grant awarded by

Library of Congress

Region

East

Organization Type

College/University

Congressional District(s)

At large

Fiscal Year Of First Grant

FY 2006 [10/01/05 - 09/30/06]

Contributing Organization(s)

UPRH English Department, UPR Distance Education Office (EaD), Puerto Rico's Department of Education (DEPR)- private and public schools of PR's eastern region

Organization description

The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (UPRH), founded in 1962, is an undergraduate public institution classified as Bachelor/Diverse: Baccalaureate Colleges-Diverse Fields by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. UPRH is one of eleven units that make up the state system of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and has been accreditable since 1965, with an operating license from the Puerto Rico Council of Education (Renewed in 2017). It is located in the eastern region of the Island, 30 miles southeast of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. UPRH is situated in 60 acres of land, with 30 buildings totaling an occupation area of 395,755 square feet. Two of these building are located off-campus: Casa Roig Museum and Casa Roig Annex. The institution also has a theater, three amphitheaters, an athletic field, and a sports complex. Eighty-eight percent of the total enrollment comes from 16 adjacent municipalities surrounding the town of Humacao. However, the service area consists of the 78 municipalities on the Island. UPRH is the only campus of the UPR System with a presence in the eastern region of Puerto Rico, positioning it as a vital component of the economic and social development of this geographical region. Seventy-three percent of incoming students come from the public schools, demonstrating the need for a public institution of higher education so that students can continue undergraduate studies.

UPRH offers 24 academic programs, of which 20 lead to baccalaureate degrees and 4 to associate degrees. Among the 24 academic programs, six are unique to Puerto Rico: Wildlife Management, Coastal Marine Biology, Physics Applied to Electronics, Computational Mathematics, Social Sciences with Social Action Research, and Studies in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Furthermore, three programs are unique within the UPR system: International Business, Industrial Chemistry, and Occupational Therapy. Lastly, the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (Decep) offers articulated programs within the university system, short courses, degree-credit programs, and professional certifications.

Project description

The project, Leveraging Educators’ Access to Primary Sources (LEAPS): Integrating Library of Congress’s Online Collections to Develop ESL Competencies and Researching Skills in Puerto Rico’s (PR) Secondary Schools consists of providing 72 hours of professional development to 20 English and history secondary school teachers from the private and public schools in the Humacao region on the use of primary sources from the Library of Congress as a means to develop students’ ESL competencies and researching skills. Through professional workshops in the use of primary sources, each participant will have the opportunity to “LEAP” through the Library of Congress’s online collections to create educational materials and tools for developing English language learner’s reading, writing, speaking, listening, and researching skills. Using a Collaborative Learning approach to gain access to the Library of Congress’s online primary sources, participants will team-up to create lessons, pedagogical activities, and tools to use in their classroom, share achievements as the result of implementing content knowledge and skills learned through PR-LEAPS , and distribute materials on PR-LEAPS open resource webpage for English and history educators to use in their classrooms.

TPS project focus

Curriculum
Teaching Materials
Workshops

Content focus

Access
English Language Arts
History
Research

Audience

Classroom teachers
Community members
Students
Teacher candidates/Student teachers
University faculty

Level(s)

6 - 8
9 - 12

Population focus

English language learners