Rutgers, Center For Puerto Rico partner to offer program
At podium, Sila M. Calderón Foundation President Dennis Román-Roa offers details of the initiative, as former Gov. Calderón, Wendell Pritchett, chancellor of the Rutgers University Camden Campus, and Prof. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, listen.
The Center for Puerto Rico, in collaboration with Rutgers University, announced Tuesday the launching of the first program in community development to be offered in Puerto Rico.
“The program intends to contribute in the academic preparation of professionals working toward the economic development and transformation of Puerto Rican communities,” said former Gov. Sila M. Calderón, chairwoman of the Sila M. Calderón Foundation, which runs the Center.
“It’s our pleasure to announce the partnership between Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the Sila M. Calderón Foundation. One of the top 100 universities in the United States, Rutgers, has identified the Center for Puerto Rico as host for this program, licensed by the Board of Education, and unique in our island,” she said.
The agreement is part of the Center’s mission to provide educational forums that promote dialogue and projects aimed at reducing poverty and inequality,” said Foundation President Dennis Román-Roa.
“We have the support of a high standard educational institution and we predict a fruitful collaborative relationship that will strengthen the social change strategies on which the Center for Puerto Rico was founded five years ago,” Román-Roa said.
The program was unveiled Tuesday by the Chancellor of the Rutgers University Camden Campus, Wendell Pritchett, and Prof. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago.
“As part of our mission, Rutgers University takes its programs and practices outside of the states and the nation. The proposal for this academic undertaking in Puerto Rico is evidence of that commitment, and has the full support of the institution to achieve new levels of learning and development, “said Pritchett.
“The Graduate Certificate Program in Community Development allows Rutgers to bring to Puerto Rico 20 years of experience in community development, to establish new models demonstrated as effective in reducing poverty,” Bonilla-Santiago concluded.
