Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Education
Session: 2
Room: Exhibit Hall
Rubén Esteban Leoncio Cabán - University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Co-Author(s): Rocío J. Sotomayor Irizarry, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Elmer M. Irizarry Rosario, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Laura S. García Canto, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Humberto E. Cavallin Calanche, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Carla López del Puerto, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Luisa Guillemard, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Exposure to extreme environmental conditions in Puerto Rico has nowadays become the norm, forcing priorities in academia to be directed to educating professionals prepared to deal with this ominous reality. Because of this, the education of professionals to face this new reality is part of the demands of the academia of the present, and to the core of it, the concept of servingness as a tool contributes to the formation of students and faculty sensibility to social dynamics connected to the educational experiences. The Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainability Education – Undergraduate Program (RISE-UP), funded by the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) program of The National Science Foundation (NSF), has been conceptualized as including elements of servingness by addressing aspects connected to the learning experience, leadership identity, critical consciousness, academic and research aspirations, and civic engagement all in the context of Puerto Rico’s current infrastructural needs. This paper addresses those dynamics by means of the voice of RISE-UP participants, accounting for how the experience generated by the crossroads that the program creates between the professional interdisciplinarity, the approach to infrastructure’s sustainability, and the concept of resiliency, have impacted the experience of servingness for students in the program.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 1832468 and 1832427 (HSI program). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Faculty Advisor: Carla Lopez Del Puerto, carla.lopezdelpuerto@upr.edu
Role: I worked in the development of the writing and I'm also one of the participants of the study.