Ana G. Méndez University


The Ana G. Méndez University is a private university system with its main campus in San Juan, Puerto Rico that participates in the Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium.

History

On January 2, 2019, Metropolitan University, University of Turabo and Universidad del Este merged into a single university of campuses to form Universidad Ana G. Méndez.
On December 15, 2023, the American Veterinary Association Council on Higher Education granted UAGM, Gurabo Campus' Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program a Letter of Reasonable Assurance, authorizing the School of Veterinary Medicine to admit the first cohort for the first, and only, degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the history of Puerto Rico. If the university meet the council's reasonable assurance performance standards, the AVMA-COE will grant the university's School of Veterinary Medicine Provisional Accreditation status, allowing graduates from the first cohort and all others thereafter to sit for the International Council for Veterinary Assessment North America Veterinary Licensing Examination.
The first 80-student cohort's White Coat Ceremony was held on Saturday, September 28, 2024, on the premises of the School of Veterinary Medicine and future Veterinary Teaching Hospital grounds at UAGM, Gurabo campus.
The university also transmits over the air across the broadband via WMTJ, a Public Broadcasting Service television station. The satellite communications transmission of WMTJ carriers over the spectrum with the call sign WQTO, transmitting at an Effective Radiated Power of six hundred ninety-six kilo lumens or Watts. Sistema television studios for «transmitting the good» are located at Rio Piedras in San Juan with the call sign's acronym standing for Méndez Television San Juan.

University of Turabo

University of Turabo the Gurabo campus was established in 1972. In 1974 it earned accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Puerto Rico Higher Education Council.
In 2004, it began the doctoral program in Environmental Sciences and the advent of the Strategic Plan for Scientific Research. Today, enrollment exceeds 15,000 students of which over 450 are doctoral level.
In 2018, the National Science Foundation announced a partnership between the University of Turabo and the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source at Cornell University.
It offered academic studies from technical certificates to doctorates degrees in seven schools: Engineering, Science and Technology, Health Sciences, Education, Business and Administration, Design and Architecture, and Social Sciences.

Metropolitan University

The Metropolitan University —or Universidad Metropolitana in Spanish— is a private, non-profit, and secular university system in Puerto Rico which is now part of the Ana G. Mendez University. It has five campuses:
  • Aguadilla
  • Bayamón
  • San Juan is the main campus and usually referred to as the Metropolitan University itself as it was the first campus and is the largest one.

    Universidad del Este

Universidad del Este was a private non-profit institution of higher education. Founded in 1949 as Puerto Rico Junior College, it grew into a four-year institution in 1992 and finally evolved into a university in 2001. Universidad del Este offered occupational, liberal arts, education, health, science and business programs leading to certificates, associate, bachelor, and master's degree programs in different disciplines. Its main campus was located in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The university also maintained five off-campus sites located in Yauco, Utuado, Cabo Rojo, Manatí and Santa Isabel. In August 2003, Universidad del Este established its first branch campus, Metro Orlando University Center located in Orlando, Florida.

Campuses

The Ana G. Méndez University system has campuses in the following cities in Puerto Rico and mainland United States.
CampusFormer nameLocationRefs
Ana G. Méndez Online Online
Cupey CampusUniversidad MetropolitanaSan Juan, PR
Gurabo CampusUniversidad del TuraboGurabo, PR
Carolina CampusUniversidad del EsteCarolina, PR
Ponce CampusUniversidad Ana G. MendezPonce, PR
Cabo Rojo CampusUniversidad Ana G. MendezCabo Rojo, PR
Capital Area Campus Wheaton, MD
Dallas Area Campus Dallas, TX
Metro Orlando Campus Conway, FL
South Florida Campus Miami Lakes, FL
Tampa Bay Campus Egypt Lake-Leto, FL

Gurabo campus

The Gurabo campus, usually referred to as "el Turabo," consists of two central campuses —main and Navarro— alongside a series of island-wide satellite campuses. The main campus covers with a diversity of open spaces, malls, modern and historic structures, and a healthy distribution of amphitheatre-and-boutique common study/collaborative/collective spaces/areas. The university also hosts a comprehensive sports programme complete with its respective gymnasia, weight room, track & field arena, swimming pool, baseball fields, tennis complex, basketball and volleyball courts, and a series of fountains and gardens to elevate enlightenment to the fullest — "Había sequía en el Turabo y ahora se acabó la sequía. Ganamos". The campus' academic offering is organized across seven academic divisions:
  • Liberal Arts
  • Health Sciences
  • Science and Technology
  • Engineering, Design & Architecture
  • Naturopathic Medicine
  • School of Veterinary Medicine
  • Business, Tourism & Entrepreneurship

    Museums and libraries

The central university library is located at the main campus in Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Hall. It hosts the campus' central repository and circulation of information both analogue and digital, distributed over the structure with two computing centres spanning the main floor. The Vice-chancellorship of Information Resources is located on the building's upper east side, the stairways leading to the top floor midway canvasing the entire width and wide reflecting the history culture and soul of Cariba's society. Also on the upper floor there are five special collections reading rooms altogether encompassing: The Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá Room, Francisco Manrique Cabrera Room, García Passalacqua-Acosta Room, Ivonne Acosta Lespier Room, and José Luis González Room. From time to time, Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Hall propagates its walls with exhibitions from faculty and students alike. The works of David Méndez Pagán, the current rector, have been exhibited in Abelardo Díaz Alfaro's hall.
There is a library-museum named after the former governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Rosselló, as "Biblioteca Museo Dr. Pedro Rosselló", which includes a museum, library, studying area, and an auditorium. Of the most memorable items curated at the museum is the Governor's laptop, on whose keypads he redacted many of his diligent works.
There are also two museums within the Centre for Humanistic Studies on the campus' southwest end. On the top floor, a museum of anthropology and archeology curating and hosting exhibitions of archeological historical artifacts. But perhaps the most precious item in the collection is Ana G. Méndez desk, exhibited in the central room of the first floor.

Puerto Rico Energy Centre (PREC)

The Puerto Rico energy center is dedicated to advancing Puerto Rico's energy efficiency and clean energy use through research, technology transfer, education and demonstration. Its mission is to contribute to the creation of knowledge in alternative and renewable energy, as well as in energy efficiency practices and technologies, and to promote the use of alternative resources to contribute to the conservation of the environment and the sustainable development of Puerto Rico, the Antilles and the World.
In order to foster graduate and undergraduate research practicums and intercontinental engineering-research-scientific collaboration, the centre leads a consortium of nationwide universities and national laboratories including Sandia, one if not the school of engineering founding father.

Athletics

The university offers athletic scholarships to outstanding freshman athletes with strong academic potential in swimming, basketball, volleyball, cross country, and others. It has participated in the Puerto Rico Inter-university Athletics League since 1975.

Notable alumni

In 2013, the United States army noted that graduates of the University of Turabo often become leaders in the US army.