Boricua College

“The form 990 is prepared by a CPA firm with professional experience in the completion of the form. it is then reviewed and approved by the finance personnel and President prior to submission to the Department of the Treasury. The form is provided to the board during the review process or after filing of the form based on the timing of the board meetings.”

“THE SCHOOL HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY TO PREVENT THE PERSONAL INTEREST OF BOARD MEMBERS FROM INTERFERING WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES TO THE COLLEGE, OR THE RESULT IN PERSONAL FINANCIAL, PROFESSIONAL, OR POLITICAL GAIN AT THE EXPENSE OF THE COLLEGE. BOARD MEMBERS ARE REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE IN WRITING ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Annual conflict of interest forms are required to be signed by all board members and key employees.”

“THE SCHOOL'S WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY IS INTENDED TO ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO RAISE SERIOUS CONCERNS WITH THE SCHOOL PRIOR TO SEEKING RESOLUTION OUTSIDE THE AGENCY. THE POLICY ENCOURAGES EMPLOYEES TO SHARE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, SUGGESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN ADDRESS THEM PROPERLY. IN MOST CASES, AN EMPLOYEE'S PRIMARY SUPERVISOR IS IN THE BEST POSITION TO ADDRESS AN AREA OF CONCERN. HOWEVER, IF AN EMPLOYEE IS NOT COMFORTABLE SPEAKING WITH HER/HIS SUPERVISOR OR IS NOT SATISFIED WITH THE SUPERVISOR'S RESPONSE, IS ENCOURAGED TO SPEAK WITH HER/HIS SENIOR MANAGER. SENIOR MANAGERS ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT SUSPECTED VIOLATIONS TO the College's COMPLIANCE OFFICER, WHO HAS SPECIFIC AND EXCLUSIVE RESPONSIBILITY TO INVESTIGATE ALL REPORTED VIOLATIONS.”

“the organization has a special committee which is responsible for the hiring of executive officers. Compensation packages are established based on comparability and other factors and are reviewed and approved annually during the approval of the budget by the board.”

“the organization provides the information upon request.”

“The mission and goals of the college are therefore rooted in three principles of institutional identity: as a puerto rican institution, boricua college seeks to strengthen puerto rican and latino culture through a bilingual and bicultural approach to all learning. To emphasize this commitment to the inseparability between culture and education, the college offers a program of individualized instruction that aims at enhancing personal learning styles, that takes into consideration the educational and economic difficulties experienced by puerto ricans and spanish-speaking people, and other minorities underrepresented in higher education. By focusing its learning activities on solutions to problems facing these communities, the college prepares students for effective community leadership. As a liberal arts institution, boricua college aims for high standards of academic performance from both students and faculty. Its curriculum offers students a solid grounding in the concepts and methods of the humanities, social and physical sciences, while providing for careful attention to the development of personal and intellectual skills. All students are expected to acquire a solid foundation in the liberal arts, regardless of their chosen career path. As a non-traditional institution, boricua offers students the opportunity to design highly individualized learning programs that may be pursued at their own pace to meet their own intellectual and career goals. Learning activities are not confined within college walls. Instead, they unite, in creative and stimulating ways, the world of scholarship and work. Boricua evaluates student progress through multiple measures that reflect the diversity of student goals and recognizes student achievements, both prior to and during enrollment, as worthy of academic credit. Enrollment, as worthy of academic credit.”

“There are Five Ways of Learning and Modes of Instruction utilized In all its academic programs, Boricua College has a unique pattern of diversified modes of instruction and ways of learning implemented through five curricular areas. For most students, going to college means taking courses in an institution of higher education, attending lectures on various academic subjects such as history, physics, or math, and taking examinations on those subjects at the end of each term. At Boricua College, lecture-discussion courses constitute an excellent way for college students to master some kinds of information such as knowledge of specifics, methodology, and universal concepts and themes. Such "theoretical studies," however, are only one of five distinct ways in which students are educated and receive academic credit at Boricua. An explanation of each of the five modes of instruction and the way they are integrated into a singular program of student growth and development is described below. Individualized Instruction: In the courses that use this mode of instruction and way of learning every student meets individually with their assigned full-time faculty member for one hour per week throughout the academic cycle to plan, implement and evaluate a program of learning determined by the curriculum, and designed to meet that student's educational needs and career aspirations. During the first two years, individualized instruction emphasizes the development of carefully identified generic intellectual skills required for the mastery of the basic principles of knowledge of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. During the next two years, individualized instruction takes on a more disciplinary character as the student is helped to develop the breadth and depth of intellectual skills and apply them in learning the concepts and literature of his/her field of specialization. In all these courses, a system of instructional modules, developed by the faculty are used as the primary text to guide instruction. Colloquium: A second unique way of learning at Boricua involves the use of small-group colloquia comprising eight to ten students who meet once a week with their assigned full-time faculty to exchange, share, discuss, and evaluate ideas, issues and problems related to the learning program of the group members. A particular objective of the courses taught through colloquia in the first two years is the development of affective skills necessary for life-long learning and acquisition of knowledge. During the next two years the Colloquium takes on a more disciplinary character as students are helped to develop the breadth and depth of the affective skills and the values inherent in their fields of specialization. Experiential Studies: This mode of learning involves carefully designed structured experiences of "learning by doing." It aims to develop students' awareness of how simple psychomotor skilled movements evolve into complex professional skills. In the students' first year they participate in structured field experiences under the guidance of their assigned full-time faculty to sharpen their sensory and perceptual awareness and observational skills. They continue on to courses that increase body sensory awareness, physical abilities and complex instrumental skills that integrate the psychomotor with cognitive skills. In the next two years and beyond, the student participates in carefully designed workshops, studio activities and supervised internships related to their academic disciplines and professional goals. Theoretical Studies: A fourth set of courses lead the student through a body of instrumental methods and knowledge required for problem solving, employing the customary techniques of lectures, discussion, readings and written examinations. In the first two years of Theoretical Studies courses, students learn by applying their intellectual and affective skills to introductory subject matter of mathematics, social and”