In an effort to improve the University’s relations with the Spanish-speaking world, Michael Escuti, an assistant professor in electrical engineering, and Andrew Pita, a junior in electrical engineering and president of N.C. State’s chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, visited two universities in Puerto Rico.
The purpose of their visit was to promote NCSU.
The two left for Puerto Rico on Nov. 14 and returned on Nov. 17.
Over the past few years, the population of Hispanics in North Carolina has increased dramatically, making it the largest minority group in the state.
But according to Escuti, this increase has not carried over to NCSU, as Hispanics make up only about two percent of the University’s total undergraduate population, according to a 2003 enrollment report the University released.
Escuti said it is very important for the University to build ties with the Spanish-speaking world, because a significant portion of North Carolina’s population is native Hispanic.
“This is the largest minority group in North Carolina, but they are underrepresented in the student body,” Escuti said. “This gives us a chance to raise the profile of these students within the University.”
Escuti and Pita attended the Hispanics in Engineering National Conference in San Juan, and they also visited with the deans of engineering at two Puerto Rican universities, Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico in San Juan and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.
Escuti compared the two schools with NCSU and Duke University in North Carolina.
While the two discussed the advantages of the trip for the University, Pita noted that the trip also provided a number of opportunities for the Puerto Rican students they spoke with.
“Both of the schools we visited don’t have Ph.D. programs, so the professors there only had graduate degrees, and some of them only had undergraduate degrees,” Pita said. “We wanted to talk to the engineering students there about the opportunities NCSU has for Ph.D. programs.”
Pita said they also talked to some faculty members during their visit to the universities.
“We think that [coming to study at NCSU] is a great way for students to adapt to life in the United States and to practice their English, which would help them out if they decided to look for a job in the U.S. after they finish their studies.”
According to Pita, there was one other important thing that lead to the trip. Louis Martin-Vega, the new dean for the College of Engineering, is a Puerto Rican and alumnus of UPR at Mayaguez.
