Global Service Learning: Puerto Rico

 

This program is designed for students with an interest in consulting and non-profit management who are seeking a hands-on, project-based experience that will allow you to develop professional skills while benefiting a global community partner. In Puerto Rico, we work with,Caras con Causa, an organization focused on community development through education and environmental preservation projects. You'll be enrolled in a three credit course and spend the week of spring break in San Juan working directly with Caras.  To get a better idea of the program and project, be sure to check out past participants' blogs here!

The Global Service Learning program gives you the opportunity to use your business skills to make a difference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This hands-on, semester-long project will give you initial exposure to consulting work, as well as exposure to the environment of an international non-profit organization. You will be pushed to put your business knowledge to the test and gain new skills in order to help meet the needs of the local community. To be successful, you must be flexible, open, patient, hard-working, and able to handle yourself professionally in delicate community situations. 

About our community partner: CARAS de las Americas | CARAS is an innovative nonprofit organization that coordinates educational projects to promote environmental development in partnership with communities in Puerto Rico. Their current work focuses on two main projects: (1) working on developing different mechanisms to introduce seed germination of red, white, black, and button mangroves and mangrove restoration and (2) after school programs teaching young children about the interdependence of ecosystems and general tutoring in the community.

Participants will receive automatic $3500 scholarships (see Pricing and Dates section for details). 

 

What You'll Accomplish: 

As an engaged and active participant in this program, you will have the opportunity to develop:

  • global experience in effective project management through active community engagement 
  • the ability to apply business skills that make a difference in the community through a non-profit consulting project
  • an understanding of the impact of service-learning on leadership and global competence

 

Puerto Rico is Spanish for Rich Port, and this US territory in the Caribbean is indeed rich in history, culture, natural scenery, and more – making it a popular destination for world travelers. Official languages are English and Spanish, although Spanish is predominantly spoken. The commonwealth has a unique administrative relationship with the United States, which affects everything from economics, trade, taxes, and the rights of Puerto Ricans. Industry in Puerto Rico is centered on manufacturing and service, with tourism providing many employment opportunities for Puerto Ricans.

San Juan is the second-oldest European-founded settlement in the Americas, and a city where old meets new in fascinating ways. Amid the colonial-era forts and beautiful beaches are neighborhoods vibrant with street art, music, and restaurants. You’ll see why San Juan is a popular tourist destination!

Across the bay is the municipality of Catano, the focal point for the service learning project. You’ll learn about the environmental hazards impacting the beaches and mangroves, and spend time working with the local community, advocating for environmental improvements of these places. 

 

Where You'll Live: 

More details about accommodations in Puerto Rico will be provided at a later date. You can expect your housing to include:

  • Double occupancy rooms
  • Shared bathroom
  • Wifi
  • Air conditioning
  • Linens and towels
  • light breakfast fare

 

 

What You'll Study: 

You will earn three credits for the program through 'BUS 1755 - Service Learning in Organizations'. The academic course will take place during the spring semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30-1:45PM.

For Pitt Business students, this course fulfills a foreign culture requirement, a social sciences requirement, an elective towards the Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the functional elective towards the Certificate Program in Leadership and Ethics, and the Projects in Global Management Capstone for Global Management majors.

 

Service Learning in Organizations (BUS1755)

This course explores service learning as a form of active learning that values critical thinking and problem solving. When service-learning is effectively implemented, students gain in measures of academic achievement, citizenship, and leadership competence. There are several components of the service learning (SL) approach:

  • SL uses community service as the vehicle for the attainment of students' academic goals and objectives.
  • Community service fills a need in the community through volunteer efforts. Service-learning also fills that need, but it uses that need as a foundation to examine ourselves, society, and the future. Further, service-learning provides students with opportunities to use newly acquired skills and knowledge in real-life situations.
  • SL identifies in advance and tracks specific learning objectives and goals.
  • Students perform a valuable, significant, and necessary service which has real consequence to a community, organization or other stakeholder group.
  • SL enhances student learning by joining theory with experience and thought with action; it also helps students to see the relevance of academic subject to the real world.
  • SL also builds leadership competence through practice, reflection and active engagement.

Upon completion of the course, students will have accomplished the following:

  1. Developed an understanding of the concept of servant leadership and how it explains the inextricable link between ethics and effective leadership.
  2. Studied the key characteristics of servant leadership and how they related to and impact both personal and business success.
  3. Enhanced one's project management skills by working as part of a team on a servant leadership project.
  4. Develop critical leadership skills such as conflict resolution, negotiations and high impact communication.
  5. Applied course concepts to a relevant example in the service learning project, in which the teams work on a specific external project related to leadership, social responsibility, and ethics in business.
  6. Applied course concepts using a case analysis, business plan, and/or presentation to a client.
Experiential Learning Description: 

Service-learning is a great example of experiential learning. This course is a project-based, hands-on experience, and you should be prepared to utilize the consulting and transferrable skills discussed in class lectures toward your project deliverables during your time working in-country with the community organization. You will be supported by Pitt Business faculty, staff, and executives-in-residence throughout the experience.

 

The Global Service Learning program is a partnership between Pitt Business International Programs and our local non-profit partner, Amizade. You will be supported through the duration of the project by faculty and staff from Pitt Business, staff from Amizade, and members of the community organization you are working with. You'll be accompanied by a Pitt Business International Programs staff member for the in-country portion of the program. 

 

Your Pitt Study Abroad Contacts: 

Steph Spirk

Hola, hallo, hi!  I'm Steph Spirk, and I am a Global Experiences Program Manager for Pitt Business.  I am a yinzer, very proud to call Pittsburgh my home, yet my love for cultural exchange has always led me to new places, even ones I never thought I'd go to before.  I was a Pitt student myself, becoming an expert on study abroad by participating in three programs: Global Service Learning in Bolivia, the International Internship Program in Madrid, and an exchange program at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.  I speak fluent Spanish and German at an advanced level.  In my free time you'll find me practicing yoga in the square, hiking through the many parks, painting, and capturing the beauty of Pittsburgh and beyond through the lens of my camera.
Looking forward to chatting with yinz!

Schedule an appointment

Schedule an appointment with me using Handshake!

  • Log in to Handshake
  • Select Appointments > Schedule an Appointment
  • Select Pitt Business Global Experiences Advising as the Category
  • Select Global Experiences Advising - Pitt Business as the Appointment Type
  • Select a day, find my name and find time that works best for you!

Don't see a time that works for you? Just send me an email!

Your In-Country Contacts: 

Bryan Schultz

Greetings!  I am the Director of Global Experiences at the University of Pittsburgh College of Business.  I've been at Pitt since 2011 and during this time served in the Study Abroad Office, Swanson School of Engineering, Frederick Honors College and the College of Business Administration.  My portfolio of responsibilities includes creating, executing and evaluating global and experiential opportunities for Pitt Business students.  Prior to joining Pitt my career focused on providing executive-level leadership and consulting to nonprofit organizations in Colorado and Washington DC. 
I graduated from Kalamazoo College (MI) with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and earned a Master of Nonprofit Management degree from Regis University (CO).  During my free tine I enjoy long backpacking trips, following Detroit-based professional sports, painting, going to concerts, and exploring new places - especially those overseas.

 

 

Schedule an appointment

Email me at bryanschultz@business.pitt.edu to schedule an appointment.

Items Billed by Pitt

  In-State Out-of-State
Program Fee $5500 $5500
Study Abroad Fee $0 $0
Total Billed by Pitt $5500

$5500

 

Estimated Additional Out-of-Pocket Costs

Personal Expenses $200
 

Total Estimated Program Cost

  In-State Out-of-State

Items billed by Pitt and additional expenses

$5700 $5700
Scholarship award $3500 $3500
Total Estimated Cost of Program $2200 $2200
 
 
 
What's Included: 

As a part of your program fee, the following are included:

  • Tuition
  • Round-trip flights from Pittsburgh-Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico-Pittsburgh
  • Housing
  • Cultural and project-related site visits
  • Transportation to and from all cultural and project-related site visits
  • Most meals
  • International health insurance

Remember that your lifestyle and spending choices can greatly affect the amount of money you'll need while abroad.  Visit our Budgeting page for more information.

 

What Else You Need to Know: 

All students are required to attend the mandatory Agreement Meeting.  This afternoon long event will cover important topics relevant to study abroad like health, safety, security, and more.  Plus, it will give you the chance to meet other students studying abroad on your programs!  Alumni and staff will also be present to help you start thinking about your goals for the program. Your program manager will follow up with more information once you begin your application!

Students participating in the program will receive:

  • A $3,500 scholarship, bringing the program fee to $2,000
  • All students are also eligible for other scholarships listed on globalexperiences.pitt.edu/scholarships aside from the Pitt Business Global Experiences scholarships, but additional scholarships are not guaranteed 

Students must be enrolled in the College of Business Administration to be eligible for the program.