IIT Bridge Program a Success
IIT Recruits Latino Students in Puerto Rico

Chicago AMP Partnership News Letter, Volume l, Issue ll, March 1996

Information for this article provided by Peter Johnson

Web format by Prof. P. Johnson

Bridge Program a Success

The 1995 IIT Bridge students participated in an academically rigorous and socially rewarding transitional experience leading into their freshman year at IIT. This program included a credit bearing math and science course, supplemented by computer science exercises including World Wide Web searches and Power Point presentations attended by the Dean of the Undergraduate College and the Academic Vice President of the university. Social activities included weekend rap sessions, barbecues and relevant field trips, such as Physics Day at Great America Theme Park. Selected students from the 1995 Summer Bridge Program are now serving as peer teaching assistants and mentors to participants in an Early Identification "Inventions and Innovations" program aimed at bringing talented minority students to IIT to study in SMET fields.

IIT Recruits Latino Students in Puerto Rico

For the fourth year, Dr. Peter Johnson and a student and alumni team from IIT attended a Technology Career Fair in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February.

The purpose of the trip was to attract more Latino students interested in SMET majors to IIT and the Chicago area.

The Fair was held at the Condado Plaza Hotel on the north coast of the island. IIT also hosted a reception to meet those students who could not participate in the Fair. Last year, there ception was held in Ponce and attracted nearly 60 perspective SMET students interested in pursuing degrees on the mainland.

These new IIT students will be invited to attend the Chicago AMP-funded IIT Bridge Program. In post program interviews, a number of Puerto Rican students have indicated how important the bridging process was for students coming from a different culture where English was not their primary language.

To offset the dramatic climate differences and to make their Puerto Rican freshmen more comfortable when thinking about home as they walk through the Chicago snow, Professor Johnson has posted a WWW page featuring photos from Puerto Rico. Johnson says he hopes the page will help stave off homesickness during the long winter months. Set your World Wide Web browser to http://www.iit.edu/~PR/pr.html and share the Puerto Rican experience with our new Chicago AMP scholars.