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Celeste Freytes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Celeste Freytes
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Other namesCeleste Freytes-Dieppa
Academic background
EducationBoston University
Doctoral advisorSue Allen Warren
Academic work
DisciplineHigher education
InstitutionsUniversity of Puerto Rico

Celeste E. Freytes González (born 1950) is a Puerto Rican academic administrator who served as the interim president of the University of Puerto Rico in 2013 and again from 2016 to 2017. She has served a commissioner on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Life

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Freytes was born in 1950.[1] She completed a Ed.D. at Boston University School of Education.[1] Her 1977 thesis was titled, Paired-Associate Learning with Spanish and English Mediation in a Bilingual Population.[1] Sue Allen Warren was her doctoral advisor.[1] Her study found that verbal mediation significantly improved paired-associate learning in bilingual children, with English mediation yielding better results than Spanish mediation, regardless of the children's language proficiency.[1]

By 1976, Freytes was working in the department of reading and language at the BU School of Education and was a member of The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS).[2] The following year she was an assistant professor of education at Boston University.[3] Freytes began teaching at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in 1979.[4] She has been involved in various projects focused on higher education and the self-study process.[4]

In 2013, Freytes was a member of Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla's transitional team before he took office as governor; Garcia Padilla contacted her directly about becoming interim president of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) before she was named to the position.[5][6] In January 2016, she began her first term as a commissioner on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.[4]

Freytes has held multiple administrative positions at UPR, including vice president for academic affairs.[7] She first served as interim president from September to November 2013 and was appointed to the position again in February 2016, following the resignation of former president Uroyoán Walker after a controversy regarding the awarding of presidential scholarships for the 2015 to 2016 academic year.[7][8] During her second term as interim president, Freytes focused on managing the university's financial difficulties, developing a new strategic plan for 2016 to 2021, and ensuring compliance with accreditation standards from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.[8][7]

Freytes Gonzalez announced on February 16, 2017, that she and other UPR leaders were renouncing from their positions, a move that was investigated by the Puerto Rican senate.[9] She was succeeded by Nivia Fernández Hernández as interim president of the UPR.[10]

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  1. ^ a b c d e Freytes-Dieppa, Celeste (1977). Paired-Associate Learning with Spanish and English Mediation in a Bilingual Population (Ed.D. thesis). Boston University. OCLC 3585508.
  2. ^ "Back Matter". MELUS. 3 (4): 27–40. 1976. ISSN 0163-755X. JSTOR 763406.
  3. ^ "22 bilingual teachers, aides, receive training". The Lowell Sun. 1977-12-19. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  4. ^ a b c Kirschner, Brian (2019-01-17). "Commissioners Complete Service for Middle States Commission on Higher Education". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  5. ^ "Ratificada la Dra. Celeste Freytes como Presidenta Interina UPR" (in Spanish).
  6. ^ "Aseguran gobernador ya busca sustituto para Román". www.wapa.tv (in Spanish).
  7. ^ a b c Guillama Capella, Manuel (2016-10-29). "Celeste Freytes: la estabilidad debe ir por encima de todo". Diálogo UPR (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  8. ^ a b "Celeste Freytes González asume presidencia interina de la UPR". Univision (in Spanish). 8 July 2016.
  9. ^ "Senado investigará las renuncias masivas de rectores en la UPR". 20 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Designan a Nivia Fernández presidenta interina de la UPR". Diálogo UPR (in Spanish). 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2024-08-16.