The School of Journalism and Communication at Southern Adventist University partners with Antillean Adventist University

October 27, 2021 | Collegedale, Tennessee, United States | Patrick Scriven for The WiRE magazine published by the School of Journalism and Communication at Southern Adventist University

The School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) has entered into a partnership with Antillean Adventist University (AAU) in Puerto Rico. Since AAU does not offer communication degrees, the partnership will give its students the opportunity to pursue degrees in communication,  mass communication, public relations, and journalism at Southern Adventist University after two years of general education classes in Puerto Rico.

According to to AAU Vice President for Academic Affairs Zilma Santiago, a growing number of students in Puerto Rico are involved in media production for local churches and high schools.

“Especially since the pandemic, our local churches have had to move on, using media and social media and a lot of our students are really involved in that,” she said. “So, I’m sure we have students who are interested in this partnership.”

Once the social media recruitment campaign is launched, UAA hopes to have the first batch of students enrolled in the program this fall, which would set them on pace to transfer to Southern less than two years from now, according to Santiago.

Santiago said the first heard about the opportunity for a partnership in January 2020, when Nemuel Artiles, general director of Bella Vista Media Center in Puerto Rico, floated the idea to her and Pablo Fernandez, a communication professor at Southern who was working with the media center at the time.

“[Artiles] called me and said there was a great opportunity to collaborate with Southern’s communication, media and journalism programs,” Santiago said. “Then, he put me in touch with Pablo Fernandez, and that’s how we met.”

Fernandez said he and Santiago have been discussing the logistics of the partnership for over a year. According to Fernandez, the partnership would enable AAU students to take two years of general education classes in Puerto Rico along with a few prerequesite summer classes from Southern, then “transfer to Southern to pursue a degree in mass communication, communication journalism, or public relations.”

During the yearlong planning process, Fernandez and the SJC worked under the guidance of Associate Vice President of Academic Administration Dionne Felix to ensure academic standards were met.

“Beyond the typical and expected academic requirements for acceptance into any college or university, prospective students from [AAU] will need to meet Southern’s General Education requirements which could be accomplished through completing AAU’s equivalents or other approved substitutions, as well as outlined core, elective, and cognate courses for their chosen program(s),” Felix said.

Santiago said there is a financial benefit to the partnership, as well. “It helps AAU students because they have two years here in Antillean, which is less expensive than doing four full years at Southern.”

According to Fernandez, one of the long-term goals of the partnership is to create an opportunity for students to experience a new language and a different culture.”

Santiago said she hopes to see the partnership open doors to other academic opportunities in the future.

“We hope to expand and reinforce the collaboration between AAU and Southern,” she said. “This could maybe include short-term exchanges where students can come to Puerto Rico, learn Spanish and experience Puerto Rican culture.”