Faculty FrontDoor

Prof. Jose Medina

Welcome - Please feel free to read this to find more information about me and my experience as an adjunct sociology instructor for your SYG 2000 course. I am a named National Hispanic Scholar presently educating in Central Florida at institutions of higher education with a desire to obtain a tenured-track Professorship. I have taught several sociology courses at various levels, including college and high school, and I enjoy my own students' discovery of the social sciences.

I have earned two advanced degrees from prestigious American Universities. I started attending college in the summer of 1981 at Universidad de Puerto Rico and Univ. Inter Americana, as a duel-enrolled student. I later graduated from Fordham University in 1986 with a BA in Sociology and a minor degree in Latin American/Caribbean Studies with a specialty in the modern island of Puerto Rico. I took a year-long leave from Fordham before graduation, but instead of taking a break from school, I enrolled as a visiting student at the Universidad Inter Americana, Cupey Metro Campus. I enjoyed my progress in sociology studies, which influenced me to pursue extraordinary work/learning in New York, NY; San Juan, PR; and Miami, FL, circa 1981-1996. I benefited greatly from a list of awesome faculty who advised me and extended undergraduate opportunities to take advanced courses such as honors and graduate level sociology classes. This was a transforming time, and I endured much difficulty to come up with tuition as a part and full-time employee. Regardless of my demanding personal duties, I was determined to finish within four years with rigor and academic excellence. Being a Campus Senator, club president, and student advisor allowed for great extracurricular involvement. I became an active supporter of San Ignacio de Loyola Prep's ASIA Scholarship Program by volunteering and organizing major activities to give back to those who paid for my formal education.

By fall of 1986, I officially entered as a graduate student with fellowships at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. First admitted full-time to the prestigious Escuela de Planificacion for an initial track in Urban Planning, I later transferred, in 1989, to the Social Studies Faculty. I went on to study among a few of the first graduating cohorts in UPR's Graduate Sociology MA, the only one of its kind in the USA, located at the Universidad de PR - Rio Piedras’ Graduate Sociology/Anthropology Department. When I had completed orally defending my original research in 1994, I was fully done with my MA program requirements along with finishing an Honor’s mention Thesis, entitled: “Militarismo y Urbanismo; 1862-1904, el caso de la Puerta de Tierra, Viejo San Juan, PR.” Much work elapsed within my own satisfaction to obtain this sociology academic experience being the product of trained areas of schooling in Western World for its known Social Studies. As a well-educated product from the Jesuits scholarly tradition, a catholic order founded by Saint Ignatius de Loyola, I became a true modern crucible in the XXI Century as an American-Puerto Rican Sociologist.

During the period of 1986 to 1995, I worked in various capacities, mainly in academia as a teacher’s assistant, a research assistant, and a mentoring senior faculty, being funded by various UPR’s FIPI grants at the Decanato de Estudios Graduados. From 1994 to 1995, I entered another important University based Sociology program, and was given a fellowship to work in the Comparative Sociology Ph.D. track at Florida International University, Tamaimi Campus. In previous periods during those long years of formal education, I served as a paid consultant to some agencies of the government like the Old San Juan Historic Site, Interior Department / National Park Services, the Greater San Juan Mayoralty, and as a full-time research employee in the Planning Unit of the Commonwealth of PR’s HQ Offices in New York. My expertise in Caribbean Urban Societies / American Social Studies was pivotal for doing much of my research ground work around Latin America, Puerto Rico, and the USA. I also worked at U.P.R. and Florida International University at their Centers for Latin American and the Caribbean Studies doing research and translations for the publication of academic books. A major period of work came after my Planning School and Sociology Department studies. It was of great value as a teacher to attain my educator gravitas! I worked as the only docent contracted by Banco Popular de PR from the middle of 1988 to 1990. I regard this job as a well-defined educator post doing tours in the Bank’s landmark Old San Juan Branch. I had control from management and helped the Rafael Carrion-Pacheco Museum, which houses important itinerant Collections and Exhibits. I was able to serve as administrator for the Centennial Office from the bank’s Public Relations Division, adapting topics and presentations as a tour guide when collections were open to the public / special VIP ‘s.

Before moving to Orlando in 1998, many other important events took place that altered my life and academic plans, including having to find work in retail and other odd jobs. However, I wanted to return to the world of Academia. A great opportunity came about in 2002 in the Social Studies department at the Osceola Campus of Valencia College. I first entered Valencia as part-time teaching staff in 2003 with one course. Since then and until the present, with a load of five courses at various campuses, I have been active as part-time faculty with the Associate rank as an adjunct. I love performing my duties as an educator. In the professional role of teacher with 10 years of expertise, I am reaching the optimum goals of Valencia College faculty development. Also, I have been doing extra work for my sociology students, and between three campuses, becoming a regular Valencia College resource to do curricular SYG courses through many original venues and original details. The Valencia College philosophy to be a student-centered teacher is one of great importance to me. Having invited many guest speakers, directed literary forums, presented poets and artists, organized tours to nearby institutions like the Orlando Mayoralty and the Orange County Jail, I have tried alternative ventures to display my care for the attention of my cohorts via extracurricular activities. I also have worked at Seminole State College teaching sociology courses on various campuses for five years.

I still envision with great emotion my future academic career and its progress towards tenure here in Orlando, FL. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to meet you and find ways to propel your academic life in college, both in and out of class, including any needs for faculty reference letters.

Pax, Jose' Randolfo Medina-Comas, MA