MEXICO: Key centre launches international drive

The Center for Higher and Technical Education (CETYS) in Mexico recently launched a long-term plan to internationalise its curriculum and reach out to institutions in developing countries to forge multilateral approaches to common challenges in higher education.

The initiative, CETYS 2020, aims for the university based in Baja to reach global benchmarks for quality, competitiveness, expanding the learning community and sustainability.

Some of the objectives will be to boost the numbers of students studying abroad and to partner with schools around the world, according to Dr Fernando León-Garcia, CETYS' president. In addition, its goal is to achieve full accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the US-based accreditation body.

CETYS will invest almost US$12 million in establishing three centres of excellence and recruiting national and international professors in three fields: competitiveness, design and innovation, and human and social development. A capital campaign aims to raise $120 million to support its long-term plans.

Student exchanges and short-term sessions involving groups of students accompanied by a faculty member are taking place with, for example, law and business students in Chile. Faculty visits and exchanges between Mexico and India are also part of the plan. In 2011, CETYS will be seeking to broaden collaboration and establish a relationship with China.

León-Garcia says: "While student mobility continues to be the most direct way of impacting the student experience, we need to acknowledge that on average only about 10% of students actually go abroad." In developing countries, access to financial resources prevents potential students wanting to go abroad more heavily than in developed countries, he added.

"As such, more needs to be done in order to impact as many, or all, students if possible, by focusing on the internationalisation of the curriculum through content, enrichment of the learning environment using technology, and visiting professors" among other things, he says.

For an institution such as CETYS, located on the US-Mexico border, León-Garcia says seeking US accreditation was a pragmatic decision, for a seal of approval for potential students from Mexico and elsewhere that its standards are international.

Further challenges facing developing country universities include an urgent need for more faculty with doctoral degrees, he says. Working together to upgrade academic credentials is essential, he adds.

While bilateral relationships are critical to establishing a baseline between institutions in developing countries, pooling resources and moving toward networks and multilateral collaboration is both helpful and pertinent, he says.

To do this, CETYS is currently establishing an Institute for European Studies and an Institute for Asia-Pacific Studies to serve as umbrella organisations for collaboration among multiple institutions in the Americas, the European Union, Asia and the Pacific region.

Additional projects include a programme where students can earn 'double degrees' from CETYS and from partner institutions in the United States, where business administration, management and applied psychology students at CETYS can take online classes and summer sessions at either the US or European campuses of the City University of Seattle and, on graduation, receive degrees from both schools.

A similar partnership has been established with San Diego State University, and other degree programmes are being formalised with schools in Finland, South Korea, Australia and potentially Chile, says León-Garcia.

"We intend to take our institution from high quality, regionally based and nationally recognised in Mexico to one that achieves high quality according to international standards and is increasingly recognised in the global arena," he says.

That task is often easier said than done. Fundraising is a challenge, as the fiscal incentives that encourage US citizens to support higher education institutions do not exist in Mexico and in many developing countries.

Establishing course equivalencies to move ahead on collaboration agreements for student mobility is another hurdle.

To forge ahead, León-Garcia works from a list of important issues to consider for each project, including having clear expectations and frames of reference, communicating effectively, recognising the significance of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between partners and understanding timing and the principles of complementarity.

"Not minding any of these can stop a project dead in its tracks," he says. "An initiative will not get off the ground, even if an MoU has been signed, if expectations, frames of reference and timing have not been clarified. Other times, with all of the above clarified and agreed, insufficient communication or not taking the time to get to know the partner can affect the outcome of the project."

However, in reaching out and making these connections with other countries León-Garcia sees important assets for his institution, his faculty and students. "The overall impact is students who are better prepared to compete both locally and globally."