Under the motto “Inclusive quality and dynamic relevance in private universities in Latin America and the Caribbean”from October 1 to 3, 2024, the Annual Meeting of the REALCUP 2024. It was organized by the Federation of Private Mexican Institutions of Higher Education (FIMPES) and the Universidad Anáhuac Puebla (Mexico), the event brought together more than 60 international speakers and 30 rectors of private universities.
He Dr. Rodolfo De VincenziRector of the UAI, President of the Network of Latin American and Caribbean Associations of Private Universities (REALCUP) and First Vice President of the Council of Rectors of Private Universities (CRUP); and the Dr. Ariana De VincenziDirector of the + DES Program, Academic Vice-Rector of the Inter-American Open University (UAI) and member of the Board of Directors of the International Network of Agencies for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (INQAAHE), represented the UAI based on their key institutional roles within the international network.
REALCUP proposed for the meeting a innovative methodology in each of its panels, projecting the continuous development, debate and reflection on the present and future of higher education in the region. The presence of the president of the CRUP, the Dr. Juan Carlos Menawho together with Dr. De Vincenzi were accompanied by an important delegation from the Council made up of rectors and officials of the universities and members of the management team.
After inaugurating the event with a speech at the opening ceremony, Dr. Rodolfo De Vincenzi had a outstanding participation from the first day; since he later also spoke at the conference that addressed the four main axes of the meeting: “Who are we?”, “Where are we located?”, “How do we evaluate ourselves?” and “How do we project ourselves?”
At the opening ceremony, he was accompanied by the authorities Juan Pablo Murra Lascurain (FIMPES / Rector of Professional and Postgraduate Studies, Tecnológico de Monterrey) and José Mata Temoltzin (FIMPES / Rector of the Universidad Anáhuac Puebla).
Dr. Ariana de Vincenzi, Vice-Rector of our university, Director of the + DES Program of REALCUP and member of the Board of Directors of INQAAHE, participated as moderator in the plenary session dedicated to ensuring educational quality and the development of a self-regulation process of institutional quality that promotes the achievement of institutional goals and purposes, without neglecting the social demands associated with the public guarantee of the quality of the HE.
How the meeting developed
The Annual Meeting covered a broad program linked to multiple debates and exchanges on the reality and projections, configuring a key milestone for higher education in the region.
On the first axis The identity and mission of the universities were reflected on private institutions in the region, with emphasis on their role of inclusion and their ability to cover needs that are often neglected by other institutions.
In the second, the transformation process towards more agile educational models and entrepreneurs, where the importance of synergies with the technological ecosystem and the culture of innovation was highlighted.
Next, the axis “How do we evaluate ourselves?” addressed the need for a quality assurance system that not only includes quantitative indicators, but also qualitative ones, to measure the transformative impact of institutions on society.
While in the last part of the conference, aligned with the axis “How do we project ourselves?”, he proposed the need to rethink and make study plans more flexible in a context of accelerated obsolescence, and how formal and non-formal education should be articulated to train graduates with skills aligned to current demands.
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UAI Press
With plenary and simultaneous sessions, the Puebla 2024 program featured top-level speakers such as Francesc Pedró (Director of ISEALC – UNESCO); Paul LeBlanc, former SNHU President; Axel Didriksson (UNAM), Susanna Karakhanyan (INQAAHE / Director of Higher Education Licensing and Regulation at the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge in the United Arab Emirates), Jamil Salmi (global education expert and consultant), Fernando Valenzuela (Edlatam Alliance), Fernando Sepúlveda (UCLX) and Guido Grinbaum (POK), María Eugenia Bolaños (FIMPES), Jorge Villalón (Uplanner) and Magalí Catino (REALCUP).
He Annual Meeting Puebla REALCUP 2024 made clear the intentions of private educational institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to continue adapting to a dynamic and challenging environment, where inclusive quality and relevance are key to their sustainability.
In this way, through its representatives, the UAI once again demonstrated its leadership in the region, promoting a vision of higher education committed to societyinnovation and excellence.
Source: Ambito
