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IAUP AT ACE 2014

IAUP AT ACE 2014

Marking its second year of cooperation with the ACE Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE), a delegation from IAUP including IAUP President-Elect Toyoshi Satow, Chancellor of J.F. Oberlin University (Japan), IAUP North American Council Chair Don Betz, President of University of Central Oklahoma, IAUP Treasurer-Elect Ichiro Tanioka, President of Osaka University of Commerce (Japan), IAUP Secretary-General Jason Scorza, Vice Provost for International Education of Fairleigh Dickinson University (USA), and IAUP Secretary-General-Elect Alvaro Romo, Special Advisor to the President of Osaka University of Commerce, attended the Annual Meeting of the American Council on Education (ACE) in San Diego, in March 2014.

One highlight of the meeting was a special pre-conference symposium on cross-border relations between Mexican and US higher education institutions.  Facilitated by Patti McGill Peterson, ACE Presidential Advisor for Global Initiatives, the session explore past, present, and future academic relations between the two neighbors and economic partners.  Co-Sponsored by IAUP and CIGE, the panel lineup also included IAUP Executive Committee Member Fernando Leon Garcia, President of CETYS University (Mexico), Mara Tekach, US Minister Counselor for Public Affairs in Mexico City, Diana Natalicio, President of The University of Texas at El Paso, and Enrique Fernández Fassnacht , Secretary General of Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior en México (ANUIES).

Peterson opened the session by observing the economic closeness between the US and Mexico, with more than $500 billion in goods exchanged across the border – representing a 500 percent increase since the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFSA).  Tekach commented that more than 14,000 Mexicans study in the US every year, only 4,000 students from the US take advantage of opportunities to study in Mexico.  Natalicio argued that the student exchanges between the two countries could be expanded by broadening the base of institutions involved – beyond “elite institutions.”  Leon added that technology also can be part of the solution, referencing the work of ACE and the SUNY Center for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).

IAUP also sponsored the ACE International Welcome and Networking Reception, which helped to connect the record number of international participants with their US counterparts.  2014 represented a high water mark for international participants and themes at the ACE Annual Meeting.  In addition to the two IAUP-sponsored events, high profile sessions of interest to IAUP members included:

  • A Conversation on Internationalization with John Sexton, president of New York University; Nigel Thrift, president and vice chancellor of the University of Warwick; and Sergio M. Alcocer, undersecretary for North American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico, facilitated by Patti McGill Peterson.
  • Internationalization—Presidents Panel and Discussion of Partnerships and Global Education, sponsored by the ACE Council of Fellows, and featuring Earl H. Potter III, president of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, Pradeep K. Khosla, chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, George. R. Blumenthal, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Gail O. Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College in New York City.
  • Global Engagement: Presidential Leadership for Forging Strategic Partnerships, featuring Mary Sue Coleman, President of the University of Michigan, Geoffrey M. Cox, President of Alliant International University, and Cheryl Davenport Dozier, President of Savannah State University.
  • Leaders in Internationalization Through Technology Awards, co-sponsored by ACE and the SUNY Center for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).
Other sessions of particular interest to Presidents included: Insights from the Presidential Innovation Lab, ACE Institute for New Presidents, Briefing for New Presidents: President-to-President Conversations: Make the Most of ACE Services and Benefits, Breakfast for Presidents and Chancellors, Reception for Campus Presidents and Chancellors, Luncheon for Presidents and Chancellors: The Mind in the Net: How Technology Shapes Our Thoughts, and What Presidents Think: The Inside Higher Ed/Gallup Survey of College CEOs.