The general secretary of the European University of the Atlantic, Roberto Ruiz, today begins hisinternational trip through Chile and Peru, which will keep him away from the Santander campus until November 22.
The vice-rector of International Relations will also meet with officials from different universities of both countries during this time as well, with the aim of consolidating and strengthening existing relationships with Latin American academic institutions of international prestige and recognition.
Not only that. Another purpose for the trip is to continue broadening the network of “friendly” universities on the other side of the Atlantic, with the ultimate goal of increasing existing bilateral agreements, so that students may continue to enjoy their foreign exchange experience in other countries.
“UNEATLANTICO’s international character is a signature of the institution, by which our commitment in this sense is a constant”, Ruiz explains.
For example, students in the Journalism program will be the first to enjoy an agreement established with the Positivo University of Brazil, making it easier to be awarded a double degree, a model that, he stated, «we wish to extend to other programs and the different universities with whom we already have existing partnerships”.
“Working toward this is another of the big objectives for this trip”, Ruiz added.
For the secretary general, “these foreign exchange experiences open the student’s mind, enabling them to experience other cultures, live new encounters, gain personal independence and growth, and strengthen their networking”.
In this sense, he said, “I think students are not aware of the fact that sharing the classroom for a semester or a complete academic year with students from some of the best universities in the world implies getting to know those who will become the leaders of different countries in the years to come”.
From an academic point of view, these programs favor the transfer of knowledge, the exchange of learning experiences and the development of future projects and research programs between groups of different nationalities.
UNEATLANTICO currently has 65 agreement collaborations with different academic institutions from around the world. Most are located in Latin America, but there are also partnerships with universities in Russia, China and Canada.