The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Dominican Republic, Franklin García, and the Deputy Minister of International Relations, Carlos Mendieta, made a private visit to the campus of the European University of the Atlantic as part of their tour to different university institutions.
The two officials from the Dominican Republic were accompanied by the advisor and Corporate Relations Counselor, Rafael Menoscal, holding a series of meetings with the heads of the different departments of UNEATLANTICO throughout their visit in Santander.
On Monday morning, Minister Franklin García, Deputy Minister Carlos Mendieta, and Counselor Rafael Menoscal were received by FUNIBER’s President, Santos Gracia; the President of the European University of the Atlantic, Jesús Arzamendi; the Rector, Rubén Calderón and the Secretary General, Roberto Ruíz, with whom they visited the campus laboratories, the auditorium, the radio station, the exhibition hall, the classrooms, and the sports facilities. They were also able to tour the different models of accommodation available at the UNEATLANTICO Residence, as well as the sports and academic facilities enjoyed by the residents.
Later on, they learned first-hand about the educational methodology and the learning system followed in the programs of the European University of the Atlantic as explained by the Vice Rector for Academic Planning, Silvia Aparicio, and the head of the International Relations Office, Juan Luis Vidal.
On Tuesday morning, the representatives of the Dominican government held a meeting with the director of the Higher Polytechnic School, Manuel Masías, who informed them about the collaboration scholarship system available for the Computer Engineering degree, in addition to informing them about the projects carried out by this department. They then met with Marisa Sámano, head of the Center for Research and Industrial Technology of Cantabria (CITICAN), who presented the research work by the University, both in the area of food, as well as the technology center and the future molecular biology laboratory.
The visit by Minister Franklin García, Deputy Minister Carlos Mendieta, and Counselor Rafael Menoscal concluded with the signing of an institutional collaboration agreement through which projects of common interest to both the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Dominican Republic and the European University of the Atlantic may come to fruition. Regarding this agreement, the Minister commented that “signing of the agreement allows the University to join a concert of universities throughout the world with which we already have agreements. But we also depart very pleased with everything we’ve seen on campus.”
The representative of Dominican Higher Education had the opportunity to meet with some international students, including some from his country. “Their future -he stated- begins to be forged here, at the University”.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of International Relations, Carlos Mendieta also had a few words for the Dominican students, whom he encouraged to “honor the flag of our country” and recalled that the Dominican Republic “is already developed but requires integrating the university education to complete this process”.
For his part, Rector Rubén Calderón stated that “internationalization is in the DNA of the European University of the Atlantic, which allows students to have an education that endows them with a broad vision of the world. We are proud of the fact that 37% of our students come from outside Spain”.
At present, some thirty Dominican students are studying different degrees at the UNEATLANTICO campus, with the majority of them in Agricultural and Food Industries Engineering, Audiovisual Communication, Applied Languages, Translation and Interpretation, Computer Engineering and Business Administration and Management.