58th General Assembly of SICEVAES

The fifty-eighth general assembly of the Central American System for Evaluation and Harmonization of Higher Education -SICEVAES- was held on April 28, 29 and 30, at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala -USAC-.

SICEVAES is the system that promotes a culture of quality, evaluation, and accountability to society in the universities that make up CSUCA, using evaluation and accreditation as a management strategy for change, modernization, and improvement of universities.

To kick off the event, Brenda Marroquín, Director General of Teaching at USAC, stated, “Today we celebrate not only the opportunity to meet, but also the opportunity to host such an important event, a gesture we value and embrace. SICEVAES represents the commitment to promoting quality as a social engine; in our countries, this allows us to guarantee better development opportunities.”.

Meanwhile, Carlos Alvarado, Secretary General of CSUCA, emphasized, “Currently, the integration of artificial intelligence into social, economic, and cultural processes is rapidly transforming how we conceive of knowledge, learning, and teaching. Therefore, as university authorities, we find ourselves needing to promote complex thinking that allows us to understand and act in a world characterized by constant technological evolution. This implies that we must rethink our pedagogical approaches, our curriculum, and our evaluation systems to train highly qualified professionals committed to the challenges of society.”.

For his part, Willson Mejía, President of SICEVAES, stated, “This system is the only opportunity we have to achieve quality education. Quality should not just remain rhetoric, but become an achievable goal. At SICEVAES, we have several advanced projects underway, and there is a technical team ready to make it happen.”.

And on behalf of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, Luis Fernando Cordón Lucero, Secretary General, extended a warm welcome: “On behalf of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, I extend a warm welcome to the City of Santiago de los Caballeros, the venue for the 58th General Assembly of SICEVAES. I am convinced that these days of academic work will be filled with collaborative efforts and fruitful results.”.

The general assembly included the presentation of keynote lectures, including “Complex Thinking in the Age of AI” by the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and ”Challenges for UMIP Teachers and the Implementation of the Socio-Formative Educational Model: Reflections from the Academic Vice-Rector's Office“ by Professor Roberto Aparicio.

Likewise, the presentation of the vice-rectorates of each university, considering the trends perceived from their institutions, in terms of innovation, academic management, strategies and teaching-learning methods, in order to find opportunities for joint collaboration.

It is worth noting that this assembly presents an opportune space for collaborative work generated through the Permanent Commissions by strategic objective of Program 3 of the Fifth Plan for the Integration of Higher Education in Central America and the Dominican Republic -PIRESC V-, presentation of reports on progress and identification and planning of concrete activities to be carried out in 2025 by subcommittee.