Category News

XX Ordinary Session of SIESCA

San Pablo de Heredia, Costa Rica, April 19, 2023

The 20th ordinary session of the Higher Education Internationalization System -SIESCA- will take place on April 19 and 20, an activity to be carried out in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance at the El Higuerón Campus in San Pablo Heredia, of the National University of Costa Rica.

SIESCA is the body of the Central American University Confederation that promotes the institutionalization of internationalization as a strategic instrument to promote the quality of the CSUCA member universities, and thus contribute to the development of international competencies of their graduates.

The session was opened with words from Francisco González, Rector of the National University of Costa Rica (UNA) and President of CSUCA, a space in which he reflected on the history of the region and the framework in which the creation of UNA was achieved. “It is important to review the origins of our institution, remembering that we were born into public and cultural life in 1973, with a Central American context suffering from conflicts, which today is a cause for reflection, since the challenges we have are of a much greater magnitude than what sheltered us at the time when the university opened its doors.”

For his part, Carlos Alvarado, Secretary General of CSUCA, stated, “With regard to globalization, the internationalization of higher education is considered a factor that can contribute to the implementation of international standards that promote continuous improvement, relevance, and the development of internationally competent human talent.”

Meanwhile, Maynor Barrientos, Coordinator of SIESCA, indicated, “This is a space to give continuity to the strategic objectives of program 5 of PIRESC V, which pertain to the area of internationalization, challenges and obstacles that we have as a region and which we have addressed since 2021, when PIRESC was approved.”.

Rosemary Hernández, Director of the Office of International Affairs and External Cooperation of the UNA -AICE-, expressed “We have to think about internationalization that allows us to identify the contribution that we as a region can make to knowledge, to wisdom and to science, from a critical and humanistic perspective.”.

Among the activities to be carried out in the 20th session, there is the presentation on the Congress of the Americas on International Education -CAEI- by David Julien, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American University Organization -OUI-,  The conference "Scientific Diplomacy," by Alejandro Morales Gutiérrez, head of the International Cooperation Section of the Office of International Affairs and External Cooperation of the University of Costa Rica, and the discussion on good practices for the internationalization of the university in the post-pandemic era. 

It is important to highlight that the ordinary session gives rise to work according to the established groups, referring to program 5 of the Fifth Plan for the Regional Integration of Higher Education of Central America and the Dominican Republic -PIRESC V-.

 

LIV General Assembly of SICEVAES

San Pablo de Heredia, Costa Rica, April 19, 2023

The 54th General Assembly of the Central American System for Evaluation and Harmonization of Higher Education -SICEVAES- will take place on April 19 and 20, with the objective of promoting action plans with practical solutions to the problems, weaknesses and shortcomings identified in the self-evaluation and external evaluation processes of the universities that make up the Central American University Confederation.

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

The opening of the 54th General Assembly included the participation of Carlos Alvarado Cerezo, Secretary General of CSUCA, who stated, “From our work as the Central American University Confederation, our mission is framed within promoting development through cooperation to project ourselves in society, with education being one of the most important pillars, through the involvement of authorities, teachers, researchers and accreditation agencies.”

Under the leadership of Francisco González, Rector of the National University of Costa Rica -UNA- and President of CSUCA, within the framework of the 50th anniversary of UNA, he mentioned, “It is a pleasure to be the hosts of this important working session, we also do it in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of CSUCA, which has allowed us as member universities to contribute to and strengthen education as a central mechanism of coexistence, but also of hope for this region of ours.”.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Valverde, representing Felipe Alpízar, Vice-Rector of Teaching at the University of Costa Rica -UCR- and President of SICEVAES, mentioned, “We have achieved very valuable accomplishments from SICEVAES, but we must continue working towards the development of our universities, which work for the benefit of the communities in our countries.”.

A fundamental part of the work carried out by SICEVAES is the development of innovative proposals in education, for which a series of presentations were developed: “The innovation of university teaching, from the international and European vision and experience” by Ernest Pons of the University of Barcelona, Spain, “The innovation of teaching and learning, the vision and experience of the University of Costa Rica” by Luisa Villanueva Salazar of the Department of University Teaching of the School of Teacher Training of the University of Costa Rica -UCR- and “The evaluation and accreditation of the quality of higher education, the experience and perspectives of Central America”, by Rutilia Calderón of the Central American Accreditation Council -CCA-.

It is important to mention that this forum encourages SICEVAES members to develop their work through permanent committees, in accordance with the strategic objectives of Program 3 of the Fifth Plan for the Regional Integration of Higher Education in Central America and the Dominican Republic (PIRESC V). These committees will also present a report on the progress achieved in the last semester. Additionally, the report from the General Secretariat of CSUCA will be presented, and the meeting will also take place to elect the members of the SICEVAES Technical Committee, representing the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC) and the Technical University of Panama (UTP).

VI General Assembly of SIREICU

Honduras March 29, 2023

Under the leadership of the National Autonomous University of Honduras -UNAH-, the Sixth General Assembly of the Regional System of University Information and Communication -SIREICU- is being held on March 29 and 30 in Honduras.

The activity aims to provide a collaborative workspace between the representatives of the communication and outreach offices of the member universities of CSUCA.

 To begin the activity, Armando Sarmiento, Secretary General of SIREICU, in his welcome message mentioned "The crisis we are experiencing as universities must be managed through the efforts of the communication area.".

Meanwhile, Maribelle Quiros, representing the Presidency of CSUCA and the Presidency of SIREICU, indicated that through the communication efforts of universities it is important to improve the quality of life of people in Central America.

 For his part, Carlos Alvarado Cerezo, Secretary General of CSUCA, encouraged the representatives of the General Assembly to have a motivating day of work, mentioning that "SIREICU is the most recent system, but with a great commitment to university work.".

One of the main activities is the development of the "University Crisis Communication Conference", led by Armando Sarmiento, who provided the necessary tools for the development of a study workshop using the Harvard model, where members of the system had the opportunity to develop proposed solutions to possible crises that arise within each university.

Furthermore, the development of the assembly provides the opportunity to propose the planning of the communication campaign within the framework of the 75th anniversary of CSUCA, as well as the presentation of the proposals selected by the system, within the voting phase in the logo contest for the anniversary of the Central American University Confederation, fulfilling the first phase of the contest.

Finally, the validation and working groups within the framework of planning for the next 5 years of the system.

Central American Open Science Forum

Guatemala City, March 23, 2023

With the purpose of creating a space for reflection and awareness on the importance of open science, its benefits and opportunities for improving the social impact of research, the “Central American Forum on Open Science” is being developed, organized by the National Secretariat of Science and Technology -SENACYT-, the General Directorate of Research of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala -DIGI- and the Central American Higher University Council -CSUCA- with the support of the Network of Open Access Repositories to Science -LA Referencia-.

The topics to be addressed are:

·         What is Open Science? Advantages, opportunities and challenges in the Central American region, by Andrea Mora, President of LA Referencia and representative of the National University of Costa Rica -UNA-, taking place from 9:10 to 10:10 in the morning.

·         The importance of Open Science for CSUCA and Mexico: planned and ongoing actions, by Francisco Alarcón of CSUCA, Andrea Mora of UNA and Martha Vergara of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico -UDG- from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.

·         Citizen Science: Opportunities and Challenges for Central America, by Bianca Amaro from the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology -IBICT- from 12:00 to 12:45.

·         Research data management by Bianca Amaro from IBICT and Andrea Mora from UNA, from 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM.

·         Open Science technological tools, repositories, scientific journals and CRIS Systems, by Lautaro Matas from LA Referencia, from 3:00 to 3:45 pm.

It is important to highlight that Open Science, as a new paradigm of scientific research, promotes collaboration, transparency, and free and open access to research results, thus accelerating scientific progress and helping to solve local and global problems.

The activity is being broadcast virtually from CSUCA's Facebook page and you can participate via the link https://www.facebook.com/csuca.