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).