Catholic University of Colombia Shares its Internationalization Process with Anahuac

Patricia Serrano, director of International and Interinstitutional Relations of the Catholic University of Colombia, advocated for internationalization based on an integrated approach compatible with globalization.

A workshop was conducted via Zoom on September 10 entitled “Internationalization at Home,” which was delivered by Patricia Serrano, director of International and Interinstitutional Relations of the Catholic University of Colombia for the professors and administrative staff of the various Schools, and departments of both campuses of Anáhuac México University. During this workshop, Patricia Serrano presented an overview of the internationalization process.

During the workshop, she explained that each higher education institution places its own value and importance on the internationalization process and on the building of national and international relations. The internationalization process, she added, also provides structure and value to the missions and services offered by universities and highlighted the importance of positioning internationalization at home and internationalization of the curriculum to create a solid foundation for an integrated and inclusive model for internationalization.

Similarly, she spoke about the need to internationalize these institutions from the outside in, through the recruitment of foreign students (which will incidentally increase revenues) and the development of international activities at the level of education and research, in an effort to produce students capable of performing in a globalized society. She also underlined the importance of being present in various countries as an educational institution or business consortium, and the importance of internationalizing their online presence.

“Internationalization needs to be developed according to an integrated approach that is compatible with globalization, based on the idea that global issues have an impact at the local level and vice versa,” remarked Patricia Serrano. She went on to explain that internationalizing the curriculum and internationalization at home are the key to creating a global environment and an international culture in and outside the classroom. “The pillars of internationalization have acquired relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and must continue to be encouraged for the benefits they offer, such as the development of the institution itself, the building of bridges between academic content and extra and co-curricular activities, which only improve the official curriculum. Other benefits include: increased intercultural contact among students, enhancing both their personal and professional lives; the elimination of time and budget constraints; and the chance to clearly define the intercultural or global skills to be honed at the institutional or faculty level,” she added.

Since 2018, the Office for Internationalization of Anáhuac México University, through its Division of Educational Projects for Internationalization, has advocated the development of strategies for internationalizing the curriculum and internationalization at home, including: intercultural workshops offered to students of Anahuac who travel abroad; art and cultural activities for international students as a way of learning about our institution and our country; an exchange fair held in 2019, in which over 50 universities participated (all of whom have international agreements with Anahuac); and 10 workshops on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), which offer online training to university professors located in different parts of the world.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Office for Internationalization has spent the last three decades building partnerships between Anahuac and universities across Mexico and around the planet. We hope to continue to foster the diversification of our partnerships with foreign universities and to promote internationalizing the curriculum and internationalization at home for the benefit of our university community.