LAII Welcomes Ecuadorian Graduate Students to Campus

January 9, 2015

The UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute has been working for nearly 12 months on an exciting initiative that builds on our networks with universities in Ecuador to recruit graduate students to UNM. In January 2015 we are proud to announce that the first wave of students has arrived in Albuquerque.

Last year we signed an MOU with the Universidad Central del Ecuador (UCE), the oldest and largest public university in the country, to recruit qualified members of their faculty to Ph.D. programs across UNM. UCE is following a mandate issued by the president of Ecuador that requires faculty at all Ecuadorian universities to hold doctoral degrees.

The first "pilot" cohort begins their graduate studies this term, with another larger group to follow next fall and in semesters thereafter. At least three other Ecuadorian universities, such as the University of Cuenca, are poised to begin working with us as well. This is an innovative model of bi-national collaboration in graduate education that could make UNM a leader among U.S. universities in the years ahead.