The choice was made by the United States Department of State. EAFIT was the only Colombian higher education institution selected from nearly 100 initiatives in the Americas. Funding will be provided through the Partners of the Americas as part of President Obama’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative.
“The time and effort that was put into your proposal is truly appreciated. The grant, funded by the U.S. Department of State, will be able to help Universidad EAFIT increase institutional capacity to expand and sustain your study abroad programs” as stated by Steve Vetter, president at Partners of the Americas, through a press release.
The Strengthening of Services and Opportunities to increase the Incoming International Mobility into Universidad EAFIT proposal was voted as one of the ten winners in Latin America. With all this in mind, Vetter added that the goal of this Capacity Building Program is to provide specific assistance for institutions to identify innovations that will result in increased bilateral collaboration.
“This year we were very excited to receive over 100 proposals from universities all across the Americas that share the same enthusiasm for fostering region-wide prosperity and increasing higher education exchange in the Americas” as added by the President of Partners of the Americas.
Marcela Wolff López, head of EAFIT Office of International Relations, stated that this call focuses on the strengthening of those offices that are responsible for the students’ mobility to ensure that students in the United States and Colombia have adequate information and services.
As Wolff said, partnerships between EAFIT and other universities throughout the world, the presence of a large number of foreign students and, particularly, the bilateral agreement with Purdue University were some of the key aspects taken into account in arriving at the decision.
Implications of the proposal
According to Marcela Wolff, the two main objectives of the proposal are to strengthen the services and opportunities offered by EAFIT to American students and to increase the number of bilateral agreements with universities in the United States.
To reach this goal, The International Relations Office will design and implement a marketing plan that focuses on American students’ needs and caters services and opportunities to their necessities. This includes Internet marketing strategies, and a scholarship program.
The new team will also be selected and trained to meet the American academic market expectations and needs while living EAFIT's values of tolerance, excellence, integrity, responsibility and boldness. Finally, five scholarships will be granted per year for the Summer School Program Exchange students will be given on-campus internship opportunities to work during the term of the selected course.
"The grant will definitely have a significant impact on EAFIT´s visibility in the eyes of the US academic community since, to a certain extent, it can be said that this is an endorsement given by President Barack Obama’s administration to host students coming from this country" as stated by Marcela Wolff.
Journalists’ contact information
Marcela Olarte Melguizo
Journalist Information and Press Area
Telephone: 574 2619500 Ext. 9931 Mobile: 3113547204
Email: molartem@eafit.edu.co