ARTICLE - IDEAS FOR UNIVERSITIES

IDEAS FOR OUR UNIVERSITIES
(Haiti Libre) -

Executives of Haitian Universities have recently participated in a seminar in Barcelona, as part of a training program in university management, established by the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), and the University Consortium Laval, of Ottawa, Moncton and Sherbrooke (LOMS).

This seminar is the fourth of this program, launched in February 2012, with funding from the Spanish foundation Obra Social La Caixa and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the network of foundations of which Fokal is part.

During this training, participants discussed, inter alia, the influence of the Bologna process on European universities, the importance of the syllabus in academic management, and the regionalization of university resources; such as libraries and research centers... The Universities of the ACUP presented to their Haitian colleagues, their strategy to boost education,research, community service and universal function. These universities have put forward a vision of a University as a development center in the community where it is placed.

In addition to funding provided by the state, these universities go in search of other sources of income, which stimulate not only the advancement of knowledge but also the advancement of communities. For example, universities create research centers that can receive independent funding and be "incubators" for new development of a new product, which can be patented and marketed with the support of teachers. Profits from the sale of these products is shared with the universities.

The vision of the Association of Universities of Catalonia has raised many questions from participants. This visit will certainly be a key step in the future of Haitian universities, because the imagination of rectors, vice rectors and other officials, has been greatly stimulated.

Learn more about the Bologna Process:
The Bologna Process is an agreement between the European Universities on the structure of university education, and the equivalence between programs of different countries that facilitates exchanges between universities.