La Salle Campus Barcelona, founding member of the Universitat Ramon Llull, has been present in several North American universities on a trip framed in the campus' internationalization strategy, which aims to strengthen the global skills of students and connect with universities around the world. In the first part of the trip, campus representatives have been at NAFSA, the most comprehensive and diverse international education conference and exhibition, held in New Orleans, Louisiana.
'NAFSA: Association of International Educators' is the world's largest association dedicated to education and international exchange, and annually organizes 'NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo'. On behalf of La Salle Campus Barcelona, Víctor Alves, Senior International Relations Officer, attended the conference; and Nina Hofmann, Head of External Relations & General Management Office. This conference is an opportunity to grow and establish collaborative agreements in the North American region, and thus work on shared goals with NAFSA such as social justice and the importance of inclusive internationalization to achieve long-term impact on the campus and in local and global communities.
Additionally, as part of the experience in the New Orleans contest, campus representatives have had the opportunity to meet with representatives of university centers of the International Association La Salle Universities (IALU) from Colombia, Mexico and the United States. In total, there have been five days full of discussions and with around 50 meetings and receptions focused on fostering diverse and resilient global communities through quality international higher education.
After the conference, Víctor Alves has expanded the trip to promote new partnerships with universities in North America, strengthening collaboration between university centers and establishing new avenues of collaboration and cooperation. The campus has had the opportunity to be present in several universities in the region:
- Cleveland State University (CSU): With more than a century of innovation, CSU excels in engineering, business and health sciences, and has strong leadership in cutting-edge research.
- Northern Arizona University (NAU): Founded in 1899, it has a focus on technology that it incorporates into the rest of the areas of knowledge. The meetings included Kathleen Anna Dixon, director of Global Recruitment; Kathleen Weinzinger, Executive Assistant; Julie Joyce, deputy director of the Center for International Relations; Angelina Palumbo, director of Education Abroad Center for International Education; and Jacob Butler, Senior Coordinator of Inbound Programs.
- Bellarmine University: It has a focus on the area of Business, Arts and Health with which the campus has found many synergies of collaboration. The president of the university, Susan M. Donovan, participated in the meeting; Vice President for Academic Affairs, Mark Wiegand; and the rector, Mary Grandinetti. In addition, the visit has been an opportunity to meet the deans of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Mary Huff; from the Lansing School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences, Heather Owens; from the Faculty of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tony Brosky; from the Rubel School of business, Diana Bruce; and the executive director of Graduate Programs at the Rubel School of Business, Alisha Harper.
- San Francisco Bay University (SFBU): Located in Silicon Valley and recognized for its focus on business and technology, this university center is related to the entrepreneurial and technological ecosystem of the area.
