Between February 2nd and 4th, leaders from more than 50 distinguished international universities celebrated the 2017 International Association of University Presidents’ Conference in Tijuana-San Diego. This is thanks to the arduous binational work by CETYS University, San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University Of San Diego (USD), which acted as headquarters for the event.

During the three days, the deans strengthened international collaboration ties and spoke regarding the current and future challenges of innovation in higher education.

According to Dr. Fernando Leon Garcia, Dean of the CETYS University system, the importance of the meeting lies in the fact that the leaders of the institutions asked themselves about the mission of universities, the role their faculty plays, as well as the way in which the student community and leaders of the organizations lead the way to push for change through innovation.

During the inauguration, Professor John Eger from San Diego State University stated that creativity and innovation are fundamental to the new economy, as well as looking beyond the conventional notions of education. Professor Eger considered that it is fundamental to inculcate the business spirit through study plans and give place to a new education model that integrates the arts, humanities, science, and technology at the same level. In other words, to change the STEM model to a STEAM one (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) that adds to scientific disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the humanities (arts and design).

Changing the focus of innovation at the institutional level to innovation through disciplines, Dr. Jaime Alonso Gomez, Director the University Of San Diego School Of Business, emphasized that the need of innovate could not be clearer, especially when considering that companies which do not innovate are destined to disappear.

Dr. Gomez offered that even if organizations have the option to create, adapt, or not do anything, they will inevitably have to consider the five Ps: people, planet, profit, peace and prosperity.

At the same time, representatives from countries such as Canada, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Japan, China, Austria, Spain, the United States, and Mexico presented the different perspectives, initiatives, and challenges they currently face in their universities in knowledge areas such as business, technology, engineering, as well as the social sciences and humanities.

The program had a.... Continue reading article here

Find more news at BusinessConexion

Follow Business Conexion on Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin

editorial@businessconexion.com