Articulating Diversity. The University Network of Internationalization Officers

In 2015, one of the first concerns of the newly created International Head Office (CRAI) was to find a way to communicate effectively among UNAM’s wide diversity of schools, faculties, centers, institutes, and academic-administrative areas. This should allow the sharing of good internationalization practices, publicizing international academic mobility calls for students and faculty members, and other internationalization opportunities offered by government agencies, international organizations, and foreign countries. It was then decided to create a network with the participation of people in charge of internationalization, mobility, and academic cooperation issues representing each university entity.

It was proposed that the members of this network meet regularly, face-to-face or virtually, to share information of common interest. It was suggested that ambassadors and other leaders promoting international academic activities be invited to the meetings. It was also suggested that strategies be defined along with academic entities, and working groups be formed on priority areas for the university’s internationalization.

Thus, the first session of the UNAM Institutional Mobility Network (ReMI), organized by CRAI and the Office for International Cooperation (DGECI), was held in June 2016, gathering more than 40 academic entities and more than 80 representatives of student and academic mobility.

The creation of this network is part of an international approach following UNAM’s Institutional Development Plan 2015-2019 (PDI). It seeks to unify objectives, criteria, policies, and strategies for academic mobility to fulfill the university’s primary functions.

ReMI proposed to share good practices and procedures for mobility, cooperation, academic exchange, and internationalization. It should also review and update the Guidelines for the Regulation of Undergraduate Student Mobility, published in 2015, as well as improve the undergraduate student mobility program’s quality through the UNAMigo initiative (for support of incoming mobility students), and ReMI too should expand the accommodation service for visiting scholars and students at UNAM, especially those coming from abroad. It proposed to schedule regular meetings with an agenda of issues published a week before, providing room for the presentation of good mobility practices.

During 2016 and 2017, seven sessions were held, with the participation of international guests and representatives of academic entities and university departments, who shared their experiences and the educational offerings the university community could access.

CREATION OF RURI
In April 2017, within the framework of the actions of the PDI (specifically Project 13.5.1: “Strengthen cooperation and internationalization actions developed in the various university entities and departments, promoting their adequate dissemination”) CRAI and DGECI installed the University Network of Internationalization Officers (RURI) replacing ReMI. RURI broadened the original scope by having a collegiate body to deal with internationalization actions in each academic entity.

The new network has short-, medium- and long-term objectives. The short term RURI seeks to identify and record the international mobility initiatives developed by all UNAM entities and dependencies through various official mechanisms (calls for scholarships, funding programs, and others) and non-formal means such as own resources or mobility managed individually in each academic entity. In the medium term, RURI would generate a qualified body of internationalization representatives from UNAM’s entities and dependencies to strengthen and efficiently attend requests for international cooperation, to which UNAM must respond appropriately. And in the long term, it was proposed to develop an institutional internationalization policy based on the analysis of the practices and strategies of all entities, based on a relationship of academic benefit and financial cost. It was also planned to develop evaluation instruments for this policy.

The responsibilities of RURI members were then established as follows: linking their academic entity with CRAI; being the official spokesperson of their academic entity’s direction in internationalization issues; and accompanying members of their academic entity in PDI’s international actions and projects, among others.

Furthermore, RURI members commit themselves to follow-up students and faculty members’ mobility procedures at their entities; to represent the interests of their entities in the signature of specific agreements with foreign institutions; to supervise actions derived from this type of agreements, and to gather information related to the internationalization activities of their entities and provide it to CRAI for the preparation of UNAM’s biannual reports.

PROJECTS AND RESULTS
At the first RURI plenary session, on April 4, 2017, UNAM’s Internationalization Policies and Strategies were presented, which guide the actions of entities and departments to improve quality in teaching, research, and academic extension, as well as to enhance the dissemination Mexican and universal culture.

The purpose of the network is to reconcile and coordinate the internationalization initiatives of UNAM’s academic entities with those promoted by the central administration. RURI is a crucial player in guiding the university’s initiatives and setting a coordinated approach for internationalization.

At the last plenary session of 2019, network members were invited to complete a survey on the internationalization expectations of each entity. As a result of this survey, it was proposed that the network created small working groups or commissions, which would promote the development and strengthening of internationalization strategies, allowing entities that still needed to have a defined internationalization strategy to learn about experiences that would lead to implementing good practices.

Thus, to promote synergies that enrich academic work, two working commissions were formed at the beginning of 2020: one to encourage, promote, and foster internationalization in each academic entity, known as Orange Commission, with 12 internationalization officers, and another to encourage, promote, and foster online internationalization, called Green Commission, with ten officers.

At the beginning of 2021, as a result of work carried out, it was agreed to create new commissions to develop proposals related to specific topics of common interest. Thus, to support degree completion and internationalization of undergraduate students, a joint commission was created, with 45 members including representatives from UNAM’s Offices Abroad and officers for internationalization of academic entities. This group, coordinated by representatives of CRAI and DGECI, designed the Program to Promote Degrees through Academic Activities Abroad (PITAAE) and concluded its work in October 2021. Based on the program developed, DGECI has launched two PITAAE calls, in 2022 and 2023, through which recent UNAM graduates have the opportunity to carry out internships in other countries with the support of UNAM’s Offices Abroad, which will allow them to enrich their education and obtain their degree.

In the second semester of 2021, the Commission for the Attention of Academic Irregularities due to Student Mobility (CAIAxME) was established to build an institutional policy proposal to address the problem of academic irregularity of students returning from their semester, international or national mobility period. 37 people participated in this commission, which worked intensively throughout 2022, representing academic entities and university departments such as the Institutional Development Secretariat (SDI), the Executive Secretariat of the Assembly of Faculties and Schools Directors (SECODIFE) and the Office for School Administration (DGAE), coordinated by the Direction of Student Exchange and Mobility (DIME), at DGECI. As a result of their work, the “Agreement Establishing General Guidelines for Regulating Undergraduate Student Mobility at the National Autonomous University of Mexico” was published in Gaceta UNAM on June 5, 2023.

In April 2022, the “Guidelines for the University Network of Internationalization Officers (RURI) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico” were presented to the plenary of RURI to regulate its activities, as well as to formalize the responsibilities and commitments acquired by those who join the network on behalf of its academic entities and dependencies. At the end of that year, the Green and Orange Commissions concluded their work and presented a report on their achievements.

At the beginning of 2023, two new commissions were created: one for the integration of grading scales (CIEC), in which ten people participate to form a list with different countries’ grading scales, identifying relevant values (minimum pass, average and maximum grade). The other, called COIL Commission is set to promote Collaborative Online International Learning. It has 12 members to foster the COIL virtual exchange methodology in all academic entities through dissemination, support, and training of teachers. In the second semester of 2023, another group started its activities, the Commission to Integrate a Guide for the attention of Mobility Emergencies (CIGuEME), with 34 members that will present its results in October.

Currently, RURI meets every two months virtually. The sessions usually last more than two hours and are divided into two parts: the first part is devoted to presenting a foreign institution, embassy, or international cooperation agency of relevance to the internationalization of UNAM or one of UNAM’s Offices Abroad. The second part presents internationalization initiatives for the entities and departments. This part aims at strengthening the different cooperation modalities and sharing mechanisms and best practices; the progress of the commissions is reported, as well as information on calls for scholarships and proposals, activities, and other internal matters.

Through RURI, CRAI and DGECI are linked to academic entities. Those internationalization officers receive and disseminate mobility and scholarship opportunities for students, professors, and researchers. They also share invitations to participate in cooperation projects with other countries; they propose candidates for scholarships and international competitions. Training workshops and information sessions on specific topics are also held, calls are managed, and alliances with international partners are promoted. Proposals for cooperation with other countries reach academics at UNAM centers and institutes, and participation in projects of international scope is encouraged.

Internationalization officers are people with a specific profile: they have a broad knowledge of international programs, of the collaboration projects in which their entities are involved (mobility, joint research, agreements), and of the entities’ development plans. Their work is essential to further develop the internationalization of UNAM in its multiple aspects. The directory of RURI’s members—appointed by each entity’s authorities—can be found at https://www.unaminternacional.unam.mx/es/ruri.

The network comprises 110 members from 91 academic entities and university dependencies. They are responsible for fostering internationalization, encouraging academic cooperation, and promoting student mobility among the university community. The 37^th plenary session will be held in October 2023.

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