A Consortium for North America and Beyond. CONAHEC: Universities Connected for Mobility

The Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) comprises more than 180 higher education institutions (HEIs), primarily from North America. Its purpose is to facilitate and encourage collaboration and liaison among its member HEIs and those of other countries. Its activities include the organization of higher education conferences, the evaluation of international programs, the promotion of its members and their programs at international conferences and events, the promotion of access to higher education for groups lacking adequate representation, and support in the collection of information and international research, among others.

UNAM is part of this consortium through the Office for International Cooperation (DGECI), where practical actions have been carried out so students can take advantage of its opportunities. Through its Student Exchange Program, mobility students can carry out activities at any participating institution in a country other than that of their home university.

CONAHEC’s alternatives join the efforts of the Student Mobility Program managed by DGECI. It contains calls for UNAM and foreign students to carry out different kinds of mobility activities which allow UNAM students to reach HEIs with which UNAM does not have a bilateral cooperation framework.

DGECI keeps records of student mobility through CONAHEC since 2011. Over these years, 75 UNAM students have taken courses at 24 HEIs in eight countries, while in Mexico, we have received 18 students from nine HEIs in seven countries (see tables 1 and 2).

Table 1. UNAM mobility students through CONAHEC

Country	Higher Education Institution	Total
Argentina	Universidad Nacional de Quilmes	7
Argentina	Universidad Nacional del Nordeste	2
Canada	Langara College	2
Canada	University of Regina	2
Chile	Universidad Viña del Mar	1
Chile	Universidad de Santiago de Chile	2
Colombia	Pontificia Universidad Javeriana	7
South Korea	Hankuk University of Foreign Studies	5
South Korea	Hanyang University	1
South Korea	Sungkyunkwan University	1
Spain	Universidad de Almería	1
Spain	Universidad de Almería	12
Spain	Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea	10
Spain	Universitat Politècnica de València	1
USA	Eastern New Mexico University	3
USA	Lenoir-Rhyne University	1
USA	Methodist University	2
USA	The University of New Mexico	2
USA	The University of Texas	2
USA	Troy University	3
USA	University of the Fraser Valley	1
USA	University of Wisconsin	4
USA	West Virginia University	1
Finland	Åbo Akademi University	2
Total		75

Elaborated with data from CONAHEC.

Table 2. Students received by UNAM through CONAHEC

Country	Higher Education Institution	Total
Bolivia	Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo	1
Brazil	Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho	1
Chile	Universidad de Santiago de Chile	3
Chile	Universidad San-Sebastián	2
Colombia	Universidad del Norte	2
Colombia	Universidad Simón Bolívar	3
Spain	Universidad de Oviedo	3
Guatemala	Universidad Rafael Landívar	1
Dominican Republic	Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo	2
Total		18

Elaborated by the autor with data from CONAHEC.

Given this scenario, a strategy promoted starting in 2020 was designing a specific call for applications so that UNAM students could visualize the exchange opportunities offered by the HEIs. This proposal was consolidated after the pandemic and, in the last two years, has made it possible to fill the sixteen available places.

The next challenge—already being addressed—is to attract international students by reinforcing the dissemination of the incoming mobility call published by DGECI among CONAHEC membership. We expect to receive up to 20 exchange spaces.

The experience of those who have benefited from CONAHEC, both in outgoing and incoming mobility, has been successful, which has undoubtedly had a comprehensive impact on their professional education.

More information on the consortium, its participating institutions, and the mobility support achieved through it can be found at https://www.conahec.org/es/instituciones-miembros-conahec.

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