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Dual Degree programs with universities in the State of Florida - USA an internationalization strategy of the Engineering College in Universidad del Norte, Colombia

Abstract

Universidad del Norte is a private institution located in Barranquilla, Colombia. As part of the institutional development plan, the engineering college has defined many strategies for internationalization. These strategies include impelling cooperation and exchange of faculty, promoting participation in international congresses, promoting faculty short term mobility in universities abroad and encouraging student mobility in the same way.

Establishing alliances with universities in the State of Florida to define options for dual degree program is a way to stimulate and promote mobility of students, but also it is a recognition of quality equivalencies of the engineering programs in Universidad del Norte with programs in the US. This process has not been easy. The paper will mention the difficulties we have experienced and how they were solved. It shows how the dual degree program works and explains how the students take some courses in Colombia the first four years and later they go to the US and take courses during two semesters and a summer. When the students pass their courses, Universidad del Norte give them the Engineering degree in Colombia and the Universities in Florida give them the equivalent diploma. In addition, the paper shows the advantage for the student of this kind of programs and includes student opinion about it.

Introduction

Universidad del Norte is a private institution created in 1966 when a group of business leaders wrote an act which proclaimed the university as a center of higher education. Since its creation, Universidad del Norte has been leader in the Caribbean region, and one of its strengths is the engineering education program because it responds to the goals of its founders 42 years ago. When the university began, the only programs offered were business administration and engineering which were then able to offer the human resource to the regional industries.

Universidad del Norte has always had an international vocation. Its first example, was in 1994 when the University signed an agreement of academic and scientific cooperation with the University of Mainz in Germany, as well as an agreement with the University of Paris XII. These agreements were signed with the purpose of fortifying the Masters in Social Development and simultaneously obtaining the French state title in education and obtaining its accreditation at an international level. In the same year, the institution participated in the Academia Formation Project for Latin America, ALFA, created by the European Commission with the objective of promoting cooperation between higher learning institutions in Latin America and Europe. At present, the university has developed agreements and alliances with more than 50 universities abroad.

Internationalization stands out in the strategic development plan1 of Universidad del Norte in a main area named International Dimension. This area is defined as a cultural process of the

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Paez Saavedra, J., & Prada Angarita, L. M. (2008, June), Dual Degree Programs With Universities In The State Of Florida Usa An Internationalization Strategy Of The Engineering College In Universidad Del Norte, Colombia Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3185