UC-Mexico Initiative Advisory Board to meet in Ensenada, Mexico

UC President Janet Napolitano and Provost Eduardo Barzana of the National Autonomous University of Mexico will chair the inaugural meeting of the UC-Mexico Initiative Advisory Board, to be held over two days in Ensenada, Mexico beginning today (Feb. 26).

Although the initiative has been underway for more than a year, this week’s meeting marks the first formal gathering of the high-level advisory board charged with the initiative’s strategic direction. The board advises on policy and resources and oversees working groups — on energy, education, health, environment, arts and culture — as well as a task force on student mobility.

“This series of meetings in Ensenada between University of California representatives and those from Mexican universities, government agencies, and research and cultural institutions is a chance to brainstorm, roll-up our sleeves and advance our common agenda,” Napolitano said. “We’ve made substantial progress already building relationships and cementing our mutual commitments to work together. These meetings are about next steps and opportunities.”

Among the items on the agenda are ways to involve both the Mexican and American private sectors in the initiative, as well as the development of metrics to measure the success of student and faculty exchanges, research collaborations and scholarly activities.

As part of the initiative, for example, UC is collaborating with Mexico’s energy department, known by its Spanish acronym SENER, to develop certificate programs that will help train Mexican energy workers to meet the demands brought by the country’s recent reform of its energy sector. A two-year action plan for cross-border collaboration was also recently put into place with Mexico’s National Council for Arts and Culture, known by the acronym CONACULTA.

In addition to the co-chairs, the other members of the advisory board include:

  • UC Regent Monica Lozano, chair of the board of U.S. Hispanic Media, Inc.
  • UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox
  • UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland
  • UCLA Chancellor Gene Block
  • Geoffrey Cowan, president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust
  • Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities
  • Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation
  • Rector Jose Narro of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • Rector Juan Manuel Ocegueda of the Autonomous University of Baja California
  • Enrique Cabrero, director general of Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology, CONACYT
  • Salvador Alva, president of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM
  • Antonio López de Silanes, president of the Group for Birth Studies and chairman of the board of the pharmaceutical company Grupo Silanes
  • CONACULTA President Rafael Tovar y de Teresa
  • Secretary General Jaime Valls Esponda of ANUIES, which represents 180 higher education institutions throughout Mexico