The UK’s Coventry University and Universidad Anáhuac, one of the largest private universities in Mexico, have announced they will start an “ambitious” transnational education program in August 2020.
Anáhuac students from five campuses (Cancun, Merida, Mexico City, Puebla, and Queretaro) will be able to study for one of Coventry’s International Strategic Management degrees alongside one of Anáhuac’s business degrees, in areas such as administration and business management, finance and public accounting, international business, and strategic marketing.
More than 100 students are expected to join the course every year across the participating Anáhuac campuses.
“It was clear to me that TNE was the best option to benefit the largest number of students”
The partnership began in 2017, when the president of Anáhuac Campus in Queretaro, Luis Eduardo Alverde, was introduced to the concept of UK TNE by the founder of Noordify, Gabriel Ceballos.
“After that, it was clear to me that TNE was the best option to benefit the largest number of students with internationalisation opportunities,” said Alverde.
“We wanted to do something different to international exchanges as sometimes students cannot always travel due to financial reasons, or simply because of personal circumstances.
“This is now more relevant than ever with the Covid-19 outbreak,” he added.
Jaime Durán, president of the Academic Committee of the Anáhuac Universities Network, said that the objective is to create a collaboration model that students did not perceive as just “another alternative” to study abroad, but rather as one where students who are unable or unwilling to travel outside of Mexico would be exposed to international education.
“Students who complete the dual degree program will have to develop skills to succeed by both Coventry and Anáhuac standards, which will make them highly employable in our country as well as internationally,” Durán noted.
Along with Anáhuac’s degree, students joining this program will enrol to seven “Coventry Experience” online workshops that will teach them competencies ranging from emphasised critical thinking to writing essays and working in multicultural environments.
Gary Armstrong, associate pro-vice-chancellor, International Development and director of Coventry’s Academic Partnership Unit said that Mexico is new territory for Coventry, and required close collaboration to ensure the needs of future students were met.
“I feel proud that Coventry University is taking TNE to new frontiers,” Armstrong added.
At present, both universities are working on suitable promotional and recruitment strategies in the context of Covid-19, with the aim of starting in August 2020.
