Background:

Since its creation, the European Area for Higher Education (EEES) has become a global benchmark for Quality in Higher Education, Curricular Harmonization, Social Relevance, and Mobility Possibilities. To date, there have been various attempts to forge links between Latin America and EEES. Most of their efforts however, have been based on establishing formal agreements.  What’s more, there has been little sign of progress until now.  Parallel to this is the idea of a Latin American Area for Higher Education founded on similar precepts- something which has been discussed in a number of forums.  However, these initiatives require processes akin to those developed in Europe, namely agreements between both the political and academic groups. Next technical issues such as those relating to educational models, best practice, research development, and common standards are also necessary. Furthermore, there should be a marked increase in quality so that the common areas have their corresponding recognition in society.  If these strategy were not followed, it is very likely that a division  in  in the current system would be created, i.e. that some Latin American universities would follow suit and form part of EEES and others would not. This phenomenon would mainly occur because of the heterogeneous nature of Latin American Universities. Consequently, there would be a widening educational, scientific and technological gap.

The CAMPUS Program of The Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) seeks to create academic synergies in the Americas. Its aim is to lay the foundations for a Latin American and Caribbean Area for Higher Education (ELES). ELES is a mechanism for academic integration and research between university members and similar parties in the American continent. This is to be achieved by capitalizing on the experience of a European Area of Higher Education (EEES), its Euro-Latin American version (Tuning-ALCUE) and the vast North American experience. In brief, it consists of developing a credit and common criteria system for curricular harmonization that sets standards, creates inter-institutional confidence and convergence, and promotes mobility between higher education institutions on the continent for teachers, students and administrative personnel.

This strategy enables a series of activities related to the exchange of information, inter-institutional cooperation, consultancy, academic mobility to be carried out.  In addition, it aids further action in relation to new trends in curricular development.

With these factors in mind, it is important to note that the Union of Latin American and Caribbean Universities (UDUAL) have publicly announced that they plan to build a Latin American Area of Higher Education in the region. Today, UDUAL promotes programs that are aimed at strengthening the presence of affiliated members. The main objective is to ensure that the programs reach the quality and efficiency expected by contemporary universities. As a result, they will be able to respond to both their current needs and also the challenges of the future. Therefore, the programs become an efficient tool for the social, cultural, and economic development of Latin American countries, i.e. where the concept of a free, harmonious and genuinely humanitarian society is widely accepted.

The Board of Directors and Executive Council of IOHE and UDUAL have agreed to join forces and to be fully committed to the implementation of ELES. To achieve this aim, they aim to pool all their institutional resources together by seeking the support of university members and by applying the strategies established in this proposal.

Criteria required for the implementation of  ELES :

In order to build a Latin American and Caribbean Area of Higher Education (ELES), we should start, as we stated earlier, with the established framework of EEES, that is, with its fundamental strategic elements. These are listed below:

▪To obtain the necessary political and academic will for the project, with part of the support being provided by the two largest university networks on the continent: The Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) and the Union of Latin American Universities (UDUAL); plus an

▪ Operational strategy that includes many aspects of the European experience, i.e. which involves a  move towards academic models that promote academic mobility, credit transfer, and teaching that is centred on learning, skills, best practice, and quality control strategies.

However, it is also important to include a wide-scale internationally recognized research and development strategy at Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in Latin America so that adequate levels of quality are reached. This, in turn, will help to form the basis of ELES. In order to achieve these objectives, there are two basic requisites:

▪The design, elaboration and implementation of university policies for the development of research incubators; these require specific economic, political and cultural conditions for the promotion of science.

▪ The broad-scale training of Researchers (PhDs) in Collaborative Doctoral Programs by quality universities. These researchers also act as key players in creating research units at host universities, thereby stimulating the training of international research teams.

ELES: Issues to Take into Consideration:

In order to implement ELES, the following factors should be taken into consideration:

1. - Types of Latin American Universities:

According to Brunner (Brunner, J.J., 2002), we can distinguish between three types of universities in Latin America:

(a) Complex Universities- these can be compared to universities in developed countries and are rated according to several university rankings; they are also characterized by a good balance of teaching, research and service to society. They are mainly located in four major clusters, namely: The Federal District of Mexico, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and various cities in Brazil such as São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasilia, and Bello Horizonte. Together they comprise less than 3% of the total figures. (b) Top universities in the major cities in Latin America. These universities are well- organized, have an impressive faculty of professors, and have made a powerful impact in their respective countries. Although they are mainly focused on teaching, and possess few isolated research units, many of them have achieved a certain level of development, and established international contacts. It is estimated that these universities make up no more than 7% of the actual Latin American University figures. (c) The remaining 90% are universities that are primarily focussed on teaching, but have either accomplished little in the field of research, or have failed to make a significant contribution to the society of which they are a part. The scientific development of the former group can be compared to other development contexts, but its overall percentage is relatively low. Conversely, the gap tends to widen even more when scientific development occurs in situations where there is a lack of potential, or where the influencing factors are challenging or slow-moving.

2. Barriers to The Scientific Spin Off

Robert K. Merton, (Merton, RK, 1973),the father of the Sociology of Science, stressed several decades ago, in his basic thesis on the “Mathew Effect”, the need for a critical mass of scientists and operational elements that should be put in place before an exponential increase in results can be expected. To illustrate this point, we can use the following example: only a minimum quantity of radioactive material is required to trigger an atomic bomb.

It is argued whether this factor alone has caused the lack of scientific progress in Latin America over the last few decades (Gibbs,WW,1995). Typically, this is where a vast number of minimal groups and isolated scientists are pooled together and receive little state support. As a result, their work is often abandoned at a very early stage. The “creation” and “support” logic of many of these groups follow an identical development scheme like the other social projects: there is an initial flow of capital to increase installed capacity (people, equipment, operational funds, etc), which causes a powerful psychological effect both in terms of progress and success, but then it declines the moment financing ends- a phenomenon that occurs frequently during the first two or three years. New financing for these projects (in an identical or different environment) creates “growth cycles” that decline rapidly. The end result, however, is that more and more financing is required for the installed capacity to remain stable. The only individuals who really benefit from the process are the so-called “experts” who have the “know how”. Unfortunately, these experts seldom end up being part of an actual research team. This situation starkly contrasts with the global university reality. Ever since their creation, universities have been social accumulators of knowledge or “know how” and installed capacity. Universities are now becoming more team-focussed and structured, so that each area of Science is more developed, which, interestingly, has very little correlation with the number of people who actually attend universities.

3.-Skills Training Difficulties and the “Brain Drain”

It is claimed that scientific progress in Latin America also depends on the training of its main protagonists. That is why various national and international support policies have been developed for postgraduate training. The general requirements to become an MA or PhD student at universities in developed countries usually consist of 2-5 years of academic study. The lack of permanent operational structures with a specific installed capacity, however, is partially responsible for the burgeoning phenomenon of brain drain. As a result, foreign countries and other academic activities are not directly related to the accumulation of scientific training. This is because they are either more lucrative, or have suffered the disillusionment experienced by those who return to an environment that strongly contrasts with their study period overseas. The majority of those who return to their universities of origin are thus rarely able to establish permanent research teams in which their training can be translated into a significant increase in capacity. The reasons for this are twofold: a) a lack of institutional support, and b) the stalling effects of formal academia. Consequently, they often end up becoming simple administrative personnel, who only use their academic titles to occupy normal positions. It is estimated that the accumulated effect of all these factors would produce an effective return of a figure not higher than 1% for Type III universities. What’s more, the figure for Type II universities would likewise be very low.

Therefore, the implementation strategy for ELES requires the development of research incubators for the majority of Latin American HEI, whereas for research training, there should be collaborative programs with internationally recognized universities. It is important that both of these projects work in conjunction with each other.

The project itself stems from a key component of the IOHE- i.e. the concept that the “First Meeting of Collaborative Doctoral Programs (sandwich programs) and Research Incubators” is a means to establish a space for the implementation of research incubators using successful Latin American experiences, e.g. that of Brazil. (www.oui-iohe.org/encuentroincubadoras2008).

ELES: General Objectives:

The Creation of a Common Area for Higher Education and Research in Latin America and the Caribbean (ELES) based on political and academic agreements, operational strategies, plus the wide-scale promotion of science and its key players.

ELES: Specific Objectives:

1. The design, creation and implementation of the Latin American and Caribbean Area of Higher Education (ELES).

2. The development and broad-scale application of a Research Incubator Model and collaborative Doctoral Programs at Latin American HEI for the development of Science.

Components of specific objective 1:

1. Promote political and academic agreements, which begin with the committed support of the two largest university networks on the American continent, namely The Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) and the Union of Latin American Universities (UDUAL).

2. Develop an operational strategy that includes many aspects of the European experience, namely a change towards academic models promoting mobility, credit transfer, skill-based teaching, best practice methodology, and quality assurance strategies, but adapted to specific circumstances in Latin America.

In order to implement ELES successfully, it is important to work within the framework of two management areas:

· Political: Ministers of Higher Education or their equivalent, plus Heads of State and Government.

· Academic: universities committed to the implementation of ELES. This is achieved by adopting a set of standards that enables interested parties to work both collaboratively and fairly.

In addition to the factors mentioned above, there is also a Technical Committee (UDUAL-OUI) which is the main body responsible for managing the political and academic agenda. This group is responsible for the elaboration of technical support documents, digital recording of meetings, and any other management issues that are relevant to ELES.

The Technical Committee shall concentrate on the following areas:

The Design, Publication, and Distribution of Methodological Support (Documents) for ELES.

A comparative and comprehensible system for academic studies.

An accumulation and credit transfer system.

Mobility of students, professors and researchers.

Cooperation for issues relating to quality assurance.

The Latin American and Caribbean Dimension of Higher Education

· On-going Training

· The participation of Higher Education centres and students for the constructive development of ELES.

·     Research, research training and the promotion of Interdisciplinarianism to uphold and improve the quality of higher education teaching, and reinforce its competitiveness.

· The implementation of benchmarks and guidelines for quality assurance

· A national framework of qualifications

· The provision and recognition of joint academic titles, including PhDs.

· The creation of opportunities for flexible training itineraries in higher education teaching, including provisions for the validation of acquired knowledge.

Components of  objective 2

1. To develop a development and execution plan of basic university policies for the wide-scale promotion of research incubators at Latin American HEI that do not have international levels of scientific development.

2. To develop a wide-scale training program for Researchers (PhD) in collaborative doctoral programs taught by quality universities that also act as key players in creating research units at host universities, thus facilitating the training of international research teams.