UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 12 | August
9, 2001
Joint undergraduate program will accommodate 175 students from
leading Mexican university
by Hilary Thomson staff writer
UBC and Tec de Monterrey — Mexico’s leading private university
— marked the establishment of a joint undergraduate academic program
and student residence at a recent groundbreaking ceremony.
“We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship of academic
and intellectual co-operation with Tec de Monterrey for some years,”
says UBC President Martha Piper. “This new residence symbolizes
the sustainability of our partnership.”
“One of the areas that really attracts us to British Columbia is
the relationship it has with the Pacific Rim countries,” says Raphael
Rangel, president of Tec de Monterrey, formerly known as the Monterrey
Institute of Technology (ITESM). “That and NAFTA make it very important
for us to be here.”
Increasing numbers of international students and building international
scholarship and research, especially with Pacific Rim countries,
are key goals of Trek 2000, the university’s vision document.
Planning, design and location of the residence is under way.
Starting this September, 40-50 Tec students in their third and
fourth years of study will be coming to campus.
Staying in existing campus accommodation, students will be able
to take a range of regular credit courses. Curriculum will be based
in the faculties of Agricultural Sciences, Arts and Commerce and
Business Administration.
The program is expected to be fully operational by 2003-04 with
the planned residence, called Tec de Monterrey-UBC House, expected
to accommodate 175 students. Tec de Monterrey students will not
be restricted to staying in the house and will be encouraged to
stay in any UBC residence.
Funding for the academic program will come from tuition fees and
both universities will share the cost of residence construction.
UBC signed its initial letter of intent with the Mexican university
in 1996.
Other successful collaborative programs include an award-winning
distance education and technology postgraduate certificate.
