Hola América del Sur!

Zoran Kondali and I from NSCC International are in South America as part of a reciprocal visit to several institutions who visited NSCC in October-November 2012 as part of the Government of Canada funded “Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program” (ELAP) mission organized by the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) to foster exchanges and partnerships between Canadian and Latin American colleges and universities.

The ELAP visit to Nova Scotia came at a good time as our provincial government is exploring trade links with South America (two trade missions planned this spring to Colombia for example) and Edunova and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education are promoting and expanding educational linkages in the region.

Since the ELAP visit in November, our international office has been in discussions with several ELAP delegates, and working with the NSCC School of Business to narrow down the group to 5 potential partners in 3 countries (Ecuador, Colombia and Peru) for potential exchanges to begin in the 2013 academic year in the areas of business, tourism and culinary arts.

Part of the process is to connect with other Canadian colleges to gain feedback on student experiences, and all of the potential partners have been highly recommended. Another important part is to visit the universities in person and meet with students, staff, see the facilities, and their approach to teaching and learning, and see a bit of the local area and culture.

First stop is Guayaquil, Ecuador, to visit Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo (UEES) and Universidad Ecotec. Stay tuned!

- Katie Orr
Director, NSCC International