Following up on the commitments made at the General Assembly held in October 2020, the first working meeting of the IOHE Advisory Council was held on February 23.

Ensuring the presence of the nine regions that make up the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education, twelve representatives took part in the event:

1. Katalina Perera, National Council of Rectors – CONARE, Costa Rica, Central America
2. Paulo Ivo, Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais – ACAFE, Brazil, Brazil
3. Pedro Marquez, Royal Roads University, Canada, Canada
4. Marie-Claude Payette, Université de Montréal, Director of International Affairs, Canada, Canada
5. José Miguel Hernández, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic, Caribbean
6. Ximena Cardoso, Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, Colombia, Colombia
7. Carlos Gowland, Universidad de Morón, Argentina, Southern Cone
8. Gerardo Blanco, Boston College, United States, United States
9. Santos Magaña, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico, Mexico
10. Esperanza Martínez, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Mexico, Mexico
11. Karen Vásquez, Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile, Andean Countries
12. Juan Pablo Suárez Chacón, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador, Andean Countries

During this first meeting, the Council’s management team for the period 2022-2023 was formed and is made up of the following members:

• Pedro Márquez, President
• Ximena Cardoso, Vice-President
• Karen Vásquez, Secretary

The roles and responsibilities of the IOHE Advisory Board include:

• Discuss, analyze and issue a collegial opinion on the topics, reports or proposals presented by the General Secretariat.
• Advise, give opinions and guide the General Secretariat on:

– strategies to strengthen the positioning and leadership of the IOHE.

– new opportunities and trends that will allow the creation and/or implementation of

projects, research, training or services.

– the general guidelines, procedures and regulations governing the functioning of the IOHE.

– potential, relevant changes to improve the functioning of the IOHE General Secretariat or the Advisory Council.

– Participate in the development or evaluation of the IOHE works, papers or projects in the framework of its training activities, congresses or other institutional initiatives.

It is important to note that:

– The agreements of the Advisory Council are not binding. They are of a declaratory and guiding nature for IOHE actions and initiatives.

– Unanimous proposals, agreements and consensus decisions are sought through dialogue among members.

– If it is necessary to put a motion or proposal to a vote, resolutions of the Council shall be adopted by a simple majority vote based on the number of members present at the meeting.

– The Chairman of the Council has the casting vote in the event of a tie in the adoption of resolutions.