The first three places of the 2016 Inter-American Award for Educational Innovation in Higher Education of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE), were awarded to the Université de Montréal, Canada; the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Río Grande do Sur (PUCRS), Brazil, and the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico.
The winners were:
- Gold Medal: Université de Montréal (Canada)
“WAT_UNESCO: Les Workshop atelier/terrain of the Chaire UNESCO en paysage et environnement de l’ Université de Montreal (CUPEUM)” / “WAT_UNESCO: Workshops in the ‘Field’ of the UNESCO Chair on Landscape and Environment at the Université de Montreal (CUPEUM)”
- Silver Medal: Pontificia Universidade Católica do Río Grande do Sur (Brazil)
TECNOPUC – Parque Científico e Tecnológico da PUCRS: Conhecimento, Inovação e Desenvolvimento como vetores transformadores de práticas educativas da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil / TECNOPUC – The Science and Technology
Park at PUCRS: Knowledge, Innovation and Development as Transformation Vectors of Educational Practices at the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Río Grande do Sur (Brazil)
- Bronze Medal: Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (Mexico)
Planeación plural y participativa, detonante de la coordinación de la comunidad del conocimiento y administradores de la educación en pro del aseguramiento de la calidad e innovación en la formación de los estudiantes a través de la consolidación de cuerpos académicos / Plural and Participative Planning, Mechanisms of the Coordination between the Knowledge Community and the Education Administrators in favor of the Quality of assurance and Innovation for the Training of Students throughout the Consolidation of Academic Bodies
On the other hand, for the merits that characterize them, the honorable mentions were awarded to the following institutions, presented in alphabetical order:
- Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (Mexico)
“Implementación del Modelo Educativo Formación Integral (MEFI) en los programas educativos de Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY)” / “Implementation of the Comprehensive Training Education Model (MEFI) in the Educational Programs of the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (Mexico)”
- Universidad de Costa Rica (Costa Rica)
“Promoción de la equidad: desarrollo de acciones innovadoras como esperanza para la movilidad social” / “Equality Promotion: Development of Innovative Actions as a Hope for Social Mobility”
- Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho” (Brazil)
“Acessibilidade e Inclusão no Ensino Superior: Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação e Tecnologia Assistiva” / “Accessibility and Inclusion in Higher Education: Information and Communication Technologies and Support Technology”
- Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico)
“Proyectos Curriculares de Vinculación del Departamento de Diseño” / “Projects of the Design Department and their Curricular Linkages”
- Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda (Argentina)
“La gestión académica en la Universidad: Integración de programas orientados a la calidad, inclusión, mejora continua, flexibilidad e innovación” / “The University Academic Management: Integration of Programs Adapted to Quality, Inclusion, Continuous Improvement, Flexibility and Innovation”
- Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia)
“Formar estudiantes que sean capaces de gestionar la Innovación y el emprendimiento en empresas que aporten a la comunidad, mediante las ferias de innovación y emprendimiento UPSA” / “The Training of Students Capable of Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Companies that Contribute to the Community through Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fairs at the UPSA”
- Universidad de Talca (Chile)
“Formando profesionales socialmente responsables a través del Modelo Educativo de la Universidad de Talca” / “Creating Socially Responsible Professionals, through the Universidad de Talca‘s Education Model” - Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (Panama)
“IsCLA Modelo E&A: investigación en el salón de clases, modelo de enseñanza y aprendizaje” / “IsCLA Model E&A: Research in the Classroom, Teaching and Learning Model”
These finalists were chosen among a total of 33 institutional nominations within the framework of the Seminar on Innovative Educational Models (MEIN), carried out on June 23 and 24, 2016, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The selection was conducted by a jury composed of experts and authorities of higher education in the Americas:
- Raúl Arias. Former President of the Universidad Veracruzana, Executive Director of CAMPUS-IOHE, Mexico-Ecuador
- Miriam Da Costa Oliveira. President of the Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Fernando Daniels. Executive Director of COLAM-IOHE, Colombia
- Miguel Escala. Former President of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Executive Director of IGLU-IOHE, Dominican Republic
- Norberto Fernández Lamarra. Director of Graduate Programs, Universidad Tres de Febrero, Argentina
- Patricia Gudiño. Chancellor of the IOHE, Canada
- David Julien. Executive Director of the IOHE, Canada
- Jacqueline Sepúlveda. Former Vice-President and Academic Director of Innovation of the Universidad de Concepción, Chile
- Ronald Vargas. Director of Information and Communication Technologies of the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.
This initiative was created to acknowledge cases of successful practices on educational innovation and management in higher education institutions among the IOHE Membership, as well as current experiences, with more than two years of implementation and with partial results showing their impact. The award ceremony and the presentation of the book containing the finalist practices will take place on November 25, 2016, in the framework of the XXXVI IOHE General Assembly and the 2016 Edition of the International Book Fair (FIL). Both events will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico.