Cooperation in Higher Education between Spanish and US Universities

Yvette Coyle - University of Murcia

Traditionally, Spanish universities have tended to focus their interest in international student mobility programmes and cooperation with other higher education institutions within Europe and further afield in Latin America. However, in recent years, universities have begun to broaden their horizons by seeking opportunities to establish partnerships and projects with countries such as China, Australia, Canada and, of course, the United States. Such transatlantic cooperation is still a relatively new endeavour and many university staff and students are not fully aware of the possibilities available to them. It is our intention here to provide a brief outline of the different programmes and funding initiatives which would facilitate the strengthening of links between Spanish and North American universities. We will begin by addressing the more well known and established programmes, such as the International Student Exchange Programme (ISEP) and the Fulbright scholarships and grants, before describing the more recent joint European Union-United States action: Atlantis.

ISEP is a network of over 290 universities and colleges distributed throughout the world in 39 different countries. Specifically in Spain, the member universities include the University Alfonso X in Madrid, together with those of Almeria, Baleares, Malaga, Murcia, Santiago de Compostela, Navarra State University and Vigo; while there are over 120 participant institutions in the USA. This exchange programme offers both under graduate and post graduate students from both countries and from all academic disciplines, with the exception of Health Sciences, the opportunity to study for a semester or a full academic year in a partner university, with the linguistic, cultural and academic benefits that this entails. For Spanish students wishing to participate in the programme, it is essential to have a good knowledge of English which is accredited by the standardized Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Applications are made in December of each year and funding for the programme is often provided by regional education authorities, as is the case in Murcia.

The Fulbright scholarship programme is perhaps one of the longest established and best known actions between Spain and the US. Dating back to 1958, when the first mixed Spanish-US Commission for awarding grants was founded, the programme continues to offer a series of grants for Spanish citizens to study, teach or carry out research in the Unites States and for North Americans to do the same in Spain. The number and characteristics of the scholarships available tend to vary from year to year.

Spanish scholarships for 2009/10 of interest to university students range from working a language assistant to studying for a Master’s degree or doing postdoctoral research in a US university. For university teachers there are opportunities to apply for a six week Summer Institute Programme to engage in American studies or the Scholar in Residence Programme, by which visiting scholars can lecture for a semester or an academic year in an American college or university. Similarly, US Senior Lectures may apply for a grant as a Visiting Professor to direct Masters and Doctorate Studies in a Spanish institution for a period of between three and five months, while the Senior Specialists grant offers US lecturers the possibility of working in collaboration with one or more Spanish universities, for a period of two to six weeks, either as an academic or curricular consultant, team leader (other than research) or seminar director on a postgraduate course. The scholarship for Conferences enables US academics resident in Europe, Africa or the Middle East to work with Spanish universities for up to two weeks. Opportunities for North American students are similar to those described above for their Spanish counterparts. It is important to note that the application period for these scholarships is often more than a year in advance.

A more recent initiative, introduced only three years ago for an eight year period (2006-2013), is the Atlantis Programme, an agreement on higher education and vocational training between the European Union and the United States of America funded jointly by the European Commission and the US Department of Education: Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary education (FIPSE). Within this programme there are three main actions which can be undertaken by European and US universities: i) Transatlantic degree consortia projects, ii) Excellence mobilty projects and iii) Policy oriented measures.

Atlantis focuses especially on the development of innovative courses and degree structures such as transatlantic joint or double Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees. Within this framework, support is given to multilateral consortia composed of a minimum of one US university and two EU universities from different member states. Students taking such a degree course then spend a full academic year in the partner institution on the other side of the Atlantic. On completing their studies they receive either a joint degree (issued jointly by the two universities) or a double degree (one from the US and one from the EU institution). The programme is based on the promotion of student mobility, joint curriculum development and innovation together with academic recognition.

The Excellence Mobility Action focuses on international curriculum development projects that involve short term transatlantic mobility for students and teachers, but without being related to joint degree structures. In order to be selected universities must be able to demonstrate previous experience in transatlantic cooperation and exchanges.

The third Action within the Atlantis framework involves Policy-oriented measures including studies, seminars or working groups that concentrate on the comparative higher education and vocational training issues. Within this area, projects focusing on software and web development, e-learning, comparative analyses or infrastructure and resources development are considered, especially when they can provide evidence of their impact on transatlantic cooperation in education and training

Having looked at the possibilities for participating in programmes where external funding is available, it is also important to mention one further possibility for cooperation between Spanish and North American universities, and one which the University of Murcia in particular has undertaken in recent years. This final initiative involves the setting up of a bilateral agreement between two partner universities, one from Spain and one from the US. This type of institutional agreement allows each partner to design tailor-made actions such as student and staff mobility for teaching or research purposes, according to the interests and requirements of both members. Funding, evidently, must be provided either by each institution or by the participants in the mobility programmes.