This year, more than 70 students from 14 countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Czech Republic and Chile, came to join the UFRO university community.

A new generation of international students and students from other regions of the country decided to join the Universidad de La Frontera, endorsing the concept of student mobility as one of the most significant tendencies regarding internationalization and as one of the fundamental strategies for comprehensive professional training.

This year, more than 70 students from 14 countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Czech Republic and Chile, came to join the UFRO university community. They were welcomed in a welcome ceremony organized by the International Affairs Office and the Student Mobility Unit.

On this occasion, the rector, Dr. Eduardo Hebel, addressed the international students to extend a warm welcome and to support their process of incorporation into the university and culture. “We are proud that you chose our university, in the south of Chile, far away from the large universities in the world,” he said, and affirmed that, besides of the curricular commitments, they could reach out to teachers and researchers. He also invited them to get to know the region and its beautiful nature, as well as to learn important lessons for their lives.”

PROMOTING INTERNATIONALIZATION

The International Affairs Office of the Universidad de La Frontera has been working on internationalization at home. The idea is to attract foreign students by renewing and starting new partnerships and, at the moment, they are processing about 45 new alliances.

Dr. Pamela Leal, director of the International Affairs Office, stated: “We have been developing different strategies. One example is the incorporation into the Program for Academic Exchange and Mobility (PIMA), an initiative of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), since September of last year, and since 2005, we have the support of the Secretary General of University, Research and Technology (SGUIT) by the Regional Government of Andalusia. On the other hand, we have different ERASMUS+ Projects for mobility with European institutions, access to exchange opportunities via scholarships by the Pacific Alliance, and we have been participating in international exhibitions in order to promote our undergraduate programs.”

Antonia Espinoza, head of the Student Mobility Unit, specified that two of the more than 70 students are from national mobility and the rest of them are from 14 different countries. According to her, they come to join the undergraduate programs and the different faculties. Some of them are even doing internships through the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) Program.

“It is the largest number of students we have received lately, and that is of great significance. Apart from that, we are receiving student who represent the first generation of exchange students from their institution who come to us, such as the students of the Hirosaki University in Japan,” she concluded..

	Hisae Minami, Hirosaki University, Japan “I am happy to be here. I came here because I spent six months in San Diego, learning English, and my host family was from Mexico. This is why I was interested in continuing to learn Spanish. As a result, I came to the Universidad de La Frontera, signing up for subjects in the field of humanities – that is what I am studying in Japan – thanks to the agreement that links both universities.”
	Tessa Sophie Kingma, University of Groningen, Netherlands “In Groningen, I am studying European Languages and Cultures, and here, I am joining a communications class in linguistics, which is mandatory, but I decided to do it in Chile, because it was an interesting option. Besides, I met some teachers who recommended this university because it shows a certain openness to receive foreign students.”
	Sebastián Hun Mena, University of Antofagasta, Chile “To be at the Universidad de La Frontera is very important and because of its location between the coastline, lakes and the mountains, it is incredibly attracting. I also wanted to join it because of its great indicators and because it is one of the best universities in Chile. I am joining the program of business engineering and pretend to live an experience that is very different from what I lived in the north.”
	Brian Rodríguez Ramírez, National Autonomous University of Mexico “I had a long list of countries to choose from, but the UFRO was the one with the best rankings. Therefore I chose its prestige and I know that the field of dentistry is also very strong. I am going to join the fifth year of the dentistry program for one semester, and I pretend to learn a lot for the moment of my graduation in Mexico.”.

Written by: Pamela Carrasco
Communications Office