The Business Year

José Armando Tavarez

Rector, Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA)

We are a technical higher education institution in a sector that has traditional universities, the so-called two-year universities—a model imported from the US—and some specialized institutions like ours. We are based in the first technological park in the Dominican Republic, which states our strong specialization in ICT education, software, multimedia, and telecommunications. For that reason, ITLA is the top supplier of ICT experts for companies operating in the Dominican Republic. Our ITLA Content Factory is closely linked to our Cinema Faculty and all of the programs we offer within its framework. It is basically a professional-oriented tool for our students. I would like to add that our offering in this area covers the entire spectrum of professions related to the cinema industry: graphic design, 2D and 3D animation, and sound, for example. In this regard, we will strengthen our sound programs in 2013 in order to make them more competitive.

Rolando M. Guzmán

President, Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC)

The identity of INTEC is closely linked to the idea of high-quality university education. This has held true from the very outset of INTEC, and we are committed to continue that purpose and maintain our standing as a model of education in the Dominican Republic. Over 40 years, we have evolved from a graduate university to a broad university, covering both undergraduate and graduate studies. I think this reflects the demands of the Dominican educational system, where the number of graduate students is relatively small. Indeed, INTEC is one of the universities with the highest percentage of graduate students. We are particularly strong in the fields of engineering, health, and business, but we have an intense activity in basic sciences and social humanities. That means that we have a broad scope of subjects, with the technological approach as the common theme. Most of our teachers are from the Dominican Republic, but we also have teachers from other countries, including Cuba, Argentina, and Colombia, in addition to some teachers from Europe.

Mateo Aquino Febrillet

Rector, Mateo Aquino Febrillet

We have signed many international agreements with universities in Spain, France, Italy, the US, and many other Latin American institutions. Most of the cooperation agreements are related to postgraduate courses and both student and staff exchange. The UASD is a highly recognized institution and very prestigious at the international level, and we are constantly working on improving the internationalization of our university through many different initiatives, such as online international postgraduate courses and mobility programs. One of our main future targets is to boost the overall number of online students at our institution. We have already developed a virtual campus and many subjects are already either taught or available online. The process of expanding our virtual campus is gradually taking shape, as more professors acquire the technological knowledge and skills to take their courses onto the internet. Our target is to have at least 30% of the subjects available at the virtual campus, especially as part of our postgraduate courses.

Radhamés Mejí­a

Rector, Universidad APEC

Universidad APEC was envisaged as a higher education institution to strengthen the sector and attend to the needs of Dominican students who wanted to pursue a university qualification with a special focus on business and economic areas. During the first years of activity, the institution was under a junior college model, similar to those in the US. Over the years, the institution expanded its activity and influence, and today it’s a Fulbright university offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In addition to focusing on the business and economic areas of education, over the years we diversified our offering, adding courses in graphic design, advertisement, PR, and engineering—areas that attend to the needs and demands of the national productive sectors. Since Universidad APEC was established, we have always tried to establish strong ties with the private sector and enable our students to be directly in contact with the professionals within their areas of their studies via compulsory work experience and congresses, conferences, and other such initiatives.

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