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Program Experience
Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America
& Caribbean
Regional | Argentina
| Brazil | Costa
Rica | Mexico | Panama
Regional
 American
Studies Institute for Teachers of English from Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Client: U.S. Department of State, Public Affairs Section
Start: 2006 End:
Ongoing
Funding
Agency: U.S. Department of State, Public Affairs Section
Project Description:
This program brings English teachers from South America to Texas to promote a deeper understanding of the United States and to enhance their knowledge of best practices in the instruction of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Goals of the program include strengthening teaching about American culture and society and improving the quality of English language teaching in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Programs have been two weeks in length, with 10-28 participants per program. |
 Public
Administration at the Municipal Level: A
Program for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Client: United
States Information Agency (USIA)
Start: 1994
End: 1995 Funding
Agency: United States Information Agency
(USIA)
Project Description:
The first phase of the two-phased program brought
eight city and state officials from four countries
in South America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay,
and Uruguay) to participate in activities in Texas
and Washington, D.C. The second phase involved
five specialists from the U.S. conducting seminars
in South America. An audience of more than 300
South American public administration professionals
participated in the seminars held in various sites.
Topics included Total Quality Management, Management
of Municipal Solid Waste, Privatization of Municipal
Services, the Design and Implementation of Economic
Development Programs, Urban Planning and Strategic
Planning. |
 Latin
American Economic Journalists Program
Client:
United States Information Agency (USIA)
Start:
1994 End: 1996 Funding
Agency: United States Information Agency
(USIA)
Project
Description:
The first phase of this two-phased program took
place in June, 1994. Twelve journalists from four
Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Mexico
and Venezuela) met with a cross-section of U.S.
financial analysts, investors, economists and
government officials. Topics included all aspects
of financial relations between the Americas, investment
practices, and economic and trade forecasts. The
three-week program took place in Texas, New York,
and Washington, D.C. The second phase served as
a follow-up opportunity for the participants to
address various international financial issues.
Seven of the 12 journalists participated in a
series of roundtables and panel discussions. The
journalists formed a professional association
"Asociacion de Periodistas en Economia y
Finanzas de las Americas" (APEFA) which will
host an annual symposium at different locations
in Latin America. The first was held in Santiago,
Chile, in Spring 1996. |
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Argentina
| Program
of Non-University, Technical Higher Education
Reform Client:
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Start:
September 1995 End: November
1995
Funding
Agency: Inter-American Development Bank
Project
Description:
TIEC recruited three consultants for IDB to
work with the Ministry of Culture and Education
in Argentina to advise on the model of administration
and the design of a system of accreditation
and evaluation for community colleges in Argentina.
The consultants included a staff person from
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,
a president of a U.S. community college, and
a faculty member from Anglia Polytechnic University,
a member of the British Universities Transatlantic
Exchange Association (BUTEX). |
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Brazil
| Brazil Fulbright
Seminar on American Democracy Client:
Fulbright Commission of Brazil
Start: June 1989
End: July 1989
Funding Agency: Fulbright Commission of
Brazil
Funding Source: Fulbright Commission
of Brazil
Project Description:
TIEC, in collaboration with the LBJ School of
Public Affairs at The University of Texas at
Austin, developed a seminar for a group of 15
faculty, researchers, and secondary school teachers
from Brazil. The goal of the seminar was to
demonstrate how the American political process
responds to evolving issues of American policy.
The Brazilian participants attended discussions,
panels and lectures set up by the LBJ School
and visited with various government officials
in Austin. Side trips were taken to Houston
to visit NASA and to Fredericksburg. The participants
were given daily experiences in American culture
while in Austin. |
| Brazil
Fulbright Environmental Law Seminar
Client:
Fulbright Commission of Brazil
Start:
August 1990 End: September 1990
Funding
Agency: Fulbright Commission of Brazil
Funding
Source: Fulbright Commission of Brazil
Project
Description:
TIEC hosted a group of lawyers from Brazil for
one component of the Brazil Environmental Law
Fulbright Program. The lawyers spent time at The
University of Texas at Austin, The University
of Texas at El Paso, Lamar University in Beaumont,
and Texas A&M University-Galveston. In addition
to lectures, panels and discussions at the universities,
the group visited facilities and met with officials
of many environmental organizations such as the
Monitoring and Emergency Response Laboratory,
Texas Air Control Board, Texas Water Commission,
several environmental law firms, International
Boundary and Water Commission, Asarco Smelter,
the Colonias, Gulf Goast Hazardous Substance Research
Center, Mobil Oil Corporation, Chemical Waste
Management Plant, Exxon Chemicals, NASA, Turtle
Hatchery of the National Marine Fisheries Services,
Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, and Texas
Attorney General's Office. |
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Costa Rica
 CAPS
Training Program for Costa Rican Print and Broadcast
Journalists Client:
Partner for International Education and Training
(PIET)
Start:
June 1989 End: August 1989
Funding
Agency: PIET Funding
Source: U.S. Agency for International Development
- Costa Rica
Project
Description:
TIEC provided training, day internships and
American culture to a group of Costa Rican print
journalists and later to a group of Costa Rican
broadcast journalists as part of PIET's overall
training program. The participants attended
training sessions at The University of Texas
at Austin, The University of Texas at El Paso,
and the University of Houston. In addition,
a follow-on seminar was arranged in 1990 for
the participants in Costa Rica. The purpose
of the seminar was to provide follow-up training
and discussion after the journalists had had
a year to use their newly acquired skills in
their home country. |
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Mexico
Summer
English-as-a-Second-Language Institute at The
University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB)
Client: The University
of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB)
Start: July 2003
End: July 2004
Funding Agency: The
University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB)
Funding Source:
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin
(UTPB) Project
Description: The
Texas Intensive English Program (TIEP) conducts,
on behalf of UTPB, an intensive, four-week program
of English for Academic Purposes on the UTPB
campus, as part of an intensive language-exchange
program between UTPB and the Universidad Autónoma
de Chihuahua (UACH) in Mexico. In the program
between UTPB and UACH, a group of faculty and
students from UTPB attend a four-week intensive
Spanish program at UACH, while a group of faculty
and students from UACH attend the program set
up by TIEP on the UTPB campus. |
Curriculum Reform Projects
Client: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), Monterrey
Start: 1993 End: Ongoing
Funding Agency: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
Funding Source: Government of Mexico
Project Description:
TIEC has collaborated with UANL on five separate occasions to restructure the curricula of several academic programs. The reform process has involved teams of faculty from both UANL and TIEC affiliated universities, who have worked together to define the knowledge and skills required of graduates, and then to review the existing curricula and pedagogy. This effort included designing entirely new courses, specifying pedagogical methods and student-learning experiences, writing new course syllabi with suggested textbooks, and defining the faculty characteristics needed to teach the revised curriculum.
In 1993, assistance was provided to completely restructure the preparatoria curricula in math, science, and computer science.
In 1995, TIEC assisted with the redesign of the Bachelor of Business Administration degree with specializations in accounting, finance, human resources, information systems, marketing, and production management, plus Masters degrees in Business Administration, Public Accounting, Information Systems Management, and Public Administration.
In 1996, assistance was provided to redesign undergraduate degree programs in physics, mathematics, computer science, civil engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering management, industrial chemistry, and chemical pharmaceutical biology.
Then in 1997, degree programs in biology, food science, and QPB (chemistry, microbiology and parasitology) were redesigned.
During these four efforts, more than 60 TIEC faculty worked in teams with over 100 UANL faculty.
Most recently, in 2008, a TIEC team conducted a curricular review of the following four UANL programs: Electronic Engineering and Communications, Management Information Systems, Bachelor of Computer Science, and Bachelor of Information Technology. UANL plans to implement these new curricular designs as part of its ongoing effort to implement new instructional methodologies and offer a more contemporary curriculum for its students.
|
| Accreditation
& Staffing Assistance Client:
Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico
Start:
1992 End: 1997
Funding
Agency: University and Private Funds
Project
Description:
Assistance was provided in organizing the university
staff for institutional self-study required for
accreditation; collecting and presenting required
data and securing candidacy status. Faculty were
periodically provided with ESL training. Consultation
was provided on specific summer programs designed
to attract US students. |
| Business
English for Mexican Managers
Client:
Vanity Fair, Mexico
Start:
August 1996 End: 1998
Funding
Agency: Vanity Fair
Project
Description:
The Texas Intensive English Program (TIEP), a
wholly owned subsidiary of TIEC, provided
6 hours of daily English language training over
a two-month period for small groups of employees
of Vanity Fair from several locations in Mexico.
Instruction focused on preparing the employees
to function effectively in English with international
colleagues. |
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Panama
| Short-Term
Business & Industrial Training Programs
Client: Consejo
del Sector Privado para la Asistencia Educacional
(COSPAE)
Start: 1990 End:
1992 Funding
Agency: COSPAE
Funding Source: Government
of Panama and U.S. Agency for International
Development Project
Description:
Short-term, customized training seminars
were conducted in Panama and Texas for supervisory
personnel in various areas including refrigeration,
retail sales, industrial management, merchandising,
quality control, industrial production and supervision.
TIEC worked with community colleges as well
as TIEC universities to provide training, internships
and cultural activities for the participants
in each of the programs. |
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