Dr. Arturo Vasquez

Dr. Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga, associate professor, Department of Management, Marketing and International Business at The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), has been teaching as a visiting professor during the summer at the University of Talca (UT) in Chile since 1998. He was the first exchange professor from UTPA to teach at UT, teaches courses in the MBA Program and conducts workshops on how to research, analyze and do data processing. Every summer, Vasquez teaches around 26 students for about four weeks. According to him, the actual Agreement of Cooperation between the universities took place in 1997.

In addition to teaching, Vasquez writes for the Journal of Travel Research and Studies and Perspective in Tourism ; both published in Spanish and English in cooperation with UT faculty.

“I am also involved with research and currently I am working with 14 faculty members from Chile.” Vasquez said. He adds that two faculty members from University of Talca were at UTPA to get their Ph.D.s and, after completion of degrees, have returned to Chile to continue teaching. There are also internships available at UTPA for exchange students and faculty from Chile.

This August, Vasquez is going to Chile on faculty development leave , for a bigger project, which allows earning part of his salary and other benefits and still achieving elsewhere. According to him, UT has received a grant worth US$50,000 from the Chilean government. In this project, he will train professors from UT about conducting research. According to Vasquez, before this training was optional but is now obligatory for all faculty there. He stated that he is supposed to share a teaching method called the ‘Socratic Method of Teaching,’ which is an interactive method of teaching. He will be explaining the method to the faculty, including how it is used and its effectiveness. “I use this method of teaching here at UTPA and I find this method very effective.” Vasquez said.

Furthermore, other services Vasquez will provide while in Chile include the organization of 15 to 20 conferences in Santiago, capital of Chile, and Talca with business companies, city organizations and groups of entrepreneurs.

“I would like to see increase of the importance of exchanges with the foreign universities.” Vasquez said. “Other universities are eager to learn from us and share their views as well.”

Dr. Angelica Cortes

 Dr. Angelica Cortes, associate professor from Department of Management, Marketing and International Business at The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research during the 2006-2007 academic year.

Cortes is one of approximately 800 U.S faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 150 countries for the 2006-2007 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Cortes will work with 24 universities from both sides of the border starting this September. Her host university will be Instituto International de Estudios Superiores in Reynosa. She will work on E stimating the Needs and Availability of International Business Professionals in Border Region of Mexico and the United States. This project will be completed in approximately nine months.

“I am excited because it is practical, and it will be beneficial to this university and universities from the other side of the border,” Cortes said. “We will know the type of demand for the International Business graduates.”

According to Cortes, over the last decade the Texas-Tamaulipas border region has been experiencing extraordinary growth. Reynosa, a Mexican border city, had an increase in the number of maquiladoras during the last five years. Consequently, Reynosa and McAllen, an American border city, are the fastest growing regions within the states of Tamaulipas and Texas respectively. Maquiladoras are not only the major employers of the region but the resulting supply chain processes generate the need for other small and medium-size businesses to provide products and services, which lead to increased employment opportunities in the region. This increment of employment opportunities generates income and a better living standard for the people of this region.

Furthermore, Cortes stated that the Globalization process and the increase in trade liberalization that has been taking place, especially in the last decade, is demanding changes in the competitive structure of the maquiladora industry and business in general, both worldwide and regionally. The maquiladora industry located along the Mexican border had experienced competition from China, with a large number of maquiladoras moving to China; however, maquiladoras located in Reynosa had not been significantly affected by these changes (with new maquiladoras planning to open along the Mexican Border).

Cortes also stated that presently there is a need for professionals with more international logistics and business skills; and yet, very little is known about the competencies and qualities that maquiladoras and business firms in Mexico require from students who graduate from colleges and universities offering international business programs. What specific skills and tools do maquliadoras and service business firms (such as transportation, third party logistic firms, freight forwarders, custom brokers, warehouses, etc.) want their international business professionals to have? Generally, very little is known about the current and future demand of international business professionals.

According to Cortes, the results of this research project will have a significant impact on the development of international business curricula along the Texas/Mexico border. Possessing a good understanding of the labor market for international business professionals in this region will allow business schools to develop and/or adapt their education to meet the competencies and skills required by the maquiladora industry and the business firms that provide export/import support.

“This will increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the maquiladora industry as well as small and medium-size business firms, permitting them to compete more effectively in the global market,” Cortes said. “This increase in competitiveness will lead to greater employment opportunities within the supply chain processes.”

Cortes stated that the collaboration with the business faculty of the Instituto International de Estudios Superiores through this project will lead to further research in international business as it relates to this particular border region.

Dr. Victor Alvarado

Dr. Victor Alvarado, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), was invited to offer lectures at the Graduate School of Psychology at Southwest University of China-Chongqing and at the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology at Huazhong University of Technology in Wuhan for a month, April 17 through May 17, 2006.

Alvarado lectured on Learning about the Profession of Counseling Psychology, which does not exist in China presently. In addition, his other topics were on Marriage and Family Counseling, and Comparative Analysis of Psychology in the United States and China.

According to Alvarado, the most striking was the quality of student and their preparation for the class. The entire student group followed his lectures without any difficulty. “I was very impressed by the high quality of research and their conduct,” said Alvarado. “Surprisingly students are hundred percent devoted to their studies.”

Alvarado added that the students and faculty are working Monday through Sunday, working in their labs and doing research. “I didn’t even know what day of the week it was, there was no difference.”

Alvarado was very impressed with students in China. He found them very friendly, open and very receptive to exchange of ideas. Alvarado said he tried to convey to them that they are more advanced than they believed to be. “It was a great pleasure to be with both faculty and students in both the universities,” he said.

At the Southwest University, Alvarado met with the administrative at the Exchange Program office. And, according to him they became very interested in establishing exchange programs with UTPA after presentation of his lectures in that university.

Alvarado added that he would like to pursue the Counseling Psychology Program there in China and in return some of their students to come to the Master’s Degree Program here at the UTPA. So, that these students could go back to China and introduce new concepts in their environment. Furthermore, this will pursue their interest in teaching and improve their career development programs.

“All these will depend on the agreements between the two universities,” said Alvarado. He would like to do research with these two universities in China that he visited and perhaps conduct seminars and give more lectures. He was excited that both the universities in China invited him to teach on a regular basis as a full-time faculty there, but he said he would still like to continue here in Pan Am where he belongs.