17 Local Institutions To Collaborate On Cross-Border Academic Exchange

SAN DIEGO, CA — A group of San Diego and Baja California universities, along with diplomatic leaders and other organizations, will Friday announce a new international alliance intended to strengthen academic ties across the border.

The CaliBaja Higher Education Consortium is intended to increase the flow of academics both ways across the international border and support a skilled workforce.

"Education and research build bridges that turn borders into opportunities," said Pradeep K. Khosla, chancellor of UC San Diego, one of CHEC's founding member institutions. "By uniting California and Baja California's premier institutions, the CaliBaja Higher Education Consortium will amplify talent, spark joint innovation and foster shared prosperity that will benefit our entire binational region."

UCSD is joined by San Diego State University as a consortium board member, and other American institutions such as University of San Diego and Southwestern College are member institutions.

Mexico is represented by several universities, such as Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, whose President, Luis Enrique Palafox, said CHEC is "an important strategic alliance to advance academic solutions to the social, economic and environmental challenges facing this binational region."

President Fernando León of Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS) University said "higher education is the foundation for common understanding and collaboration across borders."

The member institutions are backed by the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana and the Mexican Consulate General in San Diego, as well as public agencies and private-sector partners in both countries.

"The CaliBaja Consortium is a dynamic, new way to educate the workforce we need for the future," said Christopher Teal, Consul General of the United States in Tijuana.

To accomplish the binational goals, CHEC members will develop working groups focused on accreditation, talent development, legislation and governance to improve "cross-border mobility, streamline credit and degree recognition, build workforce-development partnerships and promote policies that support sustainable, binational collaboration," a statement from UCSD read.

"By deepening cross-border collaboration, we are opening new educational pathways, expanding research opportunities and strengthening the economic and cultural fabric that unites the Cali-Baja region," said Adela de la Torre, president of SDSU. "Our collective work will ensure that the next generation inherits a more prosperous, and more connected future."

Ambassador Alicia Kerber, Consul General of Mexico in San Diego, said strengthening educational exchanges also builds trust between the San Diego and Tijuana communities.

"Cross-border education stands as a strategic pillar of the Mexico- United States relationship, strengthening academic collaboration, expanding shared research and fostering innovation," she said.

— City News Service