April 2001

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From the dean —
One good Mexican thing leads to another good Mexican thing

Photo by Dan Sears

I've always found that one good thing leads to another good thing, and that's exactly what's happening with the growing relationship between our School and the Monterrey Technical Institute for Higher Education (ITESM) in Mexico.

This collaboration with Monterrey Tech is dear to my heart. Let me give you some background:

As many of you know, I've been interested in Mexico most of my life. I grew up in Texas, and I've visited Mexico many times. I worked for a year as a reporter at The News in Mexico City, and I wrote my doctoral dissertation about the Mexican mass media.

Several years ago, I created a course about mass communication in Mexico and Cuba. Students in the course, which I continue to teach, travel to Mexico City and Havana during spring break to learn firsthand about differences between these countries' media.

I've worked with several outstanding Mexican universities for that course, but since learning about Monterrey Tech, I've become convinced that it's the best university in Mexico. It's amazingly forward-looking, even by U.S. standards. In fact, the university's Mexico City campus, founded in 1973, has more computer facilities than UNC-CH. Carlos Enrique González Negrete, director of the Mexico City campus, does a splendid job.

Since beginning our relationship with Monterrey Tech in Mexico City, the program has expanded beyond the class trip to include several components: Some ITESM professors will earn their doctoral degrees from our School. We've created a unique program combining in-residence education at UNC-CH with courses taught via video link. Some of our professors will go to Mexico City to teach as well. One professor from ITESM, Jesus Mesa, is already here and is doing beautifully in our doctoral program.

Also, this summer Monterrey Tech will send a group of undergraduate students to UNC-CH to take classes. And Rodrigo Cervantes, president of the Communication Student Association of Mexico, visited the School last semester. Several of our faculty members — Deb Aikat, Don Shaw, Dulcie Straughan, Ruth Walden, Jan Yopp and I — have spoken at the Mexico City campus.

More projects probably will evolve, including study by some of our students in Mexico City. All these initiatives offer our students and faculty members a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Mexico's rich culture and its evolving media.

The Monterrey Tech project has support not only in our School but also across UNC-CH and the UNC system. Our graduate faculty voted for the special doctoral program, and the University Graduate School supports it. UNC President Molly Broad already has visited the main ITESM campus in Monterrey, and UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser is planning to visit there soon. Both advocate cooperative activities with Monterrey Tech. President Broad recently led a video teleconference with Monterrey Tech officials and officials from the UNC system.

I'm mighty excited about the School's involvement with Monterrey Tech. It's just one more way we're leading the pack in international communication studies and providing our students with a top-notch education.

Onward and upward,