Well Ecuador turned out better than I feared when I arrived and no one was there. Last night I was picked up at the Savoy by Joel, one of the co-founders of Universidad Cristiana Latinoamericana (UCL) and taken downtown to the magnificent Marriott Hotel in a beautiful soaring shopping center. 
It certainly compared very favorably with the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world! Before dinner I enjoyed the huge atrium as we waiting for Marco (the president of UCL) and others to join us. Joel is 75 years old probably and now the head of the part-time adult division, and apologized profusely for UCL not being aware of my visit. He used the word “vergonha” which is “shame.” Because he’d studied at the Methodist seminary in Sao Paulo, he actually spoke Portuguese, which was a relief because NONE of the other 5 spoke any English at all. That’s rather interesting considering they are all quite educated, and to my knowledge, there are few places in the world where so many well educated folks would be unable to use 
English much at all. In fact most of them had visited the US and Marco even studied at NYU for 2 years (medicine!). The others, besides Marco, were Fabricio (the UCL attorney and sometime adjunct), Santiago (the most gregarious…and director of the post-grad programs), Washington (80 years old and I think like a CFO), and Vinicio, the AVP I’d met earlier in the day.
We spent from 8pm until 11:30 in a wonderful time of business, laughing, and even celebrating Fabricio’s 45th birthday. Marco is a pediatrician, and I learned a great deal about the situation with Patricio Proano, the former president who had led me to believe he was still at UCL. He’s not been rector for 3 years, and did not send along any of my communication to the current UCL staff. This is obviously a sensitive matter for them.
They were delighted to hear of CCCU’s interest in them, and several said that while they knew they were affiliated, they had no idea what the CCCU did. I was able to share the strategic plan, the major objectives of the CCCU, and a brochure listing the members. They liked that enough to ask the waitress to make copies while we ate! I think Marco is a co-owner of the massive shopping center hotel so we were treated well! They were eager to hear about the CCCU Forum next year in Atlanta and I encouraged them to send a team. I think they will.
Their needs were hardly different from what I have heard in Bolivia and even in Rwanda. First, They want very much to have visitors who can a) provide workshops in various topics (because they were not prepared for my visit and communication was tough using only Spanish and Portuguese all night…..they will email me more details) including communication studies, and b) also teach modules in graduate courses. It seems that the single greatest need in higher education wherever I go is for qualified faculty. The idea of tapping retired American faculty for short term teaching through a linked web site to the CCCU site seemed a marvelous idea. We really NEED to make this happen. And of course it could include non-retirees looking for sabbaticals, or even short term summer stints. It seems to me so easy to do and would be SO appreciated!
Second, and very interestingly, they also mentioned a real need for short term (eg. 6 mos) teachers of language! The highest demand is for English, Chinese, and French…but German too. This surprised me, until I sat with an Ecuadoran student on the flight to Miami, who is headed back to finish his 2 years perfecting Chinese in Beijing. He has studied in an American high school in Quito, speaks fluent English and Spanish, and now nearly fluent in Chinese. He then plans to study business. He’s travelled the world….2 months eg. In India…by car. This is a smart kid given the likelihood of Chinese ascendancy in business in the next 3 decades. He will do well! And apparently other Ecuadoran young people are following this track with Chinese.
Third, they want used equipment for their labs…microscopes, older computers, etc.
We talked of the unique structural arrangement of UCL…whereby they seemed to say there is NO board that owns it. It is “owned” by the community. The president alone makes decisions. But when pressed I gathered there is a government agency that recently has come to “own” it. Despite 15 minutes of conversation with 7 of us talking in 3 languages….I am still unclear. J It arose as I inquired about the possible need for workshops (“talleres”) on board governance.
As the evening wore on, the time became even more friendly. I learned there are about 2000 students in Quito, all full-time studying in one of three time slots (7:00-10:30am), 8am-6pm, and evenings from 6pm until 9:30pm. 600 of them study medicine (probably not for MDs but we didn’t discuss that). 100% are commuters but they hope to start a residential program. 25% are Evangelicals, 75% Catholic. About 50% of their faculty are Evangelicals…..the word Christian is used differently in S. America to include anyone with even just cultural ties to the Catholic church…which of course is just about everyone. The law requires that 10% get scholarships, but they give about 25% of them scholarships….discounts. The largest majors are medicine, dentistry, and psychology.
By the way…I was surprised to see that the US dollar is the OFFICIAL Ecuadoran currency! Now I know where all the Susan B. Anthony dollar coins went!
The evening was LOT of fun. I was reminded how much I love the latin temperament! They asked if I could return in August to do a workshop etc. I said….”Just send me the invitation!” I’ll have to combine it with my visit to Machu Pichu with Timoteo in Bolivia!
It certainly compared very favorably with the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world! Before dinner I enjoyed the huge atrium as we waiting for Marco (the president of UCL) and others to join us. Joel is 75 years old probably and now the head of the part-time adult division, and apologized profusely for UCL not being aware of my visit. He used the word “vergonha” which is “shame.” Because he’d studied at the Methodist seminary in Sao Paulo, he actually spoke Portuguese, which was a relief because NONE of the other 5 spoke any English at all. That’s rather interesting considering they are all quite educated, and to my knowledge, there are few places in the world where so many well educated folks would be unable to use 
English much at all. In fact most of them had visited the US and Marco even studied at NYU for 2 years (medicine!). The others, besides Marco, were Fabricio (the UCL attorney and sometime adjunct), Santiago (the most gregarious…and director of the post-grad programs), Washington (80 years old and I think like a CFO), and Vinicio, the AVP I’d met earlier in the day.
We spent from 8pm until 11:30 in a wonderful time of business, laughing, and even celebrating Fabricio’s 45th birthday. Marco is a pediatrician, and I learned a great deal about the situation with Patricio Proano, the former president who had led me to believe he was still at UCL. He’s not been rector for 3 years, and did not send along any of my communication to the current UCL staff. This is obviously a sensitive matter for them.
They were delighted to hear of CCCU’s interest in them, and several said that while they knew they were affiliated, they had no idea what the CCCU did. I was able to share the strategic plan, the major objectives of the CCCU, and a brochure listing the members. They liked that enough to ask the waitress to make copies while we ate! I think Marco is a co-owner of the massive shopping center hotel so we were treated well! They were eager to hear about the CCCU Forum next year in Atlanta and I encouraged them to send a team. I think they will.
Their needs were hardly different from what I have heard in Bolivia and even in Rwanda. First, They want very much to have visitors who can a) provide workshops in various topics (because they were not prepared for my visit and communication was tough using only Spanish and Portuguese all night…..they will email me more details) including communication studies, and b) also teach modules in graduate courses. It seems that the single greatest need in higher education wherever I go is for qualified faculty. The idea of tapping retired American faculty for short term teaching through a linked web site to the CCCU site seemed a marvelous idea. We really NEED to make this happen. And of course it could include non-retirees looking for sabbaticals, or even short term summer stints. It seems to me so easy to do and would be SO appreciated!
Second, and very interestingly, they also mentioned a real need for short term (eg. 6 mos) teachers of language! The highest demand is for English, Chinese, and French…but German too. This surprised me, until I sat with an Ecuadoran student on the flight to Miami, who is headed back to finish his 2 years perfecting Chinese in Beijing. He has studied in an American high school in Quito, speaks fluent English and Spanish, and now nearly fluent in Chinese. He then plans to study business. He’s travelled the world….2 months eg. In India…by car. This is a smart kid given the likelihood of Chinese ascendancy in business in the next 3 decades. He will do well! And apparently other Ecuadoran young people are following this track with Chinese.
Third, they want used equipment for their labs…microscopes, older computers, etc.
We talked of the unique structural arrangement of UCL…whereby they seemed to say there is NO board that owns it. It is “owned” by the community. The president alone makes decisions. But when pressed I gathered there is a government agency that recently has come to “own” it. Despite 15 minutes of conversation with 7 of us talking in 3 languages….I am still unclear. J It arose as I inquired about the possible need for workshops (“talleres”) on board governance.
As the evening wore on, the time became even more friendly. I learned there are about 2000 students in Quito, all full-time studying in one of three time slots (7:00-10:30am), 8am-6pm, and evenings from 6pm until 9:30pm. 600 of them study medicine (probably not for MDs but we didn’t discuss that). 100% are commuters but they hope to start a residential program. 25% are Evangelicals, 75% Catholic. About 50% of their faculty are Evangelicals…..the word Christian is used differently in S. America to include anyone with even just cultural ties to the Catholic church…which of course is just about everyone. The law requires that 10% get scholarships, but they give about 25% of them scholarships….discounts. The largest majors are medicine, dentistry, and psychology.
By the way…I was surprised to see that the US dollar is the OFFICIAL Ecuadoran currency! Now I know where all the Susan B. Anthony dollar coins went!
The evening was LOT of fun. I was reminded how much I love the latin temperament! They asked if I could return in August to do a workshop etc. I said….”Just send me the invitation!” I’ll have to combine it with my visit to Machu Pichu with Timoteo in Bolivia!
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