Student Workload and Degree Profiles: the experience
of CLAR credit in Latin America

Francisco Alarcón, Pablo Beneitone, Roberto de Armas,
Sérgio Kieling, Letícia Suñé, and Diana Veneros

About Authors

 

   Francisco Alarcón (falarcon@csuca.org) is the Director of Academic Affairs and Deputy General Secretary of the Central American University High Council (CSUCA), with headquarters in Guatemala City (Guatemala). He is responsible for coordinating different university programmes and projects, at Central American level, and for direct support and follow up to the regional systems and networks within the Central American University Confederation. He is author of different articles and other publications on Central American higher education. Francisco Alarcón received an Honorarium Doctoral degree in Education from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua. He holds a MSc. degree in Tropical Coastal Management (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK) and a Licenciatura in Marine Biology from the National University of Costa Rica.

 

   Pablo Beneitone (pablo.beneitone@deusto.es) is Director of Tuning Academy at the University of Deusto (Spain). During most of his professional and academic career since 1994 onwards, he has been responsible for managing international higher education projects at university and national level. At the University of Deusto he was Project Manager of Tuning Latin America and Tuning Africa, and was involved in other regional programmes, Russia, China, and Europe, supported by European Commission. He has published extensively on the ‘Tuning Methodology’ and given Tuning-related conference presentations in more than 25 countries. Mr. Beneitone holds a Bachelor degree in International Relations and a Master in International Cooperation from Universidad del Salvador (Argentine). His doctoral research focuses on the internationalisation of curriculum.

 

   Roberto de Armas (rdearmas45@yahoo.es) is Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Havana (Cuba). He is Chairman of the Technical Evaluation Board for Graduation University Programmes and member of the Executive Secretariat of the National Accreditation Board in High Education. He has also been Head of Department of Plant Physiology and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Biology (University of Havana), and Head of Teaching Methodology Directorate at the Ministry of Higher Education (Cuba). His research interest and experience focus on quality in higher education, curriculum design, assessment and accreditation, and research methodology. Professor Roberto de Armas holds a PhD in Biology (Plant Physiology) from the University of Havana (Cuba). He is a member of International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, Latin America Studies Association, and Cuban Society of Chemistry.

 

   Sérgio Kieling Franco (sergio.franco@ufrgs.br) is President of the National Commission of Evaluation in Higher Education in Brazil and Brazil’s representative to the Network of National Agencies of Accreditation of MERCOSUL. He is also Member of ALFA-INFOACES Project for the development of quality indicators of Latin American institutions and National Coordinator of the TUNING Latin America Project. He holds a PhD in Education from the University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) where he also is Head Professor.

 

   Letícia Suñé (letisune@uol.com.br) is Deputy Rector of the University Centre Geraldo Di Biase (UGB), a member of the National Tuning Centre, and Educational Consultant and Advisor for IES, Brazil. For 25 years (1978- 2003), Dr Suñé was Professor at Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Brazil, where she taught Chemical Engineering-related subjects and was Head of Department of the Graduate College. She is a member of various expert and advisory committees, representations, and commissions of Brazil’s Ministry of Education and other national and Latin American bodies and institutions working on the design, implementation, evaluation, and accreditation of higher education programmes. She holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering (University of Campinas -UNICAMP, Brazil).

 

   Diana Veneros (diana.veneros@mineduc.cl) is presently serving as full-time official at the Ministry of Education, Chile, in the Division of Higher Education. She is currently in charge of the implementation and follow-up of Performance-based Agreements in the area of Academic Innovation. As a member of the Faculty staff at the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación- UMCE (Chile) she accumulates a lifelong experience in the fields of Education, Initial Teacher Training and professionalization of teaching. At the UMCE as well as at other universities she has developed activities as lecturer and researcher and taken on responsibilities for university leadership and management. Diana Veneros has a PhD in Comparative History from Brandeis University (USA).