LCC administrator attends global meeting in Mexico

A select group of 38 individuals from around the world, including a Laredo Community College administrator, attended the 76th annual "Jornada Informativa del IME," or a meeting of professionals of Mexican descent living abroad, held June 2-5 in Mexico City.

Felix Gamez, LCC's Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management, represented the United States during the conference. This was the first time LCC was invited to attend the Mexican Foreign Affairs Department's event.

This year's theme focused on the importance of having colleges and universities throughout the world work more closely on projects that affect global industries.

Representatives from Japan, Australia, China, France, Canada, Germany, Holland, and New Zealand also were among the guests.

"The top three global issues we face today are in the science, education, and technology field," Gamez said. "The Mexican government realizes that strong cooperation among countries is important. When institutions share ideas and resources, a country will be in a better position to focus on their issues much better."

A segment of the conference time was devoted to the education field.

Based on information provided during the conference, Gamez said that private and public sectors all over the world agree that college and university graduates need to have better critical thinking skills in order to solve problems.

"One possible solution to this is for LCC to take a leadership role in developing a program geared toward enhancing both critical thinking and communication in both English and Spanish," Gamez said.

According to Gamez, the ability to communicate well has been the main problem for all industries, and language barriers create a bigger problem.

"Two of the most spoken languages in the world are English and Spanish," Gamez added. As the world's top countries with the largest population and economic power, China and India have adopted English as one of their 'business' languages.

"The logical recommendation to be more competitive in the global economy of any industry sector is to master the critical thinking skills in both English and Spanish," Gamez said.

Gamez is currently working with LCC administrators to establish the college as a forerunner in teaching critical thinking skills and English throughout the globe using distance learning technology. That issue will be presented to the group next year.

"The goal of all this is that in order for something to work, there needs to be continuity," Gamez said.

All 38 guests have been invited to attend next year's meeting in Mexico City.