Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

The Southern Regional Meeting of the Brazilian Association for International Education (FAUBAI) is taking place at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina for the first time, on Monday and Tuesday, 16 and 17 December. On Monday, the event gathered 45 representatives from the universities of Southern Brazil with the aim to share experiences and strategies, as well as to foster the discussion about the main challenges of international education in the region.

Participating in the opening ceremony of the event, along with the Vice-President of FAUBAI, Eliane Segatti, and the Rector Ubaldo Cesar Balthazar, were the members of the UFSC Internationalization Committee: the Prorector for Outreach and Extension, Rogério Cid; the Prorector for Graduate Studies, Cristiane Derani; the Secretary for International Relations, Lincoln Fernandes; and, representing the Prorectorate for Research, the professor Armando Albertazzi. The Internationalization Committee is the group responsible for elaborating and discussing strategies to promote internationalization at UFSC.

“Internationalization exists with a goal”, the Secretary for International Relations stated, opening the ceremony. The goal, according to the Secretary, is to create a context of quality educationt and to develop teaching, research and outreach from internationalization actions within the current political and economic context of Brazil. These challenges are the main themes of the FAUBAI Southern Regional Meeting (FAUBAI Sul), entitled “Challenges and opportunities for the internationalization of Brazilian higher education”.

The Rector Ubaldo Balthazar, during the end of the opening ceremony, stressed the importance of developing internationalization at UFSC, remarking that this is considered a significant criterion in the evaluation of academic programs by the Ministry of Education and by the University itself. However, he criticized how universities have been encouraging academic production only for the sake of obtaining a higher score and not for the development of the institutions and the academic community. “I hope it will be two days of intense discussions for the internationalization development of our University”, he concluded.

According to the Director of International Relations, Diogo Robl, internationalization is a lot more than just encouraging and promoting student exchange programs. “Internationalization is, also, to have a community capable of interacting with the globalized world, capable of establishing research and outreach connections… It appears in every area here at UFSC”, explains the director. For this reason, the FAUBAI Sul meeting brings discussions regarding language policies, the context of internationalization in the Southern Region, and internationalization in times of political and economic crisis.

The event is also a preparation for the University, which will host the 2021 edition of the FAUBAI Conference.

See the full program of the event here.