UIC Library faculty member serves as visiting scholar at Tecnológico de Monterrey

Postgraduate students in education and humanities at Tecnológico de Monterrey who participated in a research ethics training workshop. Front, left to right: Rubén Mejía González, Paola Virginia Tamborrell Hernández, Jung Mi Scoulas and Dr. Raúl Carlos Verduzco Garza. Back, left to right: Samara Villalón Tavizon and Noé Ángel Arizmendi Escobedo.

Jung Mi Scoulas, associate professor and assessment coordinator at the UIC Library, was selected to participate as a visiting scholar through the Faculty Mobility Program at Tecnológico de Monterrey. The program was sponsored by the Mexican and Mexican American Student Initiative of the University of Illinois System.

During her visit between May 11-27, Scoulas engaged in academic and collaborative activities focused on educational innovation, assessment and international research practices. She served as a panelist for "Redesigning Science, Education and Wellbeing," the Academic Forum Doctorate in Educational Innovation; delivered guest lectures on assessment in educational settings, including "Cognitive Psychology in the Classroom: Attention, Information Processing, and Assessment" for undergraduate students in Innovation Management and Learning Experience Design; and facilitated workshops on Navigating Ethical Research and International Collaboration Across U.S. and Mexican Contexts for undergraduate students in cognitive neuroscience and graduate students in humanities and education.

Additional activities included:

• Meeting with library leadership to explore Tecnológico de Monterrey's library systems across its university system, including mission, vision, assessment practices and alignment with the library's priorities and metrics and to discuss potential collaborations supporting student learning.
• Meeting with faculty, researchers and administrators within the School of Humanities and Education to explore opportunities for future cross-institutional collaboration, research partnerships and community-focused initiatives.
• Exchanging ideas with faculty experts in educational equity and social impact initiatives, including approaches to assessing and measuring the impact of projects addressing systemic inequality.
• Visiting the Education, Research and Digital Humanities Lab.

"It was inspiring to engage with students, faculty, researchers, library leadership and administrators at Tecnológico de Monterrey and to learn more about the university's strong commitment to preparing future leaders through innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and experiential learning," said Scoulas. "I was especially interested in the university's approach to connecting academic learning with industry and community partnerships to help students develop practical and leadership skills. I hope to incorporate aspects of these innovative teaching and collaborative models into my future classes and look forward to continued international collaboration and future partnerships."

Founded in 1943, Tecnológico de Monterrey is a private university in Mexico with 26 campuses, more than 9,000 faculty members and over 90,000 students enrolled across high school, undergraduate and graduate programs.

The mission of the Mexican and Mexican American Student Initiative is to "increase the recruitment of Mexican and Mexican-American students within the University of Illinois System while building a large-scale presence with Mexican academic, research and private sector institutions."

- Andrea Smith, UIC Library