USD School of Business Partners with Mexico's CETYS to Offer First Master's Degree Outside U.S.

The University of San Diego’s international education presence is well-documented and its global learning outreach is extensive. But, on June 11, the institution's School of Business held a signing ceremony to celebrate an international first.

Effective immediately, USD entered into an agreement with Centro de Enseñanza Técnica Y Superior (CETYS) to offer USD’s Master of Science in Global Leadership (MSGL) degree program at the latter’s Mexicali, Mexico campus.

The ceremony, held in the Degheri Alumni Center boardroom Tuesday, brought together USD President James T. Harris III, D.Ed., CETYS President Dr. Fernando Léon, USD School of Business Dean Dr. Jaime Gómez and CETYS’ Dr. Monica López, dean of its graduate school of business.

“This is the first time USD is offering a master’s degree outside of the United States, so we are building history here,” said Gómez.

The MSGL degree will be part of a double business degree offering at the private institution in Mexico.  CETYS graduate students can earn an MBA from their institution and the MSGL from USD. The MSGL degree program, which began at USD in 1999, will begin at CETYS in July 2019.

All four signing table participants spoke of the significance of the degree partnership, about working together and what it means for not only students, but faculty interaction that could lead to additional opportunities.

“We couldn’t ask for a better university to partner with,” said President Harris when speaking about CEYTS and his admiration and respect for President Léon. “It’s a great honor to be here today and sign this agreement. I’m very excited about this program and where we’re headed.”

Léon was equally enthusiastic about the possibilities. He praised USD for its “exemplary commitment to develop global context and international partnerships,” and that CEYTS is equally committed to “cross-border cooperation,” especially in such a strong region of the world. “There is no region like this in the world. It makes sense to put together programs such as this to develop the region as a magnet for global talent.”

“Combining the expertise of these two institutions, each on its side of the border, creates a unique synergy,” Léon continued. “It comes together in terms of the interaction of faculty with students, but it also brings faculty together and that can create a whole series of activities that carries over, such as joint projects, consulting, research, publications and maybe other joint programs.”

For now, though, CETYS and USD are focused on the present.

“Initially, this allows our Mexican students, particularly from Baja California, to receive the knowledge, expertise, best practices, connections and links necessary to deploy themselves successfully on both sides of the border,” Léon said.

Denise Dimon, PhD, USD’s associate provost for international affairs, appreciates what it means to have this type of degree program opportunity come to fruition.

“The reason why we can do this at USD is because the culture supports it. We have to have a network across campus that supports the idea of internationalization,” she said. “It was the same with the Madrid Center, same with our undergraduate international dual degree program and now with a master’s program outside of the U.S. We all want to teach our students to be Changemakers, but that also means that the institution has to be a Changemaker. We think we are. We do get a lot of support for new initiatives here at USD.”

Faculty members from USD will teach all MSGL courses, traveling on weekends to CETYS’ state-of-the-art facility in Mexicali. CETYS, which has additional campuses in Tijuana and Ensenada, will offer the MSGL courses in English and CETYS students must complete all coursework and meet all USD MSGL degree requirements. Both universities are WASC-accredited.

While the master’s degree partnership is new, this isn’t a first for USD’s School of Business and CETYS to enjoy collaborative learning opportunities. Students from both universities have worked on course assignments together to share cross-border perspectives; MBA students have worked together on consulting projects for companies doing business on both sides of the border; students attended workshops together on international themes; and CETYS students have competed in USD’s entrepreneurial competitions.

“This is a tangible result of many years of sustained collaboration … I’m thankful to Dean Gómez for this opportunity to strengthen our partnership and to continue it in the best interest of our future global leaders,” CETYS’ López said. “This ambitious program puts together the best collective wisdom and practice of both programs. Its innovative learning model is designed to connect global teachers to those practitioners who will be transformed into agents of change.”

— Ryan T. Blystone

Videos in English (top), en Español (bottom) by Lissette Martinez