Associate Dean Enrique R. Vivoni promotes graduate degrees and institutional design in Chihuahua

By invitation from the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua (UACH), Associate Dean of the Graduate College Enrique R. Vivoni led a workshop on Sustainability and Convergence that promoted the trajectory of Arizona State University as an innovator in institutional design around use-inspired, interdisciplinary research in the field of sustainability. 

As UACH is undergoing a significant redesign of their own institution, the topics discussed on how to use water resources sustainability as a cross-cutting, pan-institutional effort resonated with the twenty faculty members present. Additional participation from faculty members and administrators from Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, the State Water Agency of Chihuahua and the University of Texas at El Paso made the event multi-institutional and multi-sectoral. Through this active-learning effort, ASU and UACH officially began a collaboration that is anticipated to include an international accelerated degree program (IADP), faculty and student visits and exchanges, and research collaborations on cross-border topics such as water with an eye toward leading a regional effort for the US-Mexico border. 

Through the request of the engineering, chemistry and ecology departments, Dr. Vivoni also conducted several sessions with undergraduate and graduate students to discuss opportunities to study at ASU, including funding mechanisms from Fulbright-Garcia Robles and ASU-CONACYT fellowship programs. 

Questions were answered on the processes and timeline of graduate admissions and the impact of a graduate education on career development. 

Through these international initiatives, the Graduate College is promoting inclusion and diversity of the graduate student body at ASU as well as broadening our role in mobilizing use-inspired research that makes an impact on our region.