The University of Jaén (UJA), through its Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization, conducted an institutional mission in the United States between May and June with the aim of consolidating academic and scientific alliances. The delegation, led by Vice-Rector José Ignacio Jiménez González, along with Myriam Cano Rubio and Beatriz Valverde Jiménez, participated in the world's foremost higher education forum and visited partner universities.
The UJA's presence at NAFSA 2026, held in Orlando, USA, from May 25th to 29th, brought together over 8,000 attendees. Under the theme ‘Global by Design’, the event discussed the transformation of university internationalization in response to current challenges. As part of the Study in Spain pavilion, the university held meetings with representatives from over 35 institutions across the Americas and Asia-Pacific to enhance its projection and partnerships in mobility, collaborative teaching, and the promotion of Spanish language learning.
Additionally, the delegation made institutional visits to prestigious partner universities such as Vanderbilt University (Tennessee), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (Alabama), and Georgia Southern University (Georgia). During these visits, joint academic initiatives were designed, and the exchange of researchers and faculty was promoted in fields including Engineering, Health Sciences, and Education.
“"The fundamental purpose of these meetings has been for cooperation with these prestigious North American institutions to directly impact the campus's daily life through so-called ‘internationalization at home’. To achieve this, the UJA places the launch of International Collaborative Online Learning (COIL) projects, the attraction of visiting faculty and researchers, and the development of summer programs for cultural and linguistic immersion as a transversal priority in its curriculum, facilitating both the learning of Spanish in Jaén for US students and international training for UJA students in the United States."
