As part of their professional development and strengthening of internationalization, academics from CETYS University take part in the ACE Fellows leadership program of the American Council on Education (ACE). The program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in higher education through the identification and training of faculty and staff for senior positions in university administration through a nomination-based mentoring model.

For the 2020-2021 class, Dr. Diana E. Woolfolk-Ruiz, Deputy Director of International Relations of the CETYS University System, based at the Ensenada International Campus, was nominated internally to be part of this program. Over ten CETYS academics and administrators have graduated from this program over the years, making CETYS the institution that has successfully nominated more participants for this program.

Dr. Woolfolk Ruiz explained that prior to being selected to take part along with over 40 academics and directors of higher education institutions in the United States, she took part in an interview process conducted by presidents from other universities and ACE staff, where they discussed higher education issues, opportunities, challenges to face as professionals, leadership, and administration.

Once she was accepted into the program, Dr. Diana Woolfolk selected Southern Connecticut State University for her placement. She chose this institution because of its commitment to projects on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as for its programs in ​​business, health and science, student success, and sports, among others.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the class began the program in September 2021 and concludes in June 2022, which consists of periodic visits to the selected university, taking part in meetings with the leadership team, individual meetings with key actors of the university and the community, which allows identifying leadership styles and best practices.

“It is a transformational experience because you learn from other peers. You are constantly in contact with education leaders, which allows you to grow by identifying areas for improvement. But above all, you realize that the institution where you work is an institution of high quality that remains at the forefront, that CETYS bets on its staff. You are aware that the development of its people is part of CETYS strategy to continue growing and consolidating itself,” said Dr. Woolfolk-Ruiz.

In this sense, she mentioned that her participation in the ACE Fellows at a public university has helped her identify new approaches, in addition to learning about the educational system of the United States, the processes of opening a program and its accreditation, and the challenges in admissions, among others.

“The goal for all of us who are taking part in this program is to learn and identify what skills we should strengthen or develop, to find opportunities for improvement in the position or in the job where we are, besides identifying, and this is very important, in which other position would we like to collaborate, discovering how we can help to the institutional strategy,” added Dr. Woolfolk-Ruiz.

She highlighted that something she has learned in this program is shared leadership, delegating activities in the right dimension, having the right people in the right seat, and identifying which “seat” you would like to be in. Identifying too what can be done, so that this “seat” is the right option to continue growing. Openness and flexibility are key aspects of the program.

“This is what the ACE Fellows program gives you, the certainty that you are taking part because your institution identifies leadership qualities in you. The program allows you to reflect on other areas of learning and analyze that we must be open to new challenges to get out of our comfort zone. This program gave me openness, adaptability, flexibility, identifying that there are many things that we don’t know yet, and accepting that will allow us to continue advancing,” said Dr. Woolfolk-Ruiz.

Finally, the professor recognized that CETYS University is an institution that supports the internationalization, development, and growth of its faculty and administrators.

“Without a doubt, CETYS is investing resources, betting on the development of its staff. Allowing us to take part in these programs is a great effort. My recognition to CETYS University for being the institution with the largest number of foreign participants in this program,” concluded Dr. Diana Woolfolk-Ruiz.