LASPAU is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Harvard University and governed by an independent, inter-American board of trustees. LASPAU began in 1964 as a cooperative enterprise between Harvard, the Ford Foundation, and the Colombian student loan agency ICETEX to provide opportunities for undergraduate study in the United States to academically talented Colombian youth of limited economic means. Over the following two decades, LASPAU’s activities grew to involve most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, LASPAU works with a wide variety of funding agencies and university partners throughout the world. LASPAU-administered graduate, non-degree, and sponsored research programs include faculty development, environmental sustainability, professional development, science and technology, and leadership. One of LASPAU’s primary assets is its staff members, who have extensive linguistic, cultural, educational, and practical experience in the region.

Throughout its history, LASPAU has been best known for its work in strengthening Latin American and Caribbean institutions through educational exchange programs designed to provide individuals with increased expertise in their academic disciplines through graduate study abroad. Many of the institutions that have benefited from these efforts are universities that are now seeking assistance in enhancing the pedagogical skills of their faculty, creating more effective learning environments for their students, and expanding the leadership capabilities of academic and administrative deans through LASPAU’s Institute for the Development of Academic Innovation. LASPAU further strengthens Latin American universities by offering the PAEP, a Spanish-language graduate admissions exam that provides universities with an objective instrument to evaluate applicants for their graduate programs and to serve as a diagnostic tool, thus enhancing the likelihood of student success.

LASPAU services focus on three primary areas:

Scholarship Programs

LASPAU is the leading educational exchange organization focused on Latin America and the Caribbean. Since its founding, over 20,000 scientists, professors, and professionals have received grants for both degree and non-degree studies through LASPAU-administered programs. Although the majority of program grantees have been university faculty, LASPAU has also developed programs targeted to community leaders, energy professionals, environmental researchers, science and technology managers, and other specialized populations. LASPAU services for scholarship programs include:

• needs assessment
• program financing and evaluation strategies
• program promotion
• participant recruitment and selection
• identification of appropriate academic programs for grantees
• admission and financial aid negotiations
• grantee monitoring throughout the academic program
• J-1 visa sponsorship for grantees studying in the United States
• narrative and financial reporting to sponsors

LASPAU currently administers programs on behalf of the Fulbright Program of the United States Department of State, the Organization of American States, COLCIENCIAS, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Ministry of Education of Chile, and other corporations, foundations, universities, and government agencies throughout the Americas.

For more information, please contact: Craig Hastings, Associate Director for Programs, (617) 495-0432, craig_hastings@harvard.edu

Institutuional Development

The Iniciativa para el Desarrollo de la Innovación Académica (IDIA)—the Initiative for the Development of Academic Innovation—helps higher education institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean address the question of how to achieve and maintain a high standard of academic quality. Through IDIA, LASPAU partners with higher education institutions to develop innovative, customized programs that foster a sustainable culture of teaching excellence and effective learning. Program activities can take place either on site at the partner institution or on the campus of Harvard University.

Since IDIA’s inception in 2005, the initiative has assisted universities from Mexico to Chile through activities that include:

• assessment of institutional needs
• development and implementation of customized programs
• workshops on academic leadership, effective teaching and learning, pedagogical competencies, university-community relations, and similar topics
• academic visits for university leaders to Harvard University and other exemplary institutions
• online training for faculty and administrators through innovative learning systems.

IDIA is providing a means for students, faculty, and administrators at universities throughout Latin America to reflect on teaching, learning, and leadership issues and to implement improvements in a way that best meets the specific needs of each institution. IDIA is also a vehicle through which best practices in effective teaching and learning are provided to universities with the goal of improving the academic experiences of students and their long-term professional success.

For more information, please contact: Angelica Natera, Program and Development Officer, (617) 495-0488, angelica_natera@harvard.edu

The assessment of knowledge and skills through standardized testing provides scholarship program sponsors and university administrators with a transparent means of evaluating candidates for grant programs or university admission and identifying specific competencies that they need to strengthen. Since 1994, LASPAU has used the Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Posgrado (PAEP), a standardized graduate admissions exam in Spanish, as a part of the grantee selection process on behalf of program sponsors. LASPAU also offers the PAEP to higher education institutions as a component of its efforts to strengthen higher education in Latin America. The exam measures academic ability and cognitive skills.

The PAEP was developed by the Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec) in Mexico with assistance from the College Board. On behalf of the Tec, LASPAU provides the PAEP to an average of 18 program sponsors and Latin American universities outside of Mexico who test approximately 3,500 scholarship and graduate program applicants each year.

For more information, please contact: Kim Conant, Testing Assistant, (617) 495-3188, laspau-paep@calists.harvard.edu

LASPAU
25 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-6095
USA
Tel: (617) 495-5255
Fax: (617) 495-8990
http://www.laspau.harvard.edu/