Sustaining International Education Exchange as an Upmost Priority in the Midst of an Economic Downturn

Join leaders and practitioners of higher education, business, government and students at Rice University in the city of Houston, Texas for CONAHEC’s 13th North American Higher Education Conference!North Americans share many historical, cultural, and linguistic bonds and have many common issues to face. Since the signing of NAFTA, our region has become the largest trading block in the world, inextricably linked by growing economic ties. Leaders in North America recognize that regional and individual community prosperity depends largely on the global competencies of our future professionals -- today's students.A decade and a half into NAFTA, it is evident that our region must develop stronger, more productive and more resilient linkages both internally and with other world regions. Governmental and educational leaders acknowledge that higher education institutions in North America must be more proactive in offering students opportunities to gain international expertise by becoming more internationally oriented while simultaneously strengthening local connections in their teaching, research and public service functions. Higher education has an important role to play in strengthening North America and connecting it with the rest of the world.