Signing the formal agreement between UM and Jamaica’s University of  Technology are, from left, UTech’s Gossett Oliver, Claire Sutherland, Errol Morrison, and Sean Thorpe, UM’s Brian Blake, and UTech’s Arnett Campbell.

UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (February 6, 2014) — When Brian Blake joined the University of Miami as vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School in 2012, among his strategic initiatives was extending UM’s graduate education footprint into the Caribbean, Latin America, and Spain. On January 30, Blake took another significant step toward that goal when, inspired by recent advances in cloud computing and computational sciences and ongoing related research collaborations between UM and Jamaica’s national University of Technology, the two institutions formally agreed to expand their joint research in information and communication technology.

Officially signed during the 2014 semiannual meeting of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) in Montego Bay, their memorandum of understanding is designed to promote the exchange of students, researchers, and professors, and the development of new research projects, courses, and academic programs, including investigating a potential joint Ph.D. program. The agreement evolved from Blake’s involvement as an external examiner for UTech’s first Ph.D. graduate, Sean Thorpe, the program director for graduate studies at UTech’s School of Computing and Information Technology.

“There is a significant opportunity here to leverage the unique academic platforms of each institution to create a structure that simultaneously advances the graduate missions of both,” said Blake, who is also a professor of computer science, electrical engineering, and human genetics. “The leadership and faculty at UTech share UM’s ambitions to create innovative graduate educational experiences that are distinct to our region.”

Under the agreement, one faculty member from UTech’s School of Computing and Information Technology will join UM’s Ph.D. program in Computer Science through a graduate assistantship provided by the University’s Graduate School. Both institutions envision cross-border cooperation in information and communication technology research that leverages the strengths in innovation and cultural diversity at each university. Blake also has initiated similar discussions with Complutense University of Madrid, where he will deliver a keynote address later this year, and with the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel Foundation (CAPES), which will communicate UM’s strategy to more than 500 institutions in the South American region.

In addition to Blake and Thorpe, the agreement was signed by UTech’s President Errol Morrison; Claire Sutherland, senior director of International and Institutional Linkages; Gossett Oliver, deputy president (acting) and vice president of the School of Graduate Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship; and Arnett Campbell, head of the School of Computing and Information Technology.