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INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION

Building a Regional Academic Credit System in Latin America

Jane Knight
Jane Knight is adjunct professor in the Comparative, International and Development Education Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto; and adviser to the 6x4 UELAC Project—A Dialogue Among Universities. E-mail: janeknight@sympatico.ca.

SICA and CAT are new tools that have been developed to help create a common academic credit system and a "community of higher education" in Latin America. SICA stands for Sistema de Creditos Academicos (System for Academic Credits) and CAT is an abbreviation for Complemento al Titulo (Complement to the Title). Both of these tools are part of the 6x4 UEALC (European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean Common Space for Higher Education) project—a "bottom-up initiative" of higher education institutions and organizations from across Latin America. The project's four major areas of work include the creation of (1) strategies to describe and evaluate competency-based learning , (2) a regionwide academic credit system, (3) a common reference framework for integrating the evaluation of competencies into quality assurance and accreditation systems, and (4) a list of key competencies for research and innovation and related training strategies. The lead organization to design and manage the project was CENEVAL (National Centre for the Assessment of Higher Education) in Mexico, and ASCUN (Colombian Association of Universities) is now taking the leadership for the next phase. The overall goal is to improve the quality of higher education in Latin America and to facilitate greater collaboration and mobility among the higher education institutions within the region and with the higher education sector in Europe.

SICA—Sistema de Creditos Academicos
Regionalization is an increasingly important phenomenon and is very evident in the higher education sector. New regional networks and initiatives for quality assurance, credit systems, research, recognition of qualifications, among others, are being implemented in all regions of the world. This is true in Latin America—but to a lesser extent. The development of SICA and CAT are important instruments to develop a regional community of higher education and to enable greater cooperation and harmony among the higher education systems in Latin America. SICA aims to contribute to the quality of higher education through using a common and transparent system for the measurement and expression of the academic work and learning outcomes achieved by a student in an academic program and to facilitate the mutual recognition of credits and qualifications. SICA has been developed in response to the particular needs and characteristics of the higher education institutions and national education systems in Latin America. At the same time, it is compatible with the European Credit Transfer system in order to promote further collaboration and student mobility with higher education institutions in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

By working directly with academics and higher education institutions, a bottom-up approach was used to develop SICA. The first step was to compare the existing credit systems used at institutional, national, or subregional levels in the different countries of Latin America. After an extensive information gathering and consultation process, common reference points among the diverse systems were identified in terms of duration of academic programs, definition of a common academic credit unit, and the range of credits for different levels of qualifications. A preliminary set of assumptions and criteria for the accumulation and transfer of credits was developed and tested by higher education institutions across the region. This was followed by a feasibility test of three different proposals for the measurement of student workload in hours. The results of this pilot indicated that one SICA credit equal to 32 hours of study was the optimal value. At the same time, an opinion survey was distributed to over 1,400 higher education actors in Latin America, and the results showed strong support for the development of a regional academic system based on student workload and the desire for it to be compatible with the European system.

The basic concept of SICA is based on the total amount of work that a student completes during a specific academic period in order to achieve the learning objectives and outcomes. A fundamental assumption is that an academic credit measures all of the work the student has completed including contact teaching hours with an instructor in classes, seminars, laboratories, or field work, as well independent study time in the library, group or individual work, and preparation for exams. SICA is based on the premise that agreements of equivalencies will be established for the common academic unit according to the norms of each country. Thus SICA acts as a common currency for the translation of student workload into academic credits that are recognized and understood across the countries in Latin America.

CAT—Complemento al Titulo
CAT is a document that provides data on the student; the name, level, and function of the qualification; the results obtained, the program of study, and the institution that is awarding the qualification and/or where the studies took place. The appendices give reference information on the higher education system of the country where the qualification was conferred and the type of quality assurance systems for higher education institutions and programs. This information adds value to the qualification in terms of facilitating access to the labor market and further education. CAT has used the Diploma Supplement from Europe as a guide but has adapted and added to it in order for CAT to be useful to the particular conditions and needs of students and higher education institutions in Latin America.

The intended purpose of CAT is to increase the transparency and comparability of different qualifications within and between countries in Latin America and to expedite the recognition of qualifications for further academic studies and/or professional purposes. CAT has been designed as both an electronic and paper document and will be beneficial for students, higher education institutions, employers, and professional associations.

Next Steps
The widespread adoption and implementation of SICA and CAT are critical next steps for higher education institutions, organizations, and governmental bodies at local, national, and regional levels. The work to promote the use of SICA and CAT will include a wide variety of activities that will differ from country to country and even from institution to institution. At the regional level there is an opportunity to have these two instruments directly linked to the Latin American Regional UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications. At the current time, important efforts are being made to update and promote the use of this UNESCO Regional Convention given the diversity of new providers, new programs, new types of qualification, and the increasing mobility of students and new graduates seeking further education or employment in other countries. It is timely that SICA, CAT, and the UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications can collectively and individually contribute to the quality of higher education in Latin America, facilitate a more transparent and common system for the recognition of qualifications and the accumulation/transfer of academic credits, and help create a vibrant regional community of higher education in Latin America.

[Online] Available: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number44/p18_Knight.htm