 Fraño Paukner Nogués (MA ‘90), who went on to earn his Ph.D. in Spain, is part of a team charged with bringing doctoral-level educational opportunities to his native Chile. He visited the College last summer to study what he considers to be a successful model.
Paukner said his team, which consists of representatives from five Chilean universities, aims to increase the number of Chilean citizens who earn their doctorates in education in their home country.
“It’s expensive to send all of the people abroad to get a Ph.D.,” Paukner said.
Other members of Paukner’s task force studied doctoral programs in Mexico, Canada, and in Europe. Paukner said he chose the UI College of Education because of his positive experiences here as a student. He said the College has impressive faculty, offers great courses, and uses an excellent system for selecting Ph.D. candidates. He said he also respects the College’s dissertation process.
“The College of Education is a very prestigious institution,” he said.
Paukner, a professor at Universidad Catolica Del Maule, said the goal is to create a design for Chile’s new Ph.D. programs by 2010 or 2011. He said he’s proud to be part of what he sees as an important endeavor.
“I love my country and I think the best thing I can do to improve it is to improve the quality of education,” he said. “A great country is made by great citizens and great citizens are the result of great education.”
Associate Dean David Bills said the College is also proud to have hosted Paukner and looks forward to a continued relationship with his country’s educational institutions.
“We have a number of good partnerships with colleges around the world. It’s nice to have people we can exchange ideas with in Chile,” he said. “We see this as a nice opportunity to build that relationship.”
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