Message from the
Secretary General
Thank you for your interest in UMAP. UMAP is an innovative organization that facilitates student mobility in the Asia-Pacific region.
It is with great honour that Vancouver Community College (VCC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, assumes the role of UMAP International Secretariat for a five-year term (2021-2025) and we are excited to build upon successes completed to date.
We look forward to continuing the great work of the UMAP IS, especially during the turbulent times we have experienced the past year as a result of COVID-19. We also look forward to expanding membership countries and participating institutions, building upon the UMAP Student Connection Online (USCO) system, and UMAP-COIL programs.
With the generous support of Global Affairs Canada, we will be implementing a new scholarship program during our tenure that will support more higher education students, particularly those who do not traditionally engage in student mobility programs.
We would like to recognize the representatives from Thailand, in particular, Dr. Sumate Yamnoon for serving as UMAP Chairperson from 2019-2020, and thank the representatives from Toyo University for leading the UMAP IS with great rigor, enthusiasm, and integrity. Thank you for your tireless dedication, passion, and mission to building the UMAP consortium. Your work has brought the consortium to a new level of organization, administration, and growth.
We would also like to welcome the incoming UMAP Board leaders and Chairperson, Dr. J. Prospero E. De Vera III, DPA, incoming UMAP IS Chairperson, Commission on Higher Education, and ATTY Lily Frieda M. Milla, OIC Deputy Executive Director, Commission on Higher Education, National Secretariat for the Philippines.
We look forward to our term as UMAP IS where we can learn together in this new world environment for higher education, and build mobility programs with growing emphasis on sustainable development, equity, diversity and inclusion, and intercultural collaboration.
Ajay Patel
Secretary General of UMAP International Secretariat
President, Vancouver Community College