Ana Milena Lucumi Orostegui tiene un bachillerato en filosofía, letras y pedagogía de la Universidad del Valle, la universidad pública de la ciudad de Cali, tercera ciudad en población de su natal Colombia. Obtuvo una maestría en Sistemas de instrucción y tecnología educativa en la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón de Puerto Rico. Obtuvo su doctorado en Instructional Technologies and Distance Education de Nova Southeastern University, universidad ubicada en la Florida, EU. Actualmente, desde el 2011, funge como Vicepresidenta de Efectividad y Asuntos Estudiantiles de National University College. Desarrolló el Modelo Institucional de Retención en esta institución, en un marco de desarrollo de destrezas socioemocionales y de resiliencia para propiciar la retención y la persistencia del estudiante en la vida universitaria. Escribió el himno de National University College titulado “Contra toda adversidad” como un regalo a los estudiantes graduados de NUC. El mismo se estrenó en la Colación de grados del 2013.
Hasta mayo de 2011 fungió como Directora de Educación a Distancia del Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez (SUAGM), donde entre diversas experiencias a lo largo de 11 años, se destacó como co-líder en el equipo de trabajo que desarrolló el proyecto Universidad Virtual Ana G. Méndez, hoy Ana G Mendez Online, completando el autoestudio hasta lograr la licencia del CEPR, hoy CEPR y proponiendo un modelo multimedial de diseño instruccional de cursos en línea. Ha sido profesora conferenciante en las Universidades del SUAGM, Universidad Metropolitana, Universidad del Este y Universidad del Turabo, en cursos subgraduados y graduados en educación, educación y tecnología, educación de adultos, sistemas de instrucción y tecnología asistida. Sus áreas de interés en el campo de la investigación son la retención a nivel universitaria, la educación virtual, diseño instruccional, ambientes de aprendizaje inclusivos y la integración de tecnologías multimediales en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
La Dra. Lucumi ha ofrecido talleres y conferencias en eventos locales y a nivel internacional, en República Dominicana, Costa Rica, México, Estados Unidos y Colombia.
Publicó un poemario llamado Lunamar y posteriormente ha sido publicado en varias antologías de mujeres poetas del Museo Rayo de Colombia. En el año 2010 el Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia publicó el libro Antología de poetas afrocolombianas y una de las 16 poetas es la Dra. Ana Milena Lucumi.
Dr. Ojeda Ayala is a retired professor from the University of the Sacred Heart, where she started in January of 1974. In 1984 she completed her doctoral degree, with a major in research and instructional development, from Purdue University in Indiana. She also has a master’s degree in Psychology of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York. Her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology are from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. While her academic experience has been dedicated to teaching at the higher education level, especially graduate studies, she had all her academic training within the Puerto Rico public school system, which inspires her to engage in the optimization of the educational process, with emphasis on how technology can contribute to the positive transformation of these processes.
After obtaining her doctoral degree in 1984, she returned to Puerto Rico and, along with other colleagues, worked on the proposal for the creation of the first graduate program in Instructional Systems and Educational Technology in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, which officially started in 1985. In 1987, she became President of the Association for Communication and Educational Technology of Puerto Rico (ACTE-PR), and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rican Institute for Peace. For ten years she has been part of the Board of Directors of Advancer Local Development, an entity of community-based urban and economic development in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Ojeda Ayala has excelled also as a consultant in programs design, especially in the evaluation of educational programs, instructional designer, testing and system development of programmatic and administrative audit of tests. She drafted questions and chaired the Committee of Professional Competencies for the first Teacher Certification Test administered by the College Board of Puerto Rico. She has also conducted research for the industry and developed instructional designs.
Her research interests are oriented towards the study of cognitive processes mediated by technology, the interactions between the real contexts and learning in virtual environments, and other related topics.
To contact Dr. Ojeda you can call the HETS office at (787)250-1912 extensions, 2372, 2373 or via email at: academics@hets.org.
HETS Bylaws, as amended on 2012, dedicate its Article III to the HETS Board of Directors. On this article establishes that the affairs of the Consortium shall be managed by the Board of Directors. Each member institution may have a representative in the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee, which leads the Board of Directors, is elected by Board representatives from member institutions. The term of service is two years, commencing July 1st and ending on June 30th, or until his or her successor has been elected or designated. Meet current HETS Executive Committee as elected on July 2018:
Chair
Dr. Carlos Vargas-Aburto
President
Southeast Missouri State University
Dr. Carlos Vargas became the 18th president of Southeast Missouri State University on July 1, 2015, after having served as acting president at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He also served as the provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Kutztown, and was the school’s chief academic officer since 2006.
Prior to his tenure at Kutztown, Dr. Vargas was at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs. He previously served in several roles at Kent State University (Ohio) for a total of 18 years, including founding director of the program on electron beam technology. He was also Kent’s associate dean for research, interim assistant dean for research, and he served as interim assistant dean for the School of Technology. He started his tenure at Kent State in 1985 as a professor, and continued to teach until his departure from the university.
Dr. Vargas began his career in higher-education at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. His initial appointment was as a senior associate researcher for the Institute of Geophysics, and he later held a similar position for the University’s Institute of Physics.
He earned his Ph.D. in physics and aerospace science from the University of Michigan and he has Master of Science degrees from Michigan in physics and aerospace science.
Vice Chair & Central Representative
Dr. Carlos Morales President TCC Connect Campus of Tarrant County College (Texas)
Dr. Morales become TCC Connect’s President in 2013. Before that, he was the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Distance Education Programs at Ana G. Méndez University- Virtual Campus. As such, he provided leadership, vision and planning for the implementation of courses and programs for online delivery.
Previously he was the Executive Director of Academic Technology at Lock Haven University responsible for the delivery of online courses, the incorporation of technology for teaching and learning, faculty development, the STEP program (a student laptop initiative) and also facilitated campus conversations on academic technology. Prior to Lock Haven University, Dr. Morales was the Instructional Designer for the Center for Instructional and Technological Innovation (CITI) at New Jersey City University, responsible for instructional technology staff.
Carlos has extensive online and classroom teaching experience in the areas of: Biology, Science Teaching and Instructional Technology. He also holds professional certifications as Distance Learning Administration Professional from Texas A&M University and Certified Online Instructor (COI) from Walden University. Morales graduated from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, with bachelors and master’s degrees in Biology and Science Education, and received his doctorate, with a dissertation on Constructivist Learning Environments in Online Course Design, from Capella University. He was a Frye fellow in 2009.
Treasurer
Mr. Manuel J. Fernós, Esq. President Inter American University of Puerto Rico
Manuel J. Fernós, Esq., has been the President of Inter American University of Puerto Rico since 1999. Prior to this, he was the Chancellor of the Metropolitan Campus, Dean of Studies and Dean of the School of Law. Since 1984 he holds the rankofprofessor at the IAUPR’s law school.
He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Society and Educators and Scholars (since 1996), also the former President of the Association of Colleges and Private Universities in Puerto Rico (2003-2005), recently re elected as the Treasurer of HETS, former HETS Chair and Secretary, Vice President and Former Treasurer of Red Latinoamericana of Private Universities and Member of the Administrative Council of the International Association of Universities with headquarters in France since 2008. Among several national and international recognition’s along his career, must be highlighted the award from The Complutense University of Madrid with the Honorary Membership of the Comparative Law Institute.
The Salvation Army also awarded him for his leadership in education and community involvement. Fernós’ vision of Inter American University of Puerto Rico is the internalization of its academic offerings by establishing consortiums and collaborative agreements with other institutions such as: Harris Manchester College- Oxford University, Bologna University, the University of Salamanca, Complutense University of Madrid and The School of Communications in Beiging, China. In September 21, 2007 he signed the Magna Charta Universitatum.
Aware of the needs of those who work and want to begin or continue their studies leading to a degree, Fernós has taken up, as a main priority, the implementation of more than 50 distant education programs, and establishing 25 Cyber Centers in Puerto Rico and Florida, giving students a different educational opportunity for success in a highly competitive world which shrinks day in and day out.
Secretary
Eng. Gladys Nieves President EDP University
Eng. Gladys Nieves Vázquez, coursed her undergraduate studies at Syracuse University and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus where he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Industrial Engineering. Besides her Engineering degree, she has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. As a young entrepreneur, she began to apply the acquired knowledge in Total Quality Management, a key experience grown during her work as an engineer at Johnson & Johnson’s plant.
In 1997, she assumed the presidency of EDP College at age 27, after the death of his father, becoming the youngest national president of a university. In 2009 she announced with her mother Gladys Vazquez conversion of the university to a nonprofit entity. Among her accomplishments as president, she had the urge to accredit the institution by Middle States and change it in 2013 from college to university, re naming the institution to EDP University of Puerto Rico. For eight years she represented the Institute of Industrial Engineers in the Disciplinary Tribunal of the College of Engineering.
Today Nieves is the Second Vice-President of the Association of Private Education of Puerto Rico; Secretary of the HETS Consortium; member of the Puerto Rico’s Universia Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors of the Association of Private Education of Puerto Rico.
Regional Representatives
East Representative
Dr. David Gómez President Hostos Community College, CUNY (New York)
The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York appointed Dr. David Gómez, a distinguished academic leader, teacher and experienced administrator, as the President of Hostos Community College. Prior to his appointment as President, Dr. Gómez served as Interim President of Hostos for one year.
Dr. Gómez was a longtime senior administrator at Kingsborough Community College before being named Interim President of Hostos Community College on July 2014. He served as interim vice president for academic affairs and provost at Kingsborough after having been vice president for academic administration, program planning and development; dean of instructional services and student support; and dean of instructional services. In addition, he has been a professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Human Services at Kingsborough Community College since 1993.
Before joining the Kingsborough administration, Dr. Gómez spent more than a decade at Hostos Community College in senior administrative positions. Among the offices he held at Hostos were Dean of the College, Interim Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of the College, and Special Assistant to the President for Management and Planning.
East & Caribbean Representative
Dr. Gloria Baquero-Lleras
President
National University College
Since January 2011, Dr. Baquero, successfully serves as President of National University College of Puerto Rico. But for more than four decades, Dr. Gloria E. Baquero Lleras has been working actively in favor of the education of Puerto Rico – as both her professional and personal life project. Her devotion for education began during the 1970’s when he taught physics, chemistry and biology in different schools of the Puerto Rico’s public school system. She held various positions at Puerto Rico’s Department of Education from teacher, School Director, Assistant to the Secretary and Auxiliary Secretary of the regular program.
One of the most important professional challenges of her career was to become the Secretary of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico in 2005, the largest and most complex government agency. During her tenure conceived CASA Project – which is still operating- consisting of comprehensive schools that help potential school dropouts through expert support in the academic, social and emotional area. She has participated in important special projects as a member of the Special Committee in the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico for Excellence Award and was Consultant for the Municipal Educational System of San Juan in the program Respaldo Escolar (School Support Project). She has deposed on issues of curriculum planning in Latin America, and school reform in Puerto Rico to the Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos (OEI).
She was General Manager and President of Lucy López Roig and Associates and later founded her own psychological, educational and therapeutic services firm in Caguas, PR: the Instituto para el Desarrollo Profesional (Institute for Personal Development). Dr. Baquero holds a doctorate and master’s degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of Puerto Rico.
West Representative
Dr. Lorena Checa Vice President, Student Affairs California State University at San Marcos (California)
Vice President for Student Affairs, Lorena Checa, was born in Mexico and immigrated to the United States as a young child, where she eventually became the first in her family to attend college.
VP Checa holds a PhD in Leadership Studies: Higher Education Administration, and Master’s degrees in both Business Administration Management and Education. Dr. Checa began her career at CSU San Marcos in 1990 in Enrollment Management Services and has held a variety of progressively responsible positions within Student Academic Support Services, including Associate Vice President for six years, before she assumed the role of Vice President for Student Affairs in spring 2013.
Dr. Checa’s scholarly research and professional emphasis have focused on the development of academic and personal support structures to enhance student success, with a particular emphasis on first generation, under-represented minority students.
Actualmente curso mi Bachillerato en Educación Secundaria en Artes con Concentración Múltiple en Educación Preescolar de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Hablo tres idiomas; español, inglés e italiano. Como parte de mis intereses por el arte, laboré voluntariamente en el Museo Del Niño en San Juan, Puerto Rico. Aquí tuve la oportunidad de brindar información educativa a niños e interactuar con ellos, integrar a los adultos en las actividades con sus niños y recibir visitantes e informarlos sobre las facilidades y actividades del museo. Actualmente laboro como coordinadora y asistente en la oficina de HETS dando apoyo a las instituciones miembros de HETS y sus componentes.
Dr. Antonio Vantaggiato
Professor, Computer Science, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan Puerto Rico
Dr. Antonio Vantaggiato studied Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” where he specialized in Artificial Intelligence in Education. He is Professor of Computer Science at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and past President of the Puerto Rican Association for Distance Learning (2007-2009). In 1992 he founded the first Artificial Intelligence lab in Puerto Rico with Johnson & Johnson’s sponsorship. In 2000 he founded and directed the Distance Learning Institute until 2005, creating a Web-based education culture on campus which produced quality on-line courses and pioneered the adoption of Moodle, the Open Source Learning Management System, in Puerto Rico. A longtime collaborator of HETS from its inception, he has been offering various workshops and courses online. Dr. Vantaggiato founded and directed (2009-2016) the successful STEMmED project (stemmed.sagrado.edu) which has built an infrastructure to help students pursue the study of science and thereby contributing to a renaissance of science culture at USC. He organized symposia and congresses and the first University TEDx in Puerto Rico, TEDxUSagradoCorazón, yearly 2013 through 2015.
His research interests are in the education technology area, with emphasis on the educational changes triggered by Web technologies and the myths of teaching and learning. Such research, started while a Scholar-in-Residence at NYU, is being aggregated in the project Zen Of Teaching website: http://zenofteaching.us
La doctora Ojeda Ayala es Catedrática Jubilada de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, donde inició en enero del 1974. Completó su grado doctoral en la Universidad de Purdue en Indiana en el 1984 en el área de Investigación y Desarrollo Instruccional. Además posee una Maestría en Psicología en Educación de la Universidad de Columbia, Teachers College, en Nueva York. Su grado de bachillerato en psicología y sociología lo obtuvo en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. A pesar de que toda su experiencia académica la ha dedicado a la enseñanza en el nivel universitario, especialmente en el nivel de estudios graduados, todos sus estudios de grados escolares los hizo en el sistema de la Escuela Pública de Puerto Rico, lo que la inspira a dedicarse a la optimización de los procesos educativos en los ambientes escolares y universitarios, con énfasis en cómo la tecnología puede contribuir a la transformación positiva de estos procesos.
En el 1984 regresa ya obteniendo su grado doctoral y, junto a otros colegas, trabaja la propuesta de creación del primer Programa Graduado en Sistemas de Instrucción y Tecnología Educativa en Puerto Rico y el Caribe, el cual se establece oficialmente en el 1985. En el 1987 es Presidenta de la Asociación para las Comunicaciones y Tecnología Educativa de Puerto Rico (ACTE-PR) y es miembro de la Junta de Directores del Instituto Puertorriqueñopara la Paz. Por diez años pertenece a la Junta de Directores de Advancer Local Deverlopment, una entidad de base comunitaria para el desarrollo económico y urbano en Puerto Rico.
Además de ejercer como profesora, durante sus años de servicio a la educación universitaria, la Dra. Ojeda Ayala ha sido Directora del Departamento de Educación, Coordinadora del Programa Graduado y Directora de varios proyectos con subvención federal para la capacitación de maestros y otro personal escolar en la integración efectiva de tecnologías a los procesos de transformación educativa.
La Dra. Ojeda Ayala se ha destacado también como consultora en evaluación de programas educativos, diseño de programas, diseñadora instruccional, desarrollo de pruebas y sistemas de auditoría programática. Presidió el Comité de Competencias Profesionales para el primer Examen de Certificación de Maestros administrado por el College Board de Puerto Rico. Ha desarrollado diseños instruccionales e investigaciones para la industria.
Sus intereses investigativos se orientan hacia el estudio de los procesos cognitivos mediados por tecnologías y el estudio de las interacciones entre los contextos auténticos, la solución de problemas y el aprendizaje en los ambientes virtuales.
Para contactar a la Dra. Ojeda puede llamar a la oficina de HETS al (787) 250-1912 extensiones, 2372, 2373 o via correo electrónico a: academics@hets.org.
Desde el 1999, la Sra. Yubelkys Montalvo ocupó el cargo de Asistente Ejecutiva y Oficial de Relaciones Públicas del Hispanic Educational Technology Services Consortium (HETS, por sus siglas en inglés). En enero de 2006, la Junta de Directores designó a Montalvo como la nueva Directora Ejecutiva para dirigir la organización en sus próximos pasos, luego de estar de Directora Interina por cinco (5) meses previo a su designación oficial. Montalvo aceptó el reto de guiar la organización hacia un modelo de auto sustentabilidad y continuar la implantación de servicios y programas para la comunidad académica de las instituciones miembros, en general. Como experta en relaciones internas, gerente de proyectos y comunicaciones integradas, Montalvo ha brindado a HETS una perspectiva nueva que facilita la transformación de las necesidades de los miembros de la organización en oportunidades de crecimiento y colaboración.
El trabajo de la Sra. Montalvo se enfoca en hacer crecer la organización aumentando el número de instituciones educativas afiliadas, diversificar los beneficios de estas instituciones miembros, crear nuevos servicios, y proponer nuevas alternativas educativas tecnológicas a sus miembros. Las estrategias que sean implantadas también permiten mejorar la imagen de la organización y fortalecer su misión.
Entre los logros alcanzados por la Sra. Montalvo se destacan: la creación y coordinación de la Conferencia principal de la organización llamada: Best Practices Showcase y una Feria Académica; el evento anual llamado: Student Leadership Showcase; la publicación de la revista arbitrada, HETS Online Journal, la cual está incluida en las bases de datos de alcance mundial EBSCO y Cengage; el rediseño del portal Plaza Virtual (www.virtualplaza.org) que contiene una variedad de servicios gratuitos para estudiantes, profesores y administradores; el desarrollo de nuevos servicios y adiestramientos en Español e Inglés; y alianzas estratégicas con corporaciones para incrementar los beneficios de sus instituciones miembros.
Montalvo posee un Bachillerato en Comunicaciones de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, y una Maestría en Relaciones Públicas de la Universidad de Sagrado Corazón. Actualmente es estudiante del programa Doctoral de Liderazgo e Instrucción en la Educación a Distancia de la Universidad Interamericana de PR, Recinto de Ponce. Además, ha coordinado y dirigido numerosos adiestramientos internacionales en universidades de Colombia y México, como parte de la alianza con la compañía Blackboard. También ha participado en numerosas conferencias y foros Nacionales e Internacionales, y ha sido oradora de la Red Técnica Universitaria en junio de 2014, del Latino Institute Conference en abril de 2014, del VI Congreso Internacional CITICED CREAD Caribe 2009 en República Dominicana y en la Conferencia Nacional del United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) en el 2008, Virtual Educa Internacional 2016, entre otros eventos.
To read Executive’s Director bio in English, click here
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Ernesto es estudiante de ingeniería en la Universidad del Turabo en Gurabo. Durante su primer año universitario tuvo la oportunidad de fundar una organización de robótica para que los estudiantes puedan adquirir practica y experiencia con proyectos de ingeniería creados por ellos mismos. Actualmente pertenece a 5 organizaciones diferentes.
Es su interés que las personas puedan ver hasta donde se puede llegar con esfuerzo y trabajo, al igual que todas las oportunidades y proyectos que Puerto Rico tiene para ofrecer. Es presidente de dos organizaciones universitarias y como buen líder, lleva a otros hacia adelante. Ernesto ha expresado que siendo parte de HETS ha adquirido nuevos recursos y alternativas para no tan solo llevar a actuales compañeros hacia adelante, sino lograr desarrollar el potencial en las personas que tal vez no saben que tienen las características necesarias para ser líderes. Por otra parte a nivel personal el ser parte del comité asesor de estudiantes HETS ha sido una gran oportunidad para crecer como ingeniero ya que parte de las virtudes que requiere este campo es liderazgo e iniciativa. Entre sus proyectos para el futuro ha sido una gran plataforma para su desarrollo personal.
Durante el año académico 2014-2015, Ernesto fue elegido para realizar un internado en la NASA. Luego de regresar de ese internado decidió enfocarse en el area académica, asi que estableció a personas dedicas en los puestos que tenia antes de irse. Ahora los ayuda a desarrollarse y triunfar en sus nuevos puestos y proyectos. Además ha comenzado dos nuevas investigaciones para asi ampliar su resume y conocimiento eso sin dejar a un lado sus actividades de liderazgo.
Ana Milena Lucumi Orostegui tiene un bachillerato en filosofía, letras y pedagogía de la Universidad del Valle, la universidad pública de la ciudad de Cali, tercera ciudad en población de su natal Colombia. Obtuvo una maestría en Sistemas de instrucción y tecnología educativa en la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón de Puerto Rico. Obtuvo su doctorado en Instructional Technologies and Distance Education de Nova Southeastern University, universidad ubicada en la Florida, EU. Actualmente, desde el 2011, funge como Vicepresidenta de Efectividad y Asuntos Estudiantiles de National University College. Desarrolló el Modelo Institucional de Retención en esta institución, en un marco de desarrollo de destrezas socioemocionales y de resiliencia para propiciar la retención y la persistencia del estudiante en la vida universitaria. Escribió el himno de National University College titulado “Contra toda adversidad” como un regalo a los estudiantes graduados de NUC. El mismo se estrenó en la Colación de grados del 2013.
Treasurer
ctualmente curso mi Bachillerato en Educación Secundaria en Artes con Concentración Múltiple en Educación Preescolar de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Hablo tres idiomas; español, inglés e italiano. Como parte de mis intereses por el arte, laboré voluntariamente en el Museo Del Niño en San Juan, Puerto Rico. Aquí tuve la oportunidad de brindar información educativa a niños e interactuar con ellos, integrar a los adultos en las actividades con sus niños y recibir visitantes e informarlos sobre las facilidades y actividades del museo. Actualmente laboro como coordinadora y asistente en la oficina de HETS dando apoyo a las instituciones miembros de HETS y sus componentes.
Dr. Antonio Vantaggiato
