The first activity on this day was attending a series of lectures until 1:30 pm at the, “Institutos de Altos Estudios Nationals (IAEN)”, where various faculty/administrators informed us about the goals/objectives of this public higher education institution and explained how it is accredited and governed. Their webpage is located here: http://www.iaen.edu.ec/

This is a state university in Ecuador that only offers graduate degrees and/or certificates for the public servants of Ecuador. Tuition is totally free and the students are all government employees. They offer two types of Masters Degrees. One is for government practitioners and the other for government researchers.  The research oriented master’s degrees are in the fields of, “Security & Defense Pubic Policies”, “Drug Enforcement Public Policies”, Social Development  & Communication Public Policies” and “Social and Solidarity Economic Public Policies”. The practitioner oriented masters degrees are in the fields of, “Electoral and Democratic Law”, “International Relationships with Foreign Governments”, and “International Relationships with Foreign Commerce”.  Additionally, they offer graduate level certificates in the subjects of, “Public Management Policies”, “International Negotiation Public Policies” and “Migration & Globalization Public Policies”.

The college is governed and accredited by three main state agencies. The first is the “Consejo de Educación Superior (CES)”. The website is located here: http://www.ces.gob.ec.  The second is the, “Secretaria de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT)”. Their website is located here: http://www.educacionsuperior.gob.ec/ The third agency is the , “Consejo de Evaluación, Acreditación y Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Educación Superior (CEASES)”.  Their website is here: Http://www.ceaaces.gob.ec/  Together, the three agencies approve all course curriculum, create educational public policies & guidelines, establish salaries/ranks for higher education faculty/staff/administrators, award accreditation and provide funds for the state colleges/universities. Here is a picture of our group during the university lectures.

After having lunch at a local restaurant, we spent the afternoon going to a fresh fruit/vegetable market in Colonial Quito and visiting other local shopping establishments. I was amazed at the variety of fruits/vegetables and the amazing colors that they had.   Here are some pictures of the fruits/vegetables.

We ended the day by having dinner at local restaurant in the downtown colonial style area of Quito and attending a live Ballet show. Here is a picture of the sign at the entrance of the show.

Nevertheless, the show is not what Americans expect when they go see a ballet show. Instead, the performers perform barefoot and demonstrate some of the traditional folk dance of various indigenous groups in Ecuador. In my opinion, it was one of the best and most educational parts of this trip. Here is a small YOUTUBE video of part of a typical show. Please refresh this webpage if the video does not appear below this paragraph.