Staff Member of the International at UniFAJ and UniMAX is competing for the “Global BEEHIVE Teacher of Excellence Awards,” alongside representatives from countries such as the United States, France, and Poland
Ana Carolina Faustini, a member of the International Department at the University Center of Jaguariúna (UniFAJ) and the Max Planck University Center (UniMAX), has been named a finalist for the international “Global BEEHIVE Teacher of Excellence Awards,” organized by Global Partners in Education (GPE).
In addition to working in the International Department, Ana Carolina serves as coordinator of the institutions’ Bilingual Program and as an English language instructor, developing initiatives focused on global education, intercultural communication, and international academic experiences for students.
She is representing Brazil among the six finalists in the Global BEEHIVE category, alongside participants from countries such as Colombia, Mexico, France, the United States, and Poland. The awards ceremony is part of the program for the 19th Annual GPE Conference, which will be held online from May 18 to 21, 2026, bringing together institutions and professionals from various countries to discuss new directions in global collaborative education, international projects, and COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) initiatives.
For Ana Carolina, this international recognition symbolizes not only a personal achievement but also the strengthening of the work carried out by Brazilian institutions in the context of the internationalization of higher education. “As an internationalist, and as the only Brazilian nominated for this award, being among the finalists feels incredibly surreal. I was nominated by other professors from the GPE network who have worked with me, so this is an award based on the evaluation of professionals who are also dedicated to education and connecting people from all over the world,” she says.
Currently, UniFAJ and UniMAX are the only Brazilian institutions that are members of the GPE, a network comprising 49 higher education institutions from 31 countries that has been dedicated to fostering global academic connections for over 15 years.
Ana Carolina’s nomination is related to her work on the Global Business project, an initiative that fostered interaction between Brazilian students and students from Colombia, Mexico, and The Gambia through discussions on leadership, work culture, market trends, and global citizenship. “We worked to ensure that our students engaged meaningfully with students from other countries and could discuss how our nations can strengthen one another and how they can establish themselves as global citizens,” she explains.
For the professor, institutional support from UniFAJ and UniMAX was essential to the consolidation of international initiatives. She notes that the institutions have invested in initiatives aimed at academic internationalization, such as the Bilingual Program and COIL projects. “UniFAJ and UniMAX are very open to the concept of internationalizing higher education. The Bilingual Program is a commitment to breaking down cultural barriers and empowering the academic community through foreign languages, while COIL has been establishing itself internationally as a modern form of scientific diplomacy,” she notes.
Ana Carolina also emphasizes that internationalization goes beyond traditional exchange programs and should be accessible to the entire academic community. “The internationalization of higher education is more than just an expensive two-week exchange program to learn English. It is the driving force behind a more connected and more human academic community, and it can take place through research, lectures, digital exchanges, and academic collaborations. We believe in internationalization for everyone: staff, faculty, and students,” she concludes.
