Regis University's College for Professional Studies and Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, Mexico will sign an agreement Oct. 27 that will initiate CPS's first online bi-lingual joint degree program -- an MBA specializing in Emerging Markets.

A three-person delegation from ITESO will join Regis University leadership for the historic signing at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 in the University's President Dining Room in Carroll Hall. The dining room was also the location of the historic 1993 meeting between Pope John Paul II and former President William Clinton.

Open to Regis University and ITESO students, the new joint degree is a MBA with a specialization in emerging markets. The first class is scheduled for March 2010. The format includes six courses in Spanish and six courses in English. The course will be provided in an online, eight-week, accelerated format.

The ITESO delegation includes Father Juan Luis Orozco, SJ, rector; Francisco Morfin, vice president of Academic Affairs; and José Dela Cerda, vice president of External Affairs. In addition to signing the agreement, the ITESO officials will participate in a series of academic meetings with Regis University leadership.

The signing will strengthen a collaboration between two Catholic Jesuit universities -- Regis University is one of 28 Catholic Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States and the only Catholic Jesuit university in Colorado, while ITESO is the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, Mexico.