• The President of Universidad de Santiago, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, together with the South Korean ambassador, Ji-eun Yu, launched the first Korean studies program in Chile, with the purpose of promoting academic reflection and foster research related to that country, which is the third world power, with a population of 50.2 million people and a GDP of 1.305 billion dollars. 
• President Zolezzi said that this initiative “will have an extraordinary impact on the policies of cooperation and development of our universities,” particularly because it aims to strengthen our links with the Republic of Korea, “a country that, for the world and for Universidad de Santiago, embodies a paradigmatic example of productive change, scientific creation, development-based innovation and a real miracle of educational progress.”
• For his part, ambassador Ji-eun Yu described the program as “a very important milestone”, because although “trade relationships between the two countries are very good, we need to make more efforts in cultural and academic fields, to promote understanding between the two nations.”

 
In a solemn ceremony held on December 10th at the Salón de Honor of our University, the first Chilean-Korean Study Program in our country was launched. 

The activity was headed by the President of Universidad de Santiago, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, who welcomed the ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Ji-eun Yu, the University authorities, and representatives of the Korean community in our country.

The funding for the Chilean-Korean Study Center Program: for cross-country future integration based on deeper understanding in terms of Politics, Economics and Society was awarded to Universidad de Santiago thanks to the participation of César Ross, researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish), in the international contest “Overseas Korean Studies Incubation 2014” that was organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea. 

The project was sponsored by the Vice Presidency of Research, Development and Innovation and is led by Dr. Ross, whose research work has been oriented to different development areas of the Asian countries and their contributions. 

During his speech, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi referred to the importance of strengthening links with the South Korean nation, highlighting that it was “as a poor country that was able to become rich” and gain international recognition thanks to its ability to promote scientific and technological development. For this reason, this initiative “will have and an extraordinary impact on the policies of cooperation and development of our universities,” he said.

“With this Korean Studies Program- that will be part of IDEA- we are reinforcing our links with Korea, a country that for the world and for Universidad de Santiago, embodies a paradigmatic example of productive change, scientific creation, development-based innovation and a real miracle of educational progress, with a strong education system that has been key to that development,” President Zolezzi said.

Regarding the goals set by the University, he said he was pleased to “celebrate this partnership that will strengthen the cultural links between both republics”, a tangible step forward to the internationalization of our University, that seeks to go further in the international academic work.

Ji-eun Yu said that “as ambassador, I feel deeply gratified for witnessing the progress of the Korean studies in Chile.” He valued the initiative and described it as a “very important milestone”. Although “trade relationships between the two countries are very good, we need to make more efforts in cultural and academic fields, to promote understanding between the two nations,” he said.

For the diplomat, the cooperation between the two nations offers big opportunities due to their location on the Pacific Rim. The fact of being close “allows many people to have a broader view with regards to my country. Establishing a program like this, a program about Korea in Chile, will contribute to promote a better academic understanding that will bring our countries closer together.”

For his part, Dr. César Ross, director of the Program, said that “the Chilean-Korean Study Center Program will promote mutual understanding between academics, students and politicians of both countries, to think, reflect and study.”

Also, the initiative focus on promoting the academic interest in Korean studies by introducing a historical perspective to the new generation of Chilean students and professors. It has the purpose of studying the North-east Asian security issues from a Korean point of view, too. The idea is to study the effects of a reunification process of the Korean peninsula and the relation between Asia and Latin America, and to promote a better understanding of the successful role played by the Korean government in developing high technology and exports system,” which are key areas for universities focused on Engineering, like ours,” Dr. Ross said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• With the presence of the highest authorities of Universidad de Santiago and distinguished guests related to this University, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi presented the book that was published by the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement. In almost 200 pages, it shows the milestones and imprint left by the School of Arts and Crafts, the State Technical University and the current Universidad de Santiago de Chile.
• According to President Zolezzi, this work “reflects a genuine institutional pride and its title summarizes very well our mission and history: Formando personas, transformando país (Formig people, transforming the country).”
• This patrimonial book was published in the context of the celebration of the 165th institutional anniversary and it presents two types of narrative: a series of photographs that depicts the history of the University and a series of analytical texts (that were translated to English) organized in three chapters, under the responsibility of professors Carmen Norambuena and Cristina Moyano, and the collaboration of the designer Eduardo Castillo.

 

“This book is a collection of reminiscences that discover a history that belongs to us, that reminds us of our origins and shows us the way that we still have to go, with its risks, opportunities and hopes. It is a gift that we will be able to give with proud to those who we wish to know better about us.”

With these words, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago, presented the institutional book called “Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Formando personas, transformando país”, a piece of work published by the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement that, in almost 200 pages, depicts the main milestones achieved by our institution, heir to the School of Arts and Crafts and the State Technical University (UTE, in Spanish).

The book launching ceremony was held at the Salón de Honor hall and was headed by President Zolezzi. It was attended by the University’s highest authorities and distinguished guests related to this institution, like Tomás Ireland, the UTE’s former General Secretary and former member of the Teknos theatre group, and father Humberto Guzmán, who was in charge of the University’s pastoral care for 56 years.

During the solemn ceremony, President Zolezzi said that the patrimonial book’s title “summarizes very well our mission and history. In effect, our work as a public university is defined by the imperative requirement of promoting and cultivating the republican values such as pluralism, non-discrimination, laicism, democratic ideology, respect for human rights and commitment to the most vulnerable and unprotected groups of our society,” President Zolezzi said. 

For his part, Dr. Sergio González, Vice President of Outreach and Engagement, said that with this book “we update our institutional imprint, we introduce us to ourselves, to the new members of the University community, and, above all, to all who want to know about us and recognize us.”

The book, which was published in the context of the celebration of the 165 years of the University, presents several patrimonial photographs that depict life in the campus and the contributions made by the University to the community that surrounds it.

These historical images are presented together with analytical texts (translated into English), organized in three chapters and carefully presented in the book. The cover features Roberto Matta’s mural “Vivir enfrentando las flechas.”

Our history is linked to the country’s history

Dr. Carmen Norambuena and Dr. Cristina Moyano, both professors at Universidad de Santiago, were in charge of writing the texts on UTE and Universidad de Santiago de Chile, respectively, while professor Eduardo Castillo, academic at the Faculty of Architecture of Universidad de Chile, contributed with the information on the School of Arts and Crafts.

After the ceremony, Dr. Carmen Norambuena highlighted the role played by Professor Rafael Chavarría (Faculty of Humanities) in the process of arranging the texts.

Professor Norambuena, whose family and personal history is strongly connected to this University, said that the book “allows new generations to reencounter with a past that is necessary to know and revive.”

“For youngsters, it is very interesting to know the history of this University because, as the authorities said during the ceremony, it is linked to the history of the country. Every historical episode in the country is mirrored in this Higher Education Institution,” Dr. Norambuena said.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The recipient of the 2013 National Award of Visual Arts, a highly regarded artist for his installations where he combines photography, architecture and theater, was honored by Universidad de Santiago for his artistic work that intends to raise the observer’s awareness and for his social sensitivity and resistance action though the arts. On the occasion, he was awarded the University Medal in the first category.
• During the ceremony, the University Vice- President Pedro Palominos, on behalf of President Zolezzi, said that Alfredo Jaar “embodies the values that represent us as an institution.” For his part, the artist expressed his gratitude for the award and invited students “to create your own ways of expression.”
   
        

• The president of Universidad de Santiago, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, signed the “Declaration of Santiago” (Declaración de Santiago, in Spanish), a landmark after three days of discussions and debates on the role of state universities. The “Latin American State Universities Conference” gathered together presidents and representatives of the main universities of the Region.
• “We want universities of high quality and excellence that get involved with society and with the projects related to the problems of the country. We want state universities to be committed to democracy and pluralism,” Dr. Zolezzi stressed.
• The document signed recognizes the contribution of non-profit private universities, but it explicitly questions “the sudden increase in the past few decades of private institutions with evident commercial interests that have directly or indirectly received government support for their expansion.”

The debate over public education in our country is in full swing and, in the following months, the Government is expected to present several initiatives to reform higher education. In this context, and for its 172^nd anniversary, Universidad de Chile invited presidents and representatives of universities of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile, among others, to the Latin American State Universities Conference for the purpose of discussing on the strategic role of these institutions.

The conference started on November 19^th and finished on November 21^st with the submission of the document “Las Universidades Estatales deben ser el eje de las políticas de educación superior en América Latina” (State Universities should be at the core of higher education policies in Latin America, in Spanish) - the “Declaration of Santiago”- in which the universities involved agreed on several issues that are essential to these institutions and demarcate their work in the public sphere.

The document was signed by 15 presidents and representatives of universities of all over the continent and it established, among other points, that “higher education is a social right, a human and individual right”; therefore, “the governments’ support for scientific research, technological innovation, artistic creation and the development of humanities is essential to build increasingly prosperous, democratic and fair societies

According to the President of Universidad de Santiago, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, the conference was held in a moment “close to a profound and philosophic debate, most probably in March, over the new regulations of the higher education reform. So we consider that it is very important for us to be present on behalf of Universidad de Santiago. It was also important to leave a mark with regard to what we understand as public universities in Latin America in our times.”

One of the points in the Declaration that President Zolezzi valued the most is the one that establishes that governments should “increase the resources for funding public higher education and prevent the funding systems from having incentives that may lead to inequity in the access (to higher education), in a sustained path to free education.”

“We want universities of high quality and excellence that get involved with society and with the projects related to the problems of the country. We want state universities to be committed to democracy and pluralism,” Dr. Zolezzi said. He valued the continental agreement because “we were able to standardize criteria by recognizing that public education has a sole origin: the State bodies. And, what is most important: the idea of free education was validated at a regional level.” 

Ennio Vivaldi, President of Universidad de Chile, the university that hosted the conference, also highlighted the activity, saying that through this, the continent commits to “the idea that the education provided by state universities should be free.”

He also acknowledged that, just like the document says, “the higher education system is diverse and we value the interaction with traditional private universities that contribute to the university system. But in turn, we are concerned that in this context, there are institutions that were conceived as business, something that is very sad sometimes, because they take money from poor people and provide in exchange a questionable no-quality product. We were very explicit regarding this point,” Vivaldi said.

In fact, the document states that “the sudden increase in the past few decades of private institutions with evident commercial interests or social biases undermines the idea of higher education as a social right.” Then, it states that “in some countries, these private institutions with commercial interests have directly or indirectly received government support for their expansion.” 

International views

One of the foreign representatives, María Andrea Marín of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, said that although there are other opportunities in which Latin American universities gather together, like the Montevideo Group Association of Universities (AUGM, in Spanish) that groups together the Mercosur bloc universities, “these meetings organized with an specific purpose focus on an specific discussion: to establish the reason, the purpose and the extent to which we commit to as state universities. To establish what we intend as institutions and how we can contribute to strengthening the democratic states and the social development of our communities.”

Fernando Sempértegui, President of Universidad Central of Ecuador valued the fact that they “claimed the state’s constant attention to the needs of these universities, so that they can fulfil their mission: high quality scientific research work and professional training.”

He also highlighted the importance of state universities as “the leading agent in the approach to building equity.”

Education Reform

During the activity, Dr. Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago and Executive Vice President of the Council of Presidents of Chilean Universities, also spoke about current events and commented on the pressures that the Christian Democratic Party allegedly put on the government to slow down the debate on the Education Reform, with the consequent delay in the deadlines.

“I would expect this time could be recovered in terms of a larger and better conversation, because up to know, there has not been a dialogue between the government and the universities, in general, or a dialogue with the state universities, in particular, about the development of this reform,” President Zolezzi said.  He added that he does not have any information regarding to what the government intends to implement or propose “in March, April or at any other time. I do not believe they have not done anything. I can scarcely imagine that in 8 months they have not made any progress.”

President Zolezzi finally said that he believes that the government should show itself “more convinced and that the president should be more present, to proceed with this.  Although President (Bachelet) has expressed her intention to do so, we expect the implementation of these policies become real, because in terms of budget, we did not see it.” 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The National Accreditation Commission (CNA, in Spanish), informed that Universidad de Santiago was accredited in the compulsory and optional areas, more precisely, Undergraduate Teaching, Institutional Management, Graduate Teaching, Research, and Outreach and Community Engagement, until October 1st, 2020.
• Before this positive result, the highest authority of the University, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, expressed his gratitude to the community “for the work done by everyone at the University; we expect to continue making progress in the challenges that we have set ourselves.”
• President Zolezzi highlighted that this is an important recognition for our institution, considering that the CNA has more stringent requirements after the widely known criticism that it received.

On September 24th, after 18:00 h, Paula Beale, the Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Commission, called the University President Juan Manuel Zolezzi, who was in Temuco participating in the monthly meeting of the Cruch (the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities), to officially inform him that Universidad de Santiago de Chile was accredited by the agency for the next 6 years.

President Zolezzi said that “this is good news for the University, as it allows us to work tranquilly until 2020 and this is only due to the work done by all the community, on a responsible and sustained basis.”

He also stressed that “it is necessary to consider that 6 years ago the CNA was not the same agency in terms of strictness.”

Our University was accredited in the two compulsory areas (Undergraduate Teaching and Institutional Management) and in the three optional areas (Graduate Teaching, Research, and Outreach and Community Engagement). According to President Zolezzi, this means that “the CNA is giving us a seal of quality and guarantee that will allow our students to be sure that our University will not be in risk of losing the state funding or support."

Besides, he said that with this result, the University starts a new process aimed at strengthening all the work done in the past few years, particularly regarding the “special dedication and commitment to the most vulnerable students that make this recognition much more deserved.”

Finally, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi, in a conversation with Radio Universidad de Santiago, made public his special gratitude to “all the community for the work done; for what we have done together for the University; we expect to continue making progress in the challenges that we have set ourselves.”

With this result, Universidad de Santiago becomes the first University in the country to be certified until 2020 and one of the 10 institutions to be accredited in all areas.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Our University has reached its best historical position, moving up to the 451-460 rank and being again at the third place nationwide.
• According to the ranking, the most outstanding results are in the academic reputation and the employer reputation categories, in which Universidad the Santiago reached the 195th and 244th place worldwide, respectively.
• The University President, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, stressed that this steady progress is the result of “the joint work that all the community has done” at posing the challenge of growing everyday. “This recognizes something that we have been saying for a long time: we are in conditions to compete for the first places among Chilean universities,” he said.

 

Universidad de Santiago de Chile again gave a qualitative and quantitative leap at the renowned international QS WorldUniversity Rankings 2014-15, where it has reached its best historical result in the 10 years of this survey, positioning itself in the 451-460 rank. In this way, the University keeps its third place nationwide, showing a steady progress since 2009, when it was in the 551-600 rank.

 
According to the University President, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, what fills him with satisfaction is the fact that this progress does not reflect something specific but “a sustained progress over time; therefore, in the following  years, we could position ourselves in a new rank.”

 
He stressed that getting the third place nationwide “is a very important recognition for our University,” adding that the distance in the QS Ranking between Universidad de Santiago, and Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile, both of which ranked higher than our University, should be considered as a big  institutional challenge. “We are expectant, although we are still far from the other two universities. But we all know that there are many reasons to explain this situation, like the limited resources that this University and state universities, in general, have,” he said.

 
Key indicators

 
According to the report delivered by QS, located in the United Kingdom, two key factors contributed to the progress shown by our University in the last survey, which are related to the “academic reputation” and the “employer reputation” categories.

 
The academic reputation had been showing positive levels since 2011 and ranked Universidad de Santiago at the 244th place worldwide today, while the employer reputation ranked it at the 195th place worldwide out of 800 institutions included in the survey.

 
When highlighting the good results, President Zolezzi put a strong emphasis on the indicator related to employers, specifying that “this particularly makes me happy, because it is something that we do not manage directly: it is the opinion that employers have about our work as a state and public university. All in all, is the way they see us, they way they perceive us.”

 
According to Dr. Zolezzi, the results of the QS University Rankings 2014-2015 are “the accurate reflection of what we have been saying for a long time: we are in conditions to compete for the first places among Chilean universities.”

 
He also stressed that this steady progress over the years is the result of the work of all the University community, “of those who want to work for the sake of our University and of those who are working in the same line, driving this institution, always looking forward and up.”

 
For all the above, President Zolezzi invited the community to follow that way. “Progressing quickly in these topics is possible. We should be better evaluated in some aspects, like citations and academic references- in which we have shown great progress- and internationalization, among others; but we are moving forward and I feel hopeful that this will continue getting better,” he finally said to the national press that has shown interest  in these good results.

 
Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Engineer Eduardo Morales Santos (1936-2014) leaves his imprint as a great humanist and advocate of public education. With his characteristic vision of future, he promoted the opening of programs like Medicine, Journalism, Psychology and Architecture, as well as several projects to transform Universidad de Santiago in an institution of excellence.
• On behalf of the University community, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi expressed his “deep regret” at the loss of “someone who really loved this institution” and his gratitude for “the big contribution that Eduardo Morales made to our University.”

Eduardo Morales Santos (1936-2014) was much more than an electrical civil engineer, former professor and superior counselor to Universidad Católica, Universidad Técnica del Estado and Universidad de Santiago. And he was much more than the President of Universidad de Santiago for two consecutive terms. He was a great humanist.

He became part of the institutional history as he was the first University President elected after the return of democracy, when he took over 24 years ago, on August 17th, 1990.

Since he arrived in the Presidency of Universidad de Santiago, he set as an immediate goal the transformation of this university in a complex and complete institution. Just like he said at that time, the University had to be transformed in a multidimensional institution.

He was studious, committed and had a vision of future; he planned a world-class university and to achieve this goal it was necessary to open it and make it more complex. Therefore, during the first two years of his first term, he presented a variety of possibilities to allow Universidad de Santiago to develop in fundamental fields like engineering (without leaving aside the institution’s historical tradition); education; medical sciences; sciences in all their complexity; and social sciences and humanities.
The challenge was huge, but Eduardo Morales accepted it. After his first three years in the Presidency, new programs and institutes were opened and the organizational structure was modified. Between 1992 and 1993 the Center of Research in Creativity and Higher Education (CICES); the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA); the Faculty of Medical Sciences with its Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Obstetrics and Puericulture; the School of Journalism; the School of Architecture; the School of Psychology; the Technological Faculty; the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology; the Center for Bioethics and Public Health program; the Comenius program and the Sello Editorial university press, started their activities,
 
With a new organizational structure, the University took charge of the country’s demands and offered 16 new programs. In his own words, it was “a big step”, especially at producing new knowledge for areas important to the country, such as humanities, social sciences and medical sciences. Indeed, he said that he had recently presented a project to open the law school in our University, an idea that was eventually rejected by the Academic Council and the Board of Directors.

He did not forget graduate programs and during his two terms seven master’s programs were opened: Master´s in Telecommunications; Master´s in Informatics Engineering; Master´s in Industrial Engineering; Master´s in Tax Management and Planning; Master´s in Financial Economics; Master´s in Public Management; and Master’s in Administration and Human Resources Management. Also the following doctoral programs were started: PhD in Engineering Sciences with a Major in Automation; PhD in Engineering Sciences with a Major in Materials Science; PhD in American Studies, and the PhD in Sciences with a Major in Physics.

“Today, Universidad de Santiago stands like a more complex and complete institution with the creation of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Schools of Journalism, Psychology and Architecture. We are a Class- A university, according to the American ranking, which are the institutions with the highest level of development,” he said then, reassuring the work he had done since 1990 for two terms.

Reconciliation

Eduardo Morales was elected the University President at a very difficult political moment. He was the first University President in democracy and the first in taking a decisive step at establishing the UTE-Usach University Reconciliation Commission, which final report stated that, between September 1973 and March 1990, there were 88 people executed or detained/disappeared for political reasons.

This process concluded with a big act of redress on December 04th, 1991, when the families of the dictatorship victims of our campus received the certificates that recognized their relatives as students of our University.

First steps for inclusion

Inclusion, the imprint of Universidad de Santiago, started during Eduardo Morales’ Presidency. In 1992 the University opened its doors to talented students from public municipality-administered schools, giving a 5% of the Academic Aptitude Test (PAA, in Spanish) score to those students who were among the best of their class.

The University continued with this system for over 10 years until the Cruch (Council of University Presidents of Chile) forced it to finish it. Today, a similar mechanism has become a public policy through the class ranking; more than two decades ago it was just a quixotic act.

Eduardo Morales dared to dream big and said that we had to think of the University that we wanted in the long term. “By 2050, Universidad de Santiago should be among the 100 best universities of the world,” he said in 2012.

That was him: He imagined and dreamt the University as a big one, because he trusted the talents, energy and commitment of everyone who is part of this institution.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

Watch the interview that Eduardo Morales gave to the Department of Communications for the 20th anniversary of the Faculty of Medical Sciences

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• To prepare the report for 2010-2011, the university used the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) international standard.

Environmental protection aspects, like reducing the energy consumption and having a better use of water in the campus during the period 2010-2011, are only some of the many indicators and relevant data included in the fourth version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Sustainability Report. The document was released on December 04th in the Salón de Honor, with the presence of the university’s authorities, union representatives and special guests.

According to the Report, Universidad de Santiago reduced its energy consumption by 6%, while its use of water decreased by 5.7%, going from 489,758 m3 to 470,631 m3 between 2010 and 2011.

The elaboration of the 2011 Sustainability Report mainly involves general aspects with respect to measuring, informing about and accounting for the University’s performance in relation to its sustainable development goal during the year included. With this aim, it’s worth to mention the sections “University Profile”(Perfil de la Universidad), “University Government” (Gobierno Universitario), “Interest Groups” (Grupos de Interés), “Management” (Gestión) and “Additional Indicators” (Complementarios).

The document is the result of the commitment stated by the University to being a University known for its social responsibility and transparency. During his presentation in the Salón de Honor, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi assured that the University is aware of the path along which the international community is progressing and the importance of concepts like Social Responsibility and Sustainability nowadays.

“We are aware that sustainability is one of the main axes for future development,” President Zolezzi pointed out.

“This Report is public information and is a task that we have set ourselves to do. Through the Report we show the national community that we are accountable for the care of a public good like Universidad de Santiago de Chile. In this way, we show once again the responsibility that we have with all people that directly or indirectly take part in our daily activities,” he stressed.

In this context, President Zolezzi highlighted several institutional initiatives, such as the Sustainable Campus Program, the University Pathway Program (Propedéutico) and the Rucahueche Youngsters´ Center for Integral Health. This latter is led by the School of Obstetrics and Child Care of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, together with the Municipal Corporation for Education and Health of Municipality of San Bernardo.

Excellence and social inclusion

When asked about the impact of this Sustainability Report, Dr. Sergio González, the Vice President of Outreach and Engagement, said that the document accounts for the institution’s responsibilities regarding social, environmental, economic, labor and professional matters, in a clear and accurate way.

“This Report highlights the University’s two core concepts that embody the focus and the DNA of the institution: Excellence and quality orientation and social inclusion. It accounts for how we answer to our mission,” the Vice President explained.

The Universidad de Santiago’s 2011 Sustainability Report was elaborated by the University’s Social Responsibility Program (RSU, in Spanish), which depends on the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement.

The RSU Program’s Executive Director, Ricardo Armijo, expressed thanks to all people in the academic and administrative units who contributed with the information required to elaborate this Report.

The full text of the Universidad de Santiago’s 2011 Sustainability Report will be available in our web page in the following weeks.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• University’s President Juan Manuel Zolezzi, in collaboration with other renowned leaders who studied at this institution (Escuela de Artes y Oficios (EAO); Universidad Técnica del Estado (UTE), Universidad de Santiago), is inviting professionals to register themselves in the website http://www.usachpais.cl through a campaign that includes social networks. In this way, the University will be able to identify the most demanded areas of the world of work; foster a spirit of loyalty among former students and enhance the sense of belonging at the University; and get accurate information on the fields where they are contributing to real Chile.

Based on the premise that all ways of contributing to real Chile are valuable, the University seeks to know the fields where former students are working and the way how the institution’s hallmark still characterizes their professional work with values like integration, participation and public service.

The advertisements are being broadcasted on the media, including social networks, and they show the University’s President Juan Manuel Zolezzi inviting this big network of alumni of this University, or its preceding institutions, to be part of this project. As a former student of the Electrical Civil Engineering program at UTE, he is a nationwide renowned leader in the higher education field, after heading the CUECH (Consorcio de Universidades Estatales de Chile) and as the current Vice-president of the CRUCH (Consejo de Rectores de las Universidades Chilenas), which brings together the 25 universities of the Presidents’ Council.

Contributing to the country

The campaign includes an audiovisual advertisement which shows, besides President Zolezzi, the contribution of Juan Carlos Avendaño, Mechanical Engineering Technician, current General Manager of Codelco’s Chuquicamata Division; Marcela González, Industrial Civil Engineer, executive director of the X South America Games, Santiago 2014; and Héctor Alarcón, Physics Engineer, leader of the ALMA Project’s operators group.

By means of an agreement favorable to the institution, the advertisement has been scheduled on air at different times on Televisión Nacional de Chile, while the campaign on radios has been on air in all programs on Radio Universidad de Santiago (94.5 FM and 124 AM) and in two programs on Radio Cooperativa (93.3 FM). An advertisement was also included in the national circulation newspaper La Tercera and in the magazine Ingenieros del Cobre.

Alumni interested in being part of this project have to enter the website www.usachpais.cl and click the “Formulario de Registro” tab (Registration Form). Once there, they only need to fill out the fields related to personal information (name and ID number); profession (program studied, current place of work and position); name of the faculty to which they belong. Finally they have to write a short description of their professional career.

This part is the first stage of a campaign that intends to highlight the institution’s hallmark and legacy in thousands of professionals who collaborate with their daily work in developing our country, from different fields and in different functions.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The University went up in this international survey for the fifth year in a row and today it is included in the 461-470 rank of the best universities worldwide. In Chile, it keeps the third position, following Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile.

The well-known QS World University Rankings delivered the results from the 800 most prestigious universities of the world- out of almost three thousand universities surveyed- and Universidad de Santiago de Chile has shown a sustained and stable rise, moving up to the 461-470 rank, being again in the third place nationwide.

Last year, Universidad de Santiago was in the 451 – 500 rank. It has shown a sustained improvement in the past five years, establishing itself as the second state university in Chile, following Universidad de Chile (ranked 225th) and among the best 470 universities of the world.

According to the University’s President, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, this is “great news” for the University as it is a proof “of the quality of what we are doing.” He explained that the improvement in the institution’s indicators, in relation to specialized publications, hiring new professors with graduate degrees and the improvement in the relationship with society, account for this progress.

Though President Zolezzi said he was satisfied with this progress, he made clear that it is necessary to double the institution’s efforts, as he believes that “we have the competences required to continue improving our current position.”

According to this university ranking, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the United States, kept the first place, followed by Harvard University, in the 2nd place, and University of Cambridge, in the 3rd place. In Latin America, the first universities mentioned were Universidade de Sao Paulo (ranked 127th), Universidad Autónoma de México (163th) and Universidad Católica de Chile (166th).

To elaborate this ranking, QS considers the quality of teaching, research, the institution’s reputation in the business world and its internationalization level.

Translated by Marcela Contreras