To date, 178 people have signed in support of the nomination of Dr Julio Pinto, historian at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, to the National Prize of History.

The nomination of Dr Julio Pinto to the National Award of History 2016 has had a strong support. The name of the awardee will be informed by the corresponding jury during the first week of August.

To date, 178 people have signed in his support, including 160 academics in Chile and abroad, like Gabriel Salazar and Jorge Pinto, both recipients of the National Prize of History in 2006 and 2012, respectively, and Manuel Antonio Garretón, National Prize of Social Sciences in 2007.

Other supporters include university presidents like Juan Manuel Zolezzi Cid (Universidad de Santiago de Chile), Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro (Universidad de La Serena), Óscar Garrido Álvarez (Universidad de Los Lagos), Juan Oyarzo Pérez, (Universidad de Magallanes), Luis Pinto Faverio, (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana), and Sergio Bravo Escobar Universidad de La Frontera).

Besides, the list includes 10 institutions, 7 associations, 61 academics of foreign universities and more than 91 historians and social scientists of national universities.

The deadline for the submission of proposals closed on June 29^th. Other nominees are Dr Sol Serrano Pérez, María Victoria Castro Rojas, Luz María Méndez Beltrán, and Dr Bernardo Arriaza Torres.

Dr Pinto’s vast experience

Dr Cristina Moyano Barahona, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, believes that Dr Pinto is very likely to be awarded the prize for his impeccable career.

“The prize would confirm his fruitful professional career that has had an impact in Chile and across the Southern Cone,” she says. “He is one of the most important Latin Americanists worldwide.”

Dr Pinto has also studied different subjects related to social matters, the conformation of the Chilean State and the Unidad Popular process. The prize would recognize his important role as a researcher and as a collaborator in different processes of curriculum development for history teaching conducted by the Ministry of Education.

“Besides, he has participated in the training of advanced human capital and he is one of the few Latin Americans who are part of the editorial boards of Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, two of the most important publishing houses in the fields of History and Social Sciences,” Dr Moyano says.

“He is brilliant and fully committed to public and secular education. For these reasons, I think he is the right person to receive the prize in the educational context in which we are today,” she concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

​

List of supporters of Dr. Julio Pinto’s nomination to the National Prize of History

University Presidents 

1. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

2. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, Universidad de La Serena.

3. Oscar Garrido Álvarez, Universidad de Los Lagos.

4. Juan Oyarzo Pérez, Universidad de Magallanes.

5. Luis Pinto Faverio, Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana

6. Sergio Bravo Escobar, Universidad de La Frontera

Institutions

7. Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

8. Departamento de Historia, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación.

9. Escuela de Historia, Academia de Humanismo Cristiano

10. Escuela de Historia, Universidad Diego Portales.

11. Departamento de Ciencias Históricas  y Geográficas de la Universidad de Tarapacá

12. Claustro Académico Instituto de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Valparaíso.

13. Pedagogía en Historia, Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Católica de Temuco.

14. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.

15. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.

16. Colegio San Agustín de Atacama

Associations

17. Proyecto Anillos: Patrimonio Industrial, formas de habitar colectivo en el sur de Chile.

18. Asociación de profesores de Historia y Geografía e Investigadores Locales de Collipullo, “Andes del Sur”.

19. Grupo de Historia al Debate.

20. Grupo Krisis, Copiapó

21. Grupo Krisis, La Serena

22. Pedro Portugal Mollinedo, Periódico Pukará.

23. Marta Matamala, Presidenta FEUSACH.

National Prize Recipients

24. Gabriel Salazar, Premio Nacional de Historia 2006.

25. Jorge Pinto, Premio Nacional de Historia 2012.

26. Manuel Antonio Garretón, Premio Nacional de Ciencias Sociales 2007.

Academics of Foreign Universities

27. Carlos Astarita, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

28. Robert Austin, University of Sidney, Australia

29. Ángeles Barrios, Universidad de Cantabria, España

30. Ernesto Boholavsky, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina.

31. María Celia Bravo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Argentina

32. Fernando Barba, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina.

33. Carlos Correa Carranza, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

34. Magdalena Cajías de la Vega, Cónsul General del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia en Chile.

35. Alejandro Cárcamo Mansilla, Instituto de Estudios Latinoamericanos, Universidad Libre de Berlín, Alemania.

36. Marta Casaus Arzu, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

37. Julian Chaves Palacios, Universidad de Extremadura, España.

38. Paul Drake, Universidad de California, Estados Unidos

39. Felipe Falcao, Universidad do Estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil

40. Raúl Fradkin, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

41. Marina Franco, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina.

42. Ana Frega, Universidad de la República, Uruguay

43. Patricia Flier, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina.

44. Alexandre Ferraz Herbetta, Universidad Federal de Goias, Brasil

45. Carmen González Martínez, Universidad de Murcia, España

46. Jorge Gelman, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

47. Richard Gott, Universidad de Londres, Inglaterra

48. Midori Hayashi, Universidad Rikkyo, Japón

49. El Hassane Arabi, Universidad Mohamed Primero, Marruecos

50. Inés Herrera Canales, INAH, México

51. Mbuyi Kabunda, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

52. Brian Loveman, San Diego State University, Estados Unidos

53. Amado Luiz Cervo, Universidad de Brasilia, Brasil.

54. María Monserrat Llairó, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

55. Florencia Mallon, Universidad de Wisconsin, Estados Unidos

56. Miguel Ángel Manzano Rodríguez, Universidad de Salamanca, España

57. José María Minguez, Universidad de Salamanca, España

58. Silvina Mondragón, Universidad del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

59. Aldo Marchesi, Universidad de La República, Uruguay

60. Carmen Mc Evoy, Universidad de California, Estados Unidos

61. Pedro Martínez Lillo, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

62. Carlos Marichal Salinas, Colegio de México, México

63. Mariana Moreno Castillo, Universidad de Sao Paulo

64. Fabiana Nahuelquir, Universidad del Comahue, Argentina

65. Pablo Ospina Peralta, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar.

66. Manuel Ortiz, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, España

67. Jody Pavilack, University of Montana, Estados Unidos

68. Rodolfo Porrini, Universidad de La República, Uruguay

69. Pablo Pozzi, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

70. María Ligia Prado Coelho, Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brasil

71. Rodrigo Patto Sa Motta, Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais

72. Nielsen de Paula Pires, Universidad Federal de la Integración Latinoamericana, Brasil

73. Jesús Redondo Cardeñoso, Universidad de Évora, Portugal

74. José Ragas, Cornell University, Estados Unidos

75. Álvaro Soto Carmona, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España

76. Steve Stern, Universidad de Wisconsin, Estados Unidos

77. Manuel Suarez Cortina, Universidad de Cantabria, España

78. Denisse Sepúlveda Sánchez, Universidad de Manchester

79. Heidi Tinsman, Universidad de California, Irvine, Estados Unidos

80. Samantha Viz Quadrat, Universidad Federal Fluminense, Brasil

81. Sebastiao Vargas, Universidad Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

82. Peter Winn, Tufts University, Estados Unidos

83. Mariana Moreno Castillo, Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brasil

84. Stéphane Boisard, Université Fédérale de Touluse, Francia.

85. Ada Marina Jara Meza, Universidad de Guanajuato

86. Uh Sung Kim, Universidad de Estudios Extranjeros, Corea

87. Antonieta Conde Marquina, Investigador Independiente, Perú

Historians and Social Scientists of National Universities

88. Antonio Aravena, Universidad Alberto Hurtado.

89. César Albornoz, Universidad Alberto Hurtado.

90. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, Universidad de La Serena

91. Fabián Bustamante Olguín, Universidad Arturo Prat

92. Alejandro Bancalari, Universidad de Concepción

93. Alejandra Brito Peña, Universidad de Concepción

94. Guillermo Bravo Acevedo, Academia Nacional de Estudios Políticos y Estratégicos

95. Álvaro Bello Maldonado, Universidad de La Frontera

96. José Joaquín Brunner, Universidad Diego Portales

97. Pablo Artaza Barrios, Universidad de Chile

98. Luis Campos Muñoz, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano

99. José Tomás Cornejo, Universidad Andrés Bello

100. Azún Candina Polomer, Universidad de Chile

101. Vasco Castillo, Universidad Diego Portales

102. José Luis Cabrera Llancaqueo, Universidad Arcis

103. Nelson Castro, Universidad Viña del Mar

104. Eduardo Devés Valdés, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

105. Evguenia Fediakova, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

106. Marcos Fernández Labbé, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

107. Consuelo Figueroa Caravagno, Universidad Diego Portales

108. Claudio Fuentes Saavedra, Universidad Diego Portales

109. Cristián Garay Vera, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

110. José González Pizarro, Universidad Católica del Norte

111. Sergio Grez Toso, Universidad de Chile

112. Oscar Garrido Álvarez, Universidad de los Lagos

113. Ángel Gordo Molina, Universidad de Playa Ancha

114. Manuel Gárate Chateau, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

115. Viviana Gallardo Porras, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano

116. Yéssica González Gómez, Universidad de La Frontera

117. Jessabel Guamán, Universidad de Chile

118. Marco González Martínez, Universidad de Chile

119. Rodrigo Henríquez Vásquez, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

120. Samuel Herrera Balboa, Universidad de La Frontera

121. María Cecilia Hernández, Universidad del Bio Bio

122. Camilo Jara Vásquez, Universidad de Concepción

123- Luis Le Blanc Valenzuela, Universidad de Tarapacá

124. Leonardo Mazzei de Grazia, Academia Chilena de la Historia

125. Danny Monsálvez Araneda, Universidad de Concepción

126. Víctor Muñoz Tamayo, Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez

127. Mario Matus González, Universidad de Chile

128. Manuel Mieres Chacaltana, Universidad Católica de Temuco

129. Eduardo Ortiz Romero, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

130. Mathias Órdenes Delgado, Universidad Católica de Temuco

131. Daniel Palma Alvarado, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

132. Cristián Parker Gumucio, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

133. Juan Carlos Painequeo, Universidad de Concepción

134. Gonzalo Padilla Vilches, Universidad de La Frontera

135. Juan Porma Orate, Universidad de La Frontera

136. Máximo Quitral Rojas, Universidad Arturo Prat

137. Cristina Quezada Rodríguez, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

138. Jorge Rojas Flores, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

139. Rodrigo Rocha, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación

140. César Ross Orellana, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

141. Ricardo Riveros Baeza, Universidad Pedro de Valdivia

142. Javier Reyes Soto, Fundación Nacional para la Superación de la Pobreza

143. Rodrigo Ulloa, DAEM Concepción

144. Samuel San Juan Rebolledo, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

145. Alessandro Santoni, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

146. Kirsten Sehbruch, Universidad Diego Portales

147. Ana María Stuven, Universidad Diego Portales – Pontificia Universidad de Santiago de Chile

148. Cristián Suazo, Universidad de Concepción

149. Andrés Sáez Geoffroy, Universidad de la Frontera

150. Pablo Toro Blanco, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

151. Manuel Vicuña Urrutia, Universidad Diego Portales

152. Augusto Varas Fernández, Fundación Quitas.

153. Horacio Walker Larraín, Universidad Diego Portales

154. María Soledad Zárate Campos, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

155. Sofía Correa Sutil, Universidad de  Chile

156. María Elisa Fernández Navarro, Universidad de Chile

157. María Angélica Illanes, Oliva, Universidad Austral

158. Jaime Flores Chávez, Universidad de La Frontera

159. Carla Rivera, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

160. Alfredo Joignant, Universidad Diego Portales

161. Javier Couso, Universidad Diego Portales

162. María Emilia Tijoux, Universidad de Chile

163. Carlos Ruiz Encina, Universidad de Chile

164. Patrick Puigmal, Universidad de Los Lagos.

165. Alberto Díaz, Universidad de Tarapacá.

166. Pedro Canales Tapia, Universidad de Viña del Mar.

167. Jacqueline Gysling Caselli

168. Alicia Frohmann, Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, Universidad de Chile.

169. Patricio Navia, Universidad Diego Portales

170. Jorge Rueda Castro, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

171. Elizabeth Lira Kornfeld, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

172. Félix Briones, Universidad del Bio Bio

173. Jorge Larraín, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

174. Martin Hopenhayn, CEPAL

175. Olga Ulianova, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

176. Carlos Sandoval, Fundación Educador Paulo Freire, Universidad Metropolitana de ciencias de la Educación.

177. Javier Pinedo, Universidad de Talca.

178. Marcela Cubillos, Instituto de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Valparaíso

• According to this prestigious international survey that includes more than 4,000 universities, our university is the third best higher education institution in Chile. In South America, it is in the 14^th place, just like in 2015, ahead of Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad de Concepción and Universidad Diego Portales, among others. Data provided by the survey show that our university stands out in subjects like Education and Training, English Language and Literature, and Mathematics.

The QS World University Rankings 2016 included Universidad de Santiago de Chile in the 451-460 rank, ahead of New York University (USA), University of Lisbon (Portugal), Michigan Technological University (USA), Bielefeld University (Germany) and the University of Houston (USA), among others.

According to the survey that includes more than 4,000 higher education institutions worldwide, our university kept the third place nationwide, just like in 2015, after Universidad Católica de Chile (170) and Universidad de Chile (209).

Universidad de Santiago was also ranked ahead of other Chilean institutions like Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad de Concepción and Universidad Diego Portales, among others.

The well-known ranking states that Universidad the Santiago particularly stands out in English Language and Literature, a subject in which it is featured in the 251-300 rank, and also in Mathematics (301-350).

Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) led the South American ranking, followed by Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil) and Universidad Católica de Chile. Our university kept the 14^th place in the region, just like in 2015.

The QS University Rankings survey 42 subjects and other indicators like academic and employer reputation, student-to-faculty ratio, citations per faculty and others. On this occasion, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, was ranked the best higher education institution worldwide.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Researchers, professors, students and authorities of Universidad de Santiago de Chile participated in the ceremony in which the American professor and researcher Michael W. Apple was awarded a degree honoris causa.

   

  Michael W. Apple is one of the most prominent representatives of the Critical Pedagogy approach. He has been considered among the most influential figures in the field of education of the 20^th century, particularly for his research on ideology and curriculum and the development of democratic schools in addition to his questioning over neoliberal education.

  He is currently the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, USA, where he has done an extensive work in relation to power, knowledge and school. 

  In the ceremony, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi Cid and General Secretary Gustavo Robles Labarca awarded Dr Apple the Universidad de Santiago de Chile’s gold medal and diploma that certifies this high academic distinction.

  Master class

  On the occasion, Dr Apple gave the master class “Educational Realities and the Role of the Critical Educator”. “Neoliberal and conservative policies have had many impacts on schools, promoting the idea that public is bad and private is good. It is a form of censorship, a lack of respect for those who work for the public sector. Don’t they have the possibility of deciding about this?” the expert said. 

  In this context, he referred to the powerful groups that define the knowledge that has to be transmitted. “There is a similar situation occurring in Chile. Education has become a space for struggle, where controlling groups try to reduce criticism. All policies acknowledge that there is a crisis in education, but these groups have used this speech to move the debate to their own ground and for their own benefit.”

  With regard to what he described as an agreement on what is to be considered as official knowledge, he said that important questions should not be hidden. “What are we teaching and to whom are we teaching? In Education we should ask questions constantly. If we do not understand why students and teachers are upset, then we cannot give answers. We should empathize with the social and political context. In addition to criticizing, we should provide alternatives.”

  He finally suggested “Understanding that we are not perfect and that we need to work collectively. Neoliberalism will anyway attempt to change our identities so that we see ourselves individually.”

  “If we allow capital and the governments to destroy our memories, things will get worse very quickly,” Dr Apple said. 

  Commitment to inclusion and democratization

  President Zolezzi said that the University decided to award Dr Apple a degree honoris causa “Because of his countless merits and contributions and for  some of his works that have had a world impact.”

  In addition to stressing the importance some of his written works, president Zolezzi said that he appreciated the strong commitment Dr Apple has with professors that seek to democratize research, politics and education practices. He described this commitment as an inspiration, “Because he encourages us to train teachers who constantly question themselves about their pedagogical practices and who are aware of their potential as agents of social change.”

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The highest authority of Universidad de Santiago de Chile will lead for the following term the Montevideo Group Association of Universities, a network formed by 31 public institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi Cid, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, is the unanimously elected new president of the Montevideo Group Association of Universities for the May 2016-May 2017 term.

The handover ceremony was held at Universidad de Santiago, with the attendance of diplomatic guests, higher education authorities and representatives of the Council of Rectors of this entity.

Dr Eduardo Rivero, President of Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca of Bolivia, was unanimously elected vice-president.

This year, this association of state, public, autonomous and self-governing institutions will celebrate 25 years of its foundation. 

New challenges

“We need to strengthen higher education with regard to teaching, scientific research, technological innovation, and outreach and engagement, involving universities, research centers, productive sectors, governments and society all together,” Dr Zolezzi said. He also referred to the need for “establishing a policy for relations with other networks.”

Regarding the national context, Dr Zolezzi said: “As state and public universities, we have made efforts so that the country can declare again education as a social right and not as a consumer good. Higher education cannot be determined by the supply and demand criteria that govern the market’s logic.” 

A new state and public development hub

Having in mind the challenges faced by the state and public universities of the region and reaffirming their commitment, with a special emphasis upon strengthening the Latin American and Caribbean Higher Education Space, the university presidents of AUGM confirmed a new step to favor inclusion, equity, social cohesion and cultural diversity: the new Escuela Internacional de Postgrados (International School for Graduate Studies).

The Escuela Internacional de Postgrados will be located in Valparaíso, Chile, in a heritage building recently acquired by the AUGM. In its first stage, the school will be focused on promoting education and culture.

Strengthening student and teacher exchange

According to Dr Eduardo Rivero, president of Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca of Bolivia and current AUGM’s Vicepresident, “it is important to strengthen student and teacher exchange, but not only at an undergraduate level. The Escuela Internacional de Postgrados will allow us to include more teachers and in turn, respond to the needs of our countries.”

“Being part of the Montevideo Group is something important. It is one of the most recognized networks worldwide and it could include other universities. It is important that institutions grow, buy it is even more significant the impact they may have on society,” he said.

It will be a center to promote development, research and innovation that will allow increasing student and teacher exchange among the 30 state universities that are part of this network.

In the past 13 years, the AUGM has enabled the exchange of 5,000 students. Besides its 26 research groups distributed in Academic Committees and Think Tanks that involve different areas of scientific knowledge, the AUGM organizes the Jornadas de Jóvenes Investigadores (Young Researchers Conference) that have gathered 500 students in the past 5 years.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Students with unemployed parents, students from low income households, single mothers or students who have to work to support their families: this is the situation of more than 2,300 youngsters who entered Universidad de Santiago this year, thanks to the tuition-free education program enacted by the Government. All of them have something in common: they had lost all hope of pursuing higher education.

This important benefit bridges gaps and opens new paths to inclusion and promotes equity and social mobility, confirming that education is a right and not a consumer good.

“As a mother, I thought I had to quit my future, because you cannot afford a degree when you are paid the minimum wage. My parents could not help me either. This is as a godsend, because the possibility of studying at no cost was just a beautiful aspiration,” Eillene Zúñiga, a student at the Computing and Informatics Engineering program, said.

“I come from another university and this is an incentive to complete my program. I am being provided with the tools I require to focus on studying,” Gustavo Hurtado, a student at the Informatics Civil Engineering program, said.

“It is important to us to have access to tuition-free education, without grants or complementary loans, because you start feeling that education- although the benefit is still  for some students- is for us, that it is not a business for which we have to pay millions,” Catalina Yáñez, another student at the Informatics Civil Engineering program, said.

For his part, Alejandro Marín says that his father is currently unemployed, so he could not think of any possibility of entering the university. “This will help me to focus on studying and my only goal will be to complete the Publicity program,” he said.

Finally, Alejandra Gallardo’s case is not different from the ones above. She is the first person of her family to enter higher education. “I am very happy. I have never thought of it, as my mother works at a fruit and vegetable market. She considers attending the Building Technology program a “big challenge”.

Thanks to the tuition-free education program enacted by the Government, they have now the possibility of pursuing higher education.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, in his traditional statement to the University Community, asked everyone to give support to the new 3,900 students that entered Universidad de Santiago this year. Our institution has a 166-year history in training professionals and contributing to the development of the country and the world.

Dr Zolezzi stressed that the beginning of this academic year has a very special meaning, because a large number of our new students have benefited from tuition-free higher education.

He said that this goal had been yearned for years and has been achieved after “a long and hard road travelled”. 

He also mentioned the importance of the Chilean education reform as a milestone for the country.

The statement

Besides greeting the university community at the beginning of this academic year, he invited the authorities, academics, professionals and administrative staff “to make the new 3,900 students feel welcomed in these classrooms for they entrusted their professional and personal development to us. With big efforts, they have entered higher education and they have chosen our university for its tradition, quality and prestige. Our mission is to show them that they made the right decision.”

“This academic year has a special meaning to me and to everyone in this institution, as a significant number of these students have benefited from tuition-free education. It is the beginning of a goal that had been yearned for years and has been achieved after a long and hard hard road travelled,” he said. 

He asked senior students to support new students by helping them and answering to their questions, so that this experience turns a happy chapter of their life.

“Undoubtedly, this will be a fundamental year for the education reform. We expect it to be ready and implemented this year and we hope it becomes a real tool that contributes to people’s dignity. It should provide free and quality education for all talented youngsters as a right guaranteed by the Chilean State,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In the release of September 15^th, the well-known QS World University Rankings show that Universidad de Santiago de Chile has consolidated its position as the third best university of the country.

The prestigious QS World University Rankings that evaluate the 900 best universities worldwide released the 2015-2016 report on September 15^th. In this release, Universidad de Santiago de Chile keeps the position that it reached last year and consolidates its third place nationwide, behind Universidad Católica De Chile and Universidad de Chile, but above Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Universidad de Concepción, among others.

Universidad de Santiago, led by Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, keeps in the 451-460 rank of the QS World University Rankings. The survey highlighted some aspects of Universidad de Santiago, a public and state higher education institution, like Employer Reputation that ranked the 187^th place in the overall world ranking, and Academic Reputation, that ranked the 220^th place in the overall world ranking.

In South America, Universidad de Buenos Aires ranked the first place. It climbed 74 places in comparison to the previous survey and it is now in the 124^th position in the overall world ranking. In this regional sub division, Universidad de Santiago de Chile ranked the 14^th place.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• resident Juan Manuel Zolezzi, the highest authority of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, made official the agreements with two of the most renowned higher education centers in Europe and Latin America. This will allow the exchange of experiences, joint research and student and academic exchange. 
• These cultural, academic and scientific collaboration agreements add up to previous agreements that President Zolezzi has signed with other universities in different continents. This confirms the important position of Universidad de Santiago in the international context, showing the strength of its work as a state and public university.
• On this occasion, President Zolezzi was accompanied by academic authorities from different faculties, like Administration and Economics, Engineering, Chemistry and Biology and the Technological Faculty.

On July 27^th, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago- accompanied by authorities from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology- and Dr Carlos Alvarado Cerezo, President of Universidad de San carlos de Guatemala (USAC), signed a cultural, academic and scientific collaboration agreement, which main goal is to strengthen the relation between the two institutions, in accordance with the project of state, inclusive and pluralistic education that they both share.

A week before, on July 20^th, Dr Zolezzi signed a cooperation agreement with the University of London, confirming the strong conviction of President Zolezzi that building links with worldwide renowned institutions is a must.

Several university authorities attended the meeting, like Jorge Friedmann, Dean of the Faculty of Administration and Economics (FAE); Orlando Balboa, Head of the Department of Economics; Aurelio Butelmann, Head of the Department of Administration, and Arturo Cerda, Head of the Department of Accounting and Auditing, among others.

The agreement

Universidad de Santiago and Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala signed a joint cooperation framework agreement in order to share experiences, methodologies and initiatives in the areas of teaching, research and cultural development. In this context, joint activities in these areas are expected to significantly contribute to both institutions.

Local authorities recognized the importance of the agreement. According to the Guatemalan government, this initiative “Will further strengthen the already stable friendship and cooperation links between Guatemala and Chile. It marks a new starting point, with different plans and programs for academic cooperation that will be very useful to students and, particularly, to teachers who seek to improve the development of their cognitive skills to better respond to the new demands of the Guatemalan society.”

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala is the oldest and the most traditional university in that country. It is a unique public institution at the forefront of the development of education and cultural policies.

Its guidelines are common to the ones of Universidad de Santiago, as “It includes a ‘democratic culture’ with a multicultural and intercultural view, related and committed to the environmental, humanist, social and scientific development, with an effective, dynamic and updated management system and with optimally used resources to reach its goals and objectives. It trains professionals with ethical values and academic excellence.”

In search of excellence

The agreement signed by President Zolezzi in Guatemala City is part of the goal set by the university authorities in order to consolidate the institutional growth at a national and international level. The idea is to search for academic initiatives that enrich students’ training and promote additional values which are important in the labor world, such as innovation, adaptability and team work.

This initiative is only one of the significant steps taken in this regard by our Corporation lately. In June, Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi visited several community colleges in California, USA; he signed a memorandum of agreement with Luis Lorvão, Portugal Ambassador to Chile, for the creation of the Portuguese Language Center in the Faculty of Humanities of Universidad de Santiago, and he signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Universidad Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, among other activities.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The participants evaluated the meeting very positively, as it provided constant feedback and the possibility to learn about new teaching methodologies from concrete experiences in the Centre for Vocational Training Tknika, in Spain. Tknika is well positioned and has a long experience in the field of technical vocational training.
• Antonio Gil and Víctor Arias, experts in project-based learning, were the keynote speakers. This method is focused on the student’s performance and it encourages his/her to lead his/her own progress. The researcher Kitte Marttinen, a Finnish expert in educational innovation, also participated in the activity.
• “The concept of challenge is interesting. I think we are going to see the way of implementing this method that involves making students to face a challenge that demands their intellectual and practical efforts,” Gabriel Bosque, director of Liceo Industrial de Nueva Imperial, said.

 

When technical vocational training is getting increasingly stronger, our University contributes with new knowledge for the directors of technical vocational schools managed by Universidad de Santiago (under the system of delegated administration) who participated in an intense activity, in order to learn innovative methodological experiences in the field of technical education. The activity was held on July 8th, here, in Santiago.

Some of the participants were: Patricia Silva Sánchez, director of Instituto Comercial Eliodoro Domínguez Domínguez, Santiago; Marcelo Riquelme, director of Liceo Industrial de Angol, Angol; Gabriel Bosque, director of Liceo Industrial de Nueva Imperial, Nueva Imperial; and Aliro Ramírez León, director of Liceo Industrial Presidente Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Rancagua. The heads of the pedagogical and vocational training units of these schools also attended the activity.

They all learned about the experiences and new methodologies presented by Antonio Gil de Gómez y Víctor Arias Rodríguez, Spanish experts from the renowned Centre for Vocational Training Tknika, Basque Country, and by Dr Kitte Marttinen, Finnish researcher with a long experience in educational innovation.

This valuable initiative is part of the school directors’ training program coordinated by the academic in charge of the administration of these institutions, Jorge Torres Ortega. He said that it was a rewarding activity because it was focused on concrete actions to improve technical vocational education, in a context in which a lot is spoken but little is done. “I do not know if someone in Chile is working on this at the level we are at the University,” he said.

Professor Torres invited the Spanish researchers to participate in the meeting to provide the above school directors with new methodological and management tools. With regards to Antonio Gil, Torres highlighted his experience using the project-based learning (PBL) approach that will provide and innovative view in the country, because it makes students to be protagonists of their own learning.

Universidad de Santiago has maintained a partnership with Tknika since last year. “Besides, in August there will be a scholarship competition for technical vocational schools’ teachers. That is why I particularly asked them to inform us about the specialization alternatives in the centres of the Basque Country,” he said.

The voice of the experts

The project-based learning (PBL) is a competence-based model for technical training teaching developed by Antonio Gil and Víctor Arias. Roughly, this method is focused on the student’s performance and it encourages him/her to lead his/her own progress.

According to Antonio Gil, the PBL means an evolution, a new way of facing the learning process, in accordance with current times.

“We have realized that education is evolving and shifting to this type of teaching. It is no longer the type in which the teacher knows his/her subject very well and then recites it to the student and, if the latter is paying attention, he/she will learn; and if he/she gets distracted, he/she will not learn that much,” he explained. 

In this sense, the researcher thinks that the student is the protagonist and the teacher should be a facilitator that provides the necessary tools for the student to have the results expected for the process. 

For his part, Víctor Arias highlighted that implementing these new technologies would involve big efforts. “Teachers need more training, and therefore, more resources are required,” he said.

The participants

According to Patricia Silva Sánchez, director of Instituto Comercial Eliodoro Domínguez Domínguez, “Listening to the experts from the Basque Country was an interesting experience, because they have had very good results with these innovative initiatives and good results in technical vocational education.” She highlighted the novel approach proposed by the PBL, in which the student is an essential agent in the educational process and which dynamics gives the student important tools for his/her professional development.

“The learning process is student-centred, as he/she starts looking for information; he/she plays different roles in the working groups and together they are able to reach the final results. This is the work that they have to face when they enter the world of work.”

Marcelo Riquelme, director of Liceo Industrial de Angol, said that the activity was important because it provided significant feedback on world-wide successful experiences that could improve the projects already implemented in Chilean institutions.

“It is really important because we are implementing projects in that direction. We still have work to do, but having this type of exchange and learning about these experiences will help us a lot,” he said.

Gabriel Bosque, director of Liceo Industrial de Nueva Imperial, said that the meeting was very significant. “The opportunity of having these experts here, listening to them directly and having the possibility of asking questions, generates a quite interesting interaction that will allow us to improve the implementation of our own projects.”

However, Bosque stressed that one of the main hurdles in introducing new pedagogical methodologies in the classrooms of our country is the paradigm change that it involves.

“This is the main problem posed by any deep, structural change in education, in general. We teachers were historically trained in one paradigm, so it is hard for us to change methodologies,” he said. However, he thinks that basing the educational process on challenges is really innovative and attractive.

“The concept of challenge is interesting. I think we are going to see the way of implementing this method that involves making students to face challenges that demand their intellectual and practical efforts,” director Bosque said.

According to Aliro Ramírez León, director of Liceo Industrial Presidente Pedro Aguirre Cerda, the activity was rewarding, because it opened paths to learn about state-of-the-art educational methodologies.

“For us, all training initiatives are welcome, because they allow us to compare what we are doing with what they are doing in Europe,” he said.

Finally, he described the occasion as a call for innovation. “We are completely aware that we must innovate,” he concluded.

 

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