Young people from Germany, Spain, Mexico and Tahiti shared their experiences and lifestyle with students of the Journalism major at the house of studies.

Generating a cultural exchange between exchange students and those studying Journalism at the University of La Serena, was the objective of the activity organized by the ULS International Relations Office, where young people from Germany, Spain, Mexico and Tahiti spoke about the realities of each of their countries, together with the experiences lived during their stay at the University.

The activity was attended by the Academic Vice Chancellor, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón, the Vice Chancellor for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Armando Mansilla, the Head of the International Relations Office, Mg. José Mora and the teacher and Academic Secretary of the FACSE, Mg. Carolina Rodriguez.  

"For the University, having young people from other countries due to the student exchange is very important because a cultural change is generated with our students that helps them appreciate things through another perspective," said the Academic Vice Chancellor regarding the participation of exchange students in activities like this one.

For the Mag. José Mora, meanwhile, it is relevant to generate instances of this type, where diverse cultural and professional experiences are shared. “It is important that the students of our house of studies can learn about other realities that live in other countries, thus complementing the professional training that the University gives them today,” he said.

Regarding the experience of doing an exchange semester at ULS, Sara, an exchange student from Germany, commented that "it has been a great experience, people are different from people in Germany, people are closer here and friendly, and in terms of academics here the classes are more focused on the practical, unlike there where everything is theoretical”.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

The congress took place on the premises of the University of Bío Bío, and allowed the Chilean Costs Association to be formed.

The Director of the Audit School, Mg. Patricia Cortés Iturrieta, from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the University of La Serena, participated in the First Chilean Costs Congress, organized by the University of Bío Bío and the International Costs Institute.

The congress took place on June 27 and 28 at the premises of the University of Bío Bío, and allowed the formation of the Chilean Costs Association, in which 10 national universities participated, represented by more than 50 Chilean participants and with the presence of specialists from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The main objective of the Chilean Costs Association is to investigate and disseminate knowledge on costs and management. In addition, it seeks to establish national and international relations with different institutions that share common objectives.

The Director of the ULS Audit School said that “it was very valuable to participate in this event and above all to verify that we share the same interest with academics in the cost area from other national and international universities, and at the same time, confirm that we are in complete harmony. with the learning and work that is developed in other universities that take on the challenge of training auditors.”

"On the other hand, regarding the Chilean Institute of Costs, of which I am part of the Board of Directors, in the immediate future, we have the challenge of developing the strategic plan and defining future activities, in pursuit of what will be the second version of the Chilean Costs Congress. Costs and Management to be carried out in April 2020 in Santiago, organized by the Diego Portales University,” said Mg. Patricia Cortes.

In this way, the first Board of Directors was made up of:

President: Estela Rodríguez Quezada (Bío-Bío University)

Vice President: Cristian Torres Riquelme (Catholic University of Temuco)

Treasurer: Hernán Rocha Pavez (University of Magallanes)

Secretary: José Tello Ávilda (University of Talca)

Director 1: Sandra Alvear Vega (University of Talca)

Director 2: Mario Araneda Rodríguez (Diego Portales University)

Director 3: Patricia Cortés Iturrieta (La Serena University)

More information and details of this historic process in http://congresodecostos.ubiobio.cl/

In total, there were 20 organizations that sought to promote the active participation of the community, through interventions in the Plaza de Armas of Coquimbo.

Promote the active participation of the community, generating an ecosystem of debate and collaborative learning in action to solve real challenges of the commune of Coquimbo and promote at the regional level the start of the university volunteer organization EKUN of the University of La Serena, were the main objectives of the meeting “Citizens in action: Empowered Community with Social and Environmental Consciousness”, an activity organized by the university and the municipality of Coquimbo.

There were 20 organizations that took part in this activity open to the community of the Buenos Aires commune, where people learned about the work carried out by each of these organizations.

The academic of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Coordinator of Liaison with the Environment of the FIULS, Ricardo Cabana, pointed out that “in this meeting of citizens in action, we seek that our students from the Faculty of Engineering and the citizens of the commune of Coquimbo, raise environmental problems and our students give us solutions incorporating environmental and social challenges, and that the mayor can receive them.”

Regarding the invitation made by the ULS to be part of this initiative, Juan Catalán, supporter of INJUV's social programs and initiatives, indicated that "it seems very good to us, since as INJUV we have the mission of addressing everything that is voluntary and bring public services closer to the people, we are very grateful for the invitation that the University of La Serena gave us to bring young people closer to our institution and we hope that they continue carrying out activities of this type.”

In addition, 6 work tables were established open to the participation of attendees where different debates were carried out on 4 to 6 environmental and social challenges relevant to the commune of Coquimbo, with the purpose of carrying out a focused diagnosis of the topics discussed. , creating initiatives that will contribute to solving these challenges.

The beginning of a new volunteering

During this activity, the volunteer work of the University of La Serena “Ekun” began, which sought to present itself to the community, disseminating the work that the students of the study house seeking to carry out. they compose.

Ekun (which in Mapudungun means respect) is a university volunteer organization created by students of the Industrial Civil Engineering program at the ULS and which today is made up of 20 students from the Faculty of Engineering, which seeks to promote and contribute to the training of environmental and social awareness in the students of the university and in the community of the Coquimbo Region, through commitment, active participation and leadership of university students, individuals and organizations related to sustainable and sustainable development.  

For the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Mauricio Godoy, it is important to be able to generate these instances that bring the University closer to the community. “It is important that the University rebuilds its social role through initiatives such as volunteering. That is why we are concerned about the projection that our 'Ekun' volunteer service could have, to be able to make it grow and ensure that it is established as a group of the entire University of La Serena, it is very important for our Faculty that this is generated from our careers" , he explained.

Regarding the creation of this volunteering, Esteban Hurtado, student of Industrial Civil Engineering and general director of Ekun, said that “this is an excellent initiative and a very good opportunity, it was born in the Department of Industrial Civil Engineering, through the students , to promote social and environmental awareness. “This is an innovative experience for the University and the community.”

The work of “Ekun” joins the work of other volunteers at the university such as the “Voluntariado Sowing Hopes” (VOSES), which will seek to expand their scope of action, including students from other careers at the university.

Written Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

With less than 10 days until the second plenary session of the Institutional Self-Assessment process, the Subcommittee on Linkage with the Environment continues its work intensely to present its progress.

The members of the Subcommittee work in collaborative analysis subgroups to ensure that progress towards institutional accreditation is objective and coherent. The atmosphere is one of analysis, reflection and proposals, with an attitude of listening and collaboration for the development of this important institutional process.

In this regard, the Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension and leader of the Subcommittee highlights that in the current phase in which the VCM self-assessment subcommittee is working there are 2 crucial milestones, “the first has to do with the initial construction of instruments of consultation to obtain feedback from various key informants, particularly in this subcommittee, the opinion of external actors: public, private and the community is relevant. These actors will help us see if there is consistency with the opinion of the university community and thus be able to correct the gaps that may exist, and propose improvement plans for this. The second is to create an area index for the self-assessment report that allows us to organize the work of the coming months and determine where we can find the information to prepare the first draft. For the next plenary session we are empowering all team members with this knowledge who, it should be noted, are participating with high motivation and doing all the requested activities.”

In the development of this phase, emphasis has been placed on the work of the CICULS team, which has put all the installed capacities to facilitate the implementation of the tasks in view of the plenary session that will take place on July 24.

Written by Natalia Ávila, DirCom

In an official meeting, the Equity and Gender Committee of the Teaching Directorate of the University of La Serena, presented the main challenges for this year to the Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro.

The Ethics and Gender Committee aims to build an inclusive environment on the state campus from a gender perspective.

In this context, a joint work meeting was held between the Rector's Office and the Committee, where the work to be carried out in the coming months was defined, with the aim of outlining the functions that each entity that operates in this matter within the University will have. .

In this regard, academic Desirée López de Maturana, member of the Committee as the Gender representative of the ULS before the CRUCH, pointed out that “we see a lot of coincidence in the purposes we have as a Committee and the institutional challenges. The result was very positive, we needed to be able to make ourselves known to be able to articulate ourselves with the new instances and position ourselves in the new scenario that exists around the issue of gender and equity.”

Likewise, the academic representative of the Faculty before the Committee, María Lourdes Campos, thanked the authority for its support. “The most important thing is to be able to count on support and thus be able to carry out the academic objectives that we have set, carry out studies and research to determine the gender gaps that exist at the University and from that support in the generation of equality policies. and gender equity in our institution,” he stated.

The meeting ended with the commitment to make a decree that formalizes the operation of the Committee, whose proposal will be presented by this body in a new meeting to be held at the end of July.

Written by Paula Godoy, ULS Journalist

In addition, information was reviewed that allowed us to complement the work that was presented in the plenary session on June 19.

Like every week and in a process already internalized, the members of the Institutional Management Subcommittee met to work collaboratively on the analysis of the matrix of questions for key informants and, thus, add it to the report already delivered in the first plenary session. .

During the meeting, which maintains constant participation, the members were able to subdivide ideas and write questions and statements regarding the matrix that must be presented and the objective lines it contains, along with the purposes of the University.

The Vice Chancellor of Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Armando Mansilla Sunkel, leader of the Institutional Management Subcommittee, presented the matrix and interacted with all the members of the subgroups organized by topics, who did hard work when writing the questions to be presented at the next plenary meeting, which will bring together all those who have worked on the institutional self-assessment process.

For the person in charge of the Office of Institutional Studies, belonging to the Directorate of Strategic Development and Quality, Mg. Melissa Meriño, “this process has been fundamental for the institution and for all of us who work in it, since we are not only contributing from our point of view, but we have had to reinforce our knowledge and transfer it to other people, know what they make and understand the dynamics of other units; In this way, we contribute directly to the self-evaluation process, and therefore, to the future accreditation with which the University will be faced.”

During the last week of July, the second plenary session will be held, and at that time is when the participants of each subcommittee will have the opportunity to learn about the progress in the process, as well as interact with their peers to raise doubts and assertions.

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom