The president of the Consortium of State Universities, rector Ennio Vivaldi, recalled that the 27 thousand students who will lose free tuition will have to go into debt. The eighteen rectors of the State Universities received with interest the gender equality proposal from the Ministry of Education but they will consult with their communities about the scope of the document.
 
In the monthly session held at the Central House of the University of Chile, the eighteen rectors and rectors of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile, among them the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, addressed the consequences of not having a technical table with the government to address the problems that arise from the loss of free tuition for some 27 thousand students.

In this regard, the president of the Consortium of State Universities, Rector Ennio Vivaldi, recalled that in November 2018 a Protocol was agreed with senators, and the ministries of Education and Finance, to address the problems that were looming with the loss of free of students and the deficit that universities carry.

In this regard, the president of CUECH stated that “closing the door to the conversation about free education is closing the door to universities,” said Rector Ennio Vivaldi.

Meanwhile, the Rector of the University of Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, described the issue as complex because the State cannot say “that law was made by others, make do as you can” and one of the consequences of not addressing the deficit of free is that the quality will go down, stressed the CUECH treasurer.

For his part, the Rector of the University of Talca, Alvaro Rojas, recalled that “The Laws do not belong to the governments, they belong to the countries and the responsibility of the government is to implement them and when deficiencies are found to correct them and that is what we appeal to. as rectors of state universities” stated the director of CUECH.

Mineduc Gender Proposal

Regarding the Gender Equality proposal presented by the Minister of Education Marcela Cubillos to the 17 rectors of the Higher Education System, the CUECH agreed to look at the ministry's proposal with "interest", but the Rector Ennio Vivaldi clarified that Unlike private universities, it is the communities of the State universities that have made proposals and contributions; Therefore, “as state universities we are going to have a joint position that we are going to send to the government in which we agree that these measures be taken but we think that there are conceptual aspects of gender that have been worked on by our communities that must be considered.”

The president of CUECH specified that the rectors of the State Universities “respond to the communities that have elected us” and stressed that there is no reason to justify injustices towards women other than the social factors that perpetuate this injustice; “If we are not able to point that out in a document, we are almost more accomplices than solvers of the problem of inequality,” said Rector Ennio Vivaldi.

In the case of the eighteen universities of the State, gender strengthening plans and framework agreements have already been established; gender directions, anti-discrimination policies, nursery facilities and public kindergartens on campus for students and mothers. There is also progress in the recognition of the social name of trans people.

It is worth remembering that recently it has been possible to increase the participation of women in the student body, even in scientific careers in which men have traditionally predominated, according to the “Gender Gap Report in Higher Education” carried out by the Information System of the MINEDUC. The report establishes that State universities have systematically developed efforts seeking to reverse the negative gap in women enrolled, which in 2014 was -1,9%, with total enrollment reaching 2018% in 3,2 in favor of women.  

Written by CUECH Press

The alliance is an expression of the university's commitment to linking itself with the needs of the territory and the municipality's will to take advantage of the capabilities of the state university for the benefit of the local population.

Bringing the scientific understanding of the eclipse closer to the general population and promoting self-care behaviors and correct appreciation of the astronomical phenomenon is the commitment that the University of La Serena acquired with Mayor Roberto Jacob, in a meeting that brought together the mayor with the ULS Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés and the President of the Board of Directors of the University, Ernesto Velasco.

The agreement is part of the desire of the highest institutional authorities to collaborate to ensure that the total solar eclipse is, in addition to a scientific and tourist milestone, an opportunity to educate and encourage citizen interest in science.

"We agreed to work together, since we are dealing with a current issue which is the eclipse and in light of this they presented me with some projects such as a planetarium in Las Compañías in front of the Gabriela Mistral house and I hope that when it is ready, the students of the municipal schools have the opportunity to visit it. The important thing is that he will go to Las Compañías, which is a very populated sector. It was also mentioned about the mobile planetarium that will travel through different sectors with specialized people who will explain what the eclipse means. For this reason, we will form an alliance and work together to make it happen. La Serena belongs to everyone and those who are involved in the city have to come together for the good of it, it is important that the municipality is in constant communication with the University because they make life better in our commune," stressed Mayor Roberto Jacob.

For his part, Rector Avilés highlighted that "as a University we have academics and researchers eager to share their knowledge with the general population and accompany them to live the eclipse experience in the best possible way. Sealing this alliance with the municipality will allow us to expand our scientific-educational field of action, reaching more people with our academics and sharing our passion for science.

The meeting was also attended by the President of the ULS Board of Directors, Ernesto Velasco, who commented that "in this first working meeting with the Rector and Mayor Jacob, ways in which we can bring scientific knowledge to the entire community were discussed. The agreement is to work together to provide relevant scientific information to citizens, within the framework of the environmental linkage functions of the University of La Serena."

The project of activities will be prepared with researchers and scientific and educational dissemination professionals from the ULS, to present it to the municipality in the coming days. Once the final program is defined, the teams from both institutions will begin joint work.

“The ULS is called to be the scientific-educational partner of the city and in that role, the total eclipse on July 2 opens up a unique opportunity to bring, in alliance with the municipality, science to the daily life of the people," stressed Rector Avilés.

The activity took place in the Ignacio Domeyko Aula Magna of the University of La Serena, where students joining the careers of Law, Commercial Engineering, Business Administration Engineering, Journalism and Pedagogy in History and Geography met.

With the presence of the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences (FACSE) developed the welcome ceremony for the 336 new students who join the state campus this 2019.

The event was headed by the Dean of the FACSE, Dr. Luperfina Rojas Escobar, who in her words detailed the important effort made by the Faculty to materialize the seal of quality training that the ULS gives to the training of its students. “We are living in times of change and students are called to be a fundamental part of this new century in terms of values, respect for differences, freedom, technological advances and a society that, thanks to immigrants, has become multicolored. At our University we instill respect, human rights, inclusion and we value difference; We hope with your look and vision of the present and future, together we will be a contribution to this country in transformation,” emphasized Dean Rojas.

At the activity, the Interim President of the Federation of Students (FEULS), Pablo Zapata, also addressed those present, who gave a greeting on behalf of the student organization. “I invite you to participate in the various activities that are generated on the different campuses of the University, in favor of maintaining a comprehensive university experience,” said the Law student.

The welcome to the new students included the presentation of the Directors of Departments, Schools and careers of the FACSE, an event that had the objective of promoting the recognition and connection between the students and the authorities who will be in charge of the professional training of the new students. members of the University of La Serena.

It is worth mentioning that, of the 336 new students, 60 belong to the Audit major, 54 students to the Law major, 67 to Commercial Engineering, 50 to Business Administration Engineering, 54 to Pedagogy in History and Geography, and 53 students to a career in Journalism.

Written by Paula Godoy, Rectoría Press

The prototypes were made to meet needs in the areas of smart cities, energy efficiency and electromobility, while the car race allows an approach and practice with cutting-edge technologies in terms of design and manufacturing.

With the presentation of various innovation prototypes and a race of radio-controlled cars, students and academics from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of La Serena commemorated the "Day of Arduino".

In the presentation of prototypes, the students of the elective subject "Innovation and Development of Prototypes" carried out work addressing needs in the areas of smart cities, energy efficiency and electromobility, with the aim of solving some problems of our city.

The prototypes developed include an “intelligent lighting system”, which reduces the intensity of public lighting on roads to reduce both electricity consumption and light pollution; a "smart bull's back", which is activated when detecting an excess of the permitted speed, thus helping to improve the fuel efficiency of those who respect the speed, preventing them from having to stop; a "Bicycle Detection System for Cycle Lanes", which notifies vehicles on streets attached to a cycle lane when a bicycle is about to take an intersection, avoiding accidents; and an "Electric car model", which was developed thinking about reducing costs associated with its manufacturing.

The professors in charge of the project, Camilo Moreno Lafertte and Leonardo Saguas Bravo, explained that all the prototypes were made using 3D printing technologies and with Arduino programming cards for automation, financed with the "Good Teaching Practices 2018" project of the University .

Radio controlled car race

Other activities were the radio-controlled car race, which marks a milestone in the Department, where for the first time two subjects, Mechanical Design and Manufacturing Processes II, are combined to make a project. This consisted of designing and manufacturing a radio-controlled car, using engineering design software for its 3D modeling and calculations, and 3D printing technologies and numerical control equipment for its manufacturing. To control the vehicles, a remote control system was developed using Arduino.

The race was a complete success, where 6 teams ran with their corresponding vehicles in front of the Department.

“The activity allowed the students to have an approach and practice with cutting-edge technologies in terms of design and manufacturing, giving them updated tools for their professional development,” said academics Rodrigo Silva Valenzuela and Camilo Moreno Lafertte, who directed the initiative.

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, Communications Department

Through a workshop, a talk and an exhibition of its work, the institution actively participated in this activity open to the community of the Coquimbo Region.

El Conciliar Seminary College opened its doors to the community to celebrate a new version of Astro Day, activity organized by GEMINI y Aura in Chile as part of Astronomy Week. In this instance, the University of La Serena It was done with various activities.

One of them was the “Colors in the Universe” workshop, taught by the astronomer from the Multidisciplinary Institute of Science and Technology of the ULS, Dr. Guillermo Damke, and the PhD student in Astronomy, Ciria Dias. Erich Wenderoth's talk about life in the Universe was also held.

Likewise, the dissemination stand was led by the ULS astronomer, Dr. Rodolfo Angeloni, in which the Master's in Astronomy students, Agustín Díaz and Juan Pablo Uchima, participated.

“It is always super motivating to be able to interact with an audience that has a slightly more naive and curious vision about what science means in the country and its region,” said Master's student Ignacio Díaz.

Likewise, the PhD student, who participated in this activity for the second consecutive year, Ciria Dias, stressed the importance of carrying out this activity in an educational establishment. “Scientific dissemination is very important, since it is necessary for children to know the possibilities that exist to do research science, for me it is gratifying to be and be part of Astro Day,” she expressed.

Written by Paula Godoy, Rectoría Press.

Members of the university community announced the various inclusive educational actions that are developed at the institution.

In order to share the various inclusive educational and cultural actions and practices that are developed within the University of La Serena, exchange, cooperation and collaboration between different entities was carried out for the second consecutive year, through the Meeting of Inclusion Experiences. in college.

The activity presented inclusive experiences and practices developed with and for people who have some characteristic of groups that have historically been excluded, whether for reasons of disability, ethnicity, race, gender, social vulnerability, migration or another characteristic.

Among the speakers were the participation of academics from the Department of Education, Dr. Georgina García, Dr. Clara Tirado and Dr. Desirée López de Maturana; of the Dept. of Agronomy, Mg. Carmen Jorquera; and the Dept. of Cs. Social, Dr. Arlyn Orellana and Ms. Claudia Farías. The students and graduates also announced the inclusion initiatives implemented in different areas, including graduates of the Dentistry program and students of the pedagogy programs in Differential Education and Computer Engineering.

In addition, the Equality and Gender Commission, the PACE APRENDE ULS Accompaniment Program, the Central Library and the Joint Committee of the University of La Serena, presented on various practices that are developed in the house of higher education.

The meeting organized by the state campus, through the Office of Inclusion and Disability, within the framework of the Project “Comprehensive Support Plan for Students of the University of La Serena, MINEDUC ULS 1799”, was attended by 70 people, including academics, students , education professionals, municipal officials and representatives of civil society organizations from La Serena, Coquimbo, Vicuña, Paihuano and Los Vilos.

Written by Patricia Castro, DEIP