• After two years of work of the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement, Sergio González, the Vice President, informed about the achievements made by this unit in organizing activities and guidelines to connect our University and the community. On this occasion, he highlighted the positioning of the University and its academics in the media and the institution’s hallmark and imprint, among other aspects. He valued the cultural contribution made by the artistic groups and the radio station.

On October 23rd, 2012, the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement of Universidad de Santiago (ViMe, in Spanish) started operating. Recently, the Vice President Sergio González informed about the achievements made by this unit during these two years of work, before an audience that included administrative staff and academics and professionals in charge of outreach activities in faculties, departments and schools of the university.

Based on the Self-Evaluation Report submitted by the University in the context of the Accreditation Process 2014 and the Output Report delivered by the external peer reviewers, Vice President González referred to the strengths and weaknesses identified in this area.

“The most important contribution of the ViMe in these two years is the establishment of an outreach policy that unites the activities that the University used to arrange in an unstated and disjointed manner, in an ongoing and active process with impact on the academic units and outside the university,” he said.

Among the strong points, Sergio González mentioned the creation of this structure that organizes, coordinates and integrates the efforts made by different academic units to build links with the community; the high number of activities held in this area- which is considered in the accreditation processes- with more than four hundred activities each semester; the organiztion of events to gather academic units and members of the community together; the efforts made to improve alumni tracking schemes; the diverse traditional cultural activities, like concerts given by artistic groups; the radio station, the University Press and the Planetarium.

He also referred to the potential strengthening of the institutional image in the public eye, which directly relates to another strong point: the growing presence of the University in the media. Both factors have been part of a systematic work led by the Department of Communications at tracking the “Universidad de Santiago” hallmark. In addition, the positioning of our academics’ names and work has been consolidated, what has allowed audiences to recognize not only the generation of good practices that have led to public policies like the Grade Ranking, the PACE Program and the advocacy for public education headed by President Zolezzi, but also to see that these initiatives have had a successful growth and impact,” the Vice President said.

He highlighted the leading role played by President Zolezzi with regards to strengthening and positioning Universidad de Santiago in the media. In the 5,800 mentions that the institution registers every year, President Zolezzi is the one who attracts more attention.

“Today, one of the assets we have is the impact of the institutional imprint beyond the hallmark and the external positioning, which reflects the important and effective work done by the Department of Communications, at covering all the activities of our University,” Sergio González said.

Gabriela Martínez, Director of the Department of Communications, said that the successful results shown by this area “are the consequence of more than four years of systematic work done by a team committed to strengthening a communications policy according to what is stated in the Institutional Strategic Plan 2011-2015. Therefore, we faced the recent accreditation process with a series of indicators that support the line of work that we established; even more, we included the Media Perception Index (IPM, in Spanish) as an institutional indicator.”

Strengthening some areas

Vice President González said that the weaknesses identified by the accreditation process were already stated by the University; therefore, they were considered in the 2015-2017 improvement plan.

One of these improvements seeks to promote a “bi-directionality” culture so that connection with society is understood in a context of actions and feedback.

With regards to enhancing the practice of keeping records of the activities, a new data management system is being implemented. In relation to systematizing effective links, agreements and protocols will be formalized.

During the meeting, the Vice President also referred to the guidelines for the new consolidation stage of the Vice Presidency of Outreach and Engagement, which will strengthen the coordination with the different academic units, the culture of connection with society, the alumni fidelity program, and the internationalization of the institution.

“We will work together with the academic units and our functional units to strengthen this area. But we will also make the most of the huge opportunity that the Institutional Strategic Plan gives us, as it will allow us to reach a better common understanding and agreement about what we determine for our joint work,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In a ceremony held on December 21st, at the Aula Magna, young students from 14 low-income schools of the Metropolitan Region were awarded diplomas after successfully completing the Propedéutico-Unesco Program “New Hope, Better Future”. This educational inclusion initiative is offered since 2007 by our University, what makes it a pioneer in this field. A total of 66 students were granted scholarships to enter the Bachelor’s Program in Science and Humanities. The Academic Vice President, Fernanda Kri, pointed out the University’s commitment when facing the challenges posed by equity, funding and quality. María Galaz, one of the program graduate students, expressed her thanks to Universidad de Santiago for the opportunity given to youngsters.

On December 21st, with the presence of their families, friends, teachers and commune authorities, 91 high-school students were awarded their diplomas for graduating from the Propedéutico-Unesco Program “New Hope, Better Future”, the University’s Preparatory Program.

Among the attendees to the ceremony were the Academic Vice President, Fernanda Kri, on behalf of the University’s President; the Director of the Unesco Chair Program, Francisco Javier Gil; the Program Coordinator of the Unesco Regional Bureau for Education, Paz Portales; the Mayor of San Francisco de Mostazal, Sergio Medel; the Mayor of Graneros, Claudio Segovia; the Director of the Preparatory Program at Universidad de Santiago, Máximo González, the Executive Director of the Preparatory Program, Lorna Figueroa and the Director of the Bachelor’s Program in Science and Humanities, Marcela Orellana.

During its seventh version, the Preparatory Program brought together 146 prominent students from low-income schools. Providing the students with tools and academic contents to face in a better way the challenge posed by higher education is one of the goals of the program. Although some students were not able to complete the program, 91 of them did.

More inclusion

The young students showed themselves happy and grateful for the opportunity that they were offered. María Galaz Molina, a student at Liceo Profesor Misael Lobos, in Graneros, referred to the support that students received from the program’s authorities at all times and to the comprehensive learning program that should facilitate them accessing higher education.

Nayareth Bascuñán agreed with María. Nayareth is a student at Cardenal Oviedo School, in Maipú, who was distinguished by her academic performance during the program. “It has been an unforgettable experience, not only academically: I have also developed myself as a person,” she said.

One innovation in this version of the program was the number of schools. In relation to the previous year, it increased by three schools, by virtue of the work done directly with the municipalities of San Francisco de Mostazal and Graneros. “Due to this initiative, we were able to extend the Propedéutico Program experience to other schools that usually do not have students accessing higher education,” Máximo González, Director of the Program said.

Regarding the above, the Mayor of San Francisco de Mostazal, Sergio Medel, said to U. de Santiago al Día: “This project has been very beneficial to our youngsters, both the ones who participated and the ones who will. It is a measure of justice.”

For his part, the Mayor of Graneros, Claudio Segovia, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity Universidad de Santiago gave to nine families of that locality, where 50 per cent of the people work as seasonal workers. These families now have new hopes that are changing their lives.

Vice President Kri said that thanks to the inclusion of good students in this kind of program, the results obtained and the student follow up during the seven years of the program have supported the decision to continue with this integration line. Regarding our University’s commitment to improve equity, funding, and teaching quality, “They deserve this opportunity and they earned it,” she said.

Vice President Kri added that this kind of policies, together with mechanisms like the School Grades Ranking (Ranking de Notas, in Spanish), “are going to make changes in the country, because good students coming from any school of Chile will have a real possibility of entering the university. Two years ago, this was unthinkable.”

She referred to the project’s renewal, with the clear intention of reaching earlier stages in high- school education.

Scholarships and opportunities

On Saturday 21st, the names of the students who were benefited with entering Universidad de Santiago’s Bachelor’s Program in Science and Humanities via Propedéutico, without the required University Selection Test (PSU, its acronym in Chile) were known.

52 students were awarded full tuition fee scholarships, while 14 will have their tuition fees covered by their municipalities, at least for a year. However, for the rest of the students, the journey does not end here: Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez and Universidad Alberto Hurtado invited them to become their students.

Francisco Javier Gil, Director of the Unesco Chair Program, agreed that the good results obtained by students, together with mechanisms like the School Grades Ranking, have highlighted the need of reconsidering the higher-education access systems. And although he showed himself very pleased by the seven years of program and by the expansion of the network of universities that are offering these Preparatory Programs (16, from Antofagasta, in the North, to Punta Arenas, in the South), he thinks that there are still challenges to face, like modifying the awarding of PSU- related scholarships. “We only have one thousand admission vacancies in the country, and there are youngsters that make their best efforts and study hard; they want to access higher education, but they cannot. So, there still a long way to say that in Chile, if you want it, you get it.”

The schools participating in 2013 were: Centro Educacional Dr. Armando Neghme, Liceo Polivalente Guillermo Feliú, Complejo Educacional Pedro Prado, Centro Educacional Pudahuel, Liceo Polivalente A-19, in Talagante, Liceo Industrial Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Liceo Poeta Federico García Lorca, Cardenal Carlos Oviedo School, Instituto Femenino Superior de Comercio Eliodoro Domínguez, Centro Educacional Técnico Profesional, Liceo Santiago Bueras, Liceo Profesional Misael Lobos, Liceo Alberto Hurtado and Liceo Elvira Sánchez

Finally, the Director of the Program at Universidad de Santiago, Máximo González, recognized that he hopes that, in the future, Preparatory Programs will not be needed for talented and skilled youngsters to access higher education.