• 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