ENA is proposed as a meeting to build, together, other possible educational alternatives for Our America.

On May 9 and 10, the 5th Meeting of Our America will be held at the Isabel Bongard Campus of the University of La Serena. An unprecedented event that brings together organizations, groups and people who carry out emancipatory, alternative and liberating education throughout Latin America.

ENA is proposed as a meeting to build, together, other possible educational alternatives for Our America. To this end, representatives from 12 countries will come to La Serena, bringing with them revolutionary educational experiences for children, young people and adults.

Many of these experiences have high international prestige in educational matters. Thus, for 2 days, these people will meet to work together with Chilean students and educators in the construction of projects to transform education for Latin America.

“The entire ENA international community and the local organizing team hope that students and teachers from the University of La Serena will join in and actively participate in this meeting,” the organization of the meeting indicated.

Participation requires prior registration at: http://www.encuentrodenuestraamerica.org/encuentros/chile-2019/.

The Meeting of Our America is open and free and locally has the support of the Illustrious Municipality of La Serena.

This project from the University of La Serena supports the strengthening of capacities required by small miners.

With the objective of contributing to the sustainability of small mining operations in the Coquimbo Region, the University of La Serena launched the project “Improvement of management in small mining”, financed by the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness of the Regional Government (FIC-R). The initiative benefits small mining companies with the construction of a mobile metallurgical control laboratory.

The project began in 2018, a period in which we worked together with mining union associations from La Higuera, La Serena, Andacollo, Ovalle, Punitaqui, among others; in addition to ENAMI and the Regional Secretary of Mining.

The Director of the Department of Mining Engineering, Dr. Ing. Alberto Cortés, indicated that “we are developing different projects in our Department; one of them is the FIC-R which is intended to improve the management capacity of small miners. This project is of special importance for the region, since it is an economic sector made up mainly of family businesses made up of a maximum of six workers, who compete with equal prices with respect to medium and large mining companies."

The Energy Seremi of the Coquimbo Region, Álvaro Herrera, stated that “miners are at the heart of the Coquimbo Region, and we want to have initiatives that directly support the management and development of projects, both small and and medium mining”.

Catalina de la Cuadra, a graduate of Civil Engineering in Mining, wrote her Degree Report on the metallurgical laboratory, indicating that “I am very happy and proud to contribute to this great initiative, the idea is to later provide services in the small plants. miners, support them, analyze their processes and deliver the results so that they can improve their concentrates.”

Meanwhile, Edison Ramírez, academic from the Department of Mining Engineering of the ULS, in relation to the initiative, stressed that "this laboratory will allow the plants to minimize losses in their internal processes, reducing their costs and in turn obtain better income.”

By María José Barraza, FIULS 2030 Project

Professors met at the ULS to talk about common topics and characterization of their careers.

Nearly 20 graduates from the various pedagogies of the ULS gathered to participate in the Workshop “Analysis and characterization of ULS professionals - Pedagogy 2019”, where through various dynamics the understanding of those critical work skills that must be possessed was addressed. an education professional for correct professional development.

In this sense, the activity was framed in an instance of individual and collaborative work between ULS professors and professionals from the Graduate Monitoring Office, managing to identify and learn about those strengths, opportunities for improvement and requirements of the professors, with the purpose to nourish the various units of the University, as well as in the preparation of new workshops and actions of the OSE, which allow teachers to achieve greater development and professional performance. 

It is worth highlighting the participation of professionals from the courses of Pedagogy in English, Pedagogy in History and Geography, Pedagogy in Musical Education, Pedagogy in Spanish and Philosophy, Pedagogy in Mathematics and Computing, Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences, Pedagogy in Differential Education and Pedagogy in Basic General Education Ovalle and La Serena, who were highly active and participatory in the preparation and development of the work generated. 

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom

The FACSE is the first to begin the process of digitizing several relevant documents, including the Operational Plans of the Departments, Schools and careers, in addition to the Compliance Reports of the respective units.

The digital repository is an initiative that is developed between the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, and the University's Informatics and Computing Center (CICULS). That is why, to understand how this private cloud works, CICULS initially trained academics and members of the expanded FACSE quality assurance commission.

NextCloud is the name given to the private cloud that consists of digital storage with high security standards of the University of La Serena, which allows this relevant documentation for the institution to be stored with complete protection.

The Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Dr. Luperfina Rojas Escobar, valued the drive for improvements towards digitalization and security: “this is a great milestone for FACSE, since it allows us to optimize our academic management and improve procedures follow-up and monitoring of the Faculty Development Plan and the Department and School Operational Plans. In this way we can control the actions and evidence of the quality assurance processes.”

In a second stage, the Directors of Departments and Schools of the entire Faculty will be trained so that the relevant actors have access to this cloud, in addition the digitalization of academic performance agreements and academic performance compliance reports will be incorporated, this to give compliance and to contribute to the Strategic Development Plan of the University, with the purpose of improving academic management, access to information, and complying with the Transparency Law. In this way, it is expected that this initiative will be replicated by the other academic macro units on campus.

Written by Paula Godoy, ULS journalist

The academics Alejandra Torrejón, Eduardo Notte and Armando Mansilla make up the 2019 team of vice-rectors and will be responsible for accompanying the Rector in the management of the ULS.

The challenges of managing a complex state university with relevance and quality are varied and require management teams committed to the institutional development project and a comprehensive vision of quality that, as University of La Serena we seek to achieve.

Hence, the election of the academics who make up the team of higher authorities is a decision that is defined in the highest collegiate bodies of ULS governance.

In this way, in the last sessions the candidates for the positions of Vice-Rector were presented, and the following appointments were ratified:

- Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón Vergara, academic at the Department of Education and until April 30, Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs.

- Vice-rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Armando Mansilla Sunkel, academic of the Department of Civil Works Engineering.

- Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte Cuello, academic from the Department of Mathematics, who has remained in office since 2016, the date of creation of this macro-unit.

In the line of strengthening institutional capacities, the strategic support team for the Rectorate is strengthened, redefining the functions of the Directorate of Institutional Studies and Planning, headed by Dr. César Espíndola Arellano - which is now called the Directorate of Strategic Development and Quality - and creating the Strategic Communication Directorate, with the incorporation of the Mg. Carola Espinoza Orellana.

As part of the Rector's staff, there is also the Protocol Department and the Legal Advisory Department.

New challenges

Dr. Jorge Catalan Ahumada, ULS Academic Vice-Rector until April 30, 2019, received recognition from Rector Nibaldo Avilés, an occasion on which he shared the feelings of pride and satisfaction of having been part of the institution: “The University captivated me since the first day. I have had the privilege and honor of carrying out different tasks. I arrived very quietly and I want to leave the same way. In carrying out this high position of Academic Vice-Rector, I have endeavored to dignify the function in every act and decision; sometimes against the grain of some situations that work life presents. I have acted honorably and correctly. I don't know how many times I've been wrong, but I've done what I thought was right. I have been loyal to the institution, the authority and my peers because that is how they taught me to act (...) I don't have many more words and that is why I go to the theater to express what I feel: 'My academic life is coming to an end, forgive his many faults.

Another of the authorities who are taking new paths is Dr. Héctor Bugueño Egaña, who leaves the position of Director of Human Resources and resumes his academic life in the Department of Education, where he will continue to support management in coordination functions.

“I chose to be part of this government because I feel identified with the ethical investiture of those who make it up. I appreciate the trust you have given me over these years. I have always felt tremendously dignified treatment from our Rector. My commitment remains exactly the same and I will continue working so that the University continues to grow and enhance the Coquimbo Region,” said Héctor Bugueño.

Also leaving her position as Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic Abarca, assuming these functions is Mg. Carlos Varas Madrid.

Rector Avilés had heartfelt words of recognition and appreciation for the academics who are leaving their positions and who attended an event of camaraderie, presenting them with an institutional present, consisting of the ULS stamp book, as a sign of institutional respect for their contribution to the development and growth of the University.

The “I Want to Be a Professional in Education” (QSPE) program, recognized by the MINEDUC, began in 2017 as part of the strategies defined in the Institutional Improvement Plan for Pedagogies of the University of La Serena.

Motivated by the desire to achieve quality education, twenty-nine high school students, from different establishments in the Coquimbo Region, joined the initiative promoted by the University of La Serena, through the Integrated Pedagogy Management Unit (UGIP). The young people, who make up the second generation of the QSPE, have attended since the end of last year all the classes held on Saturdays of each month to strengthen the call to the teaching profession.

The students are currently in their fourth year of high school and during 2018 they had to overcome different selection stages to be part of this experience. They had the first class of 2019 last Saturday, when they were received by the professor, Dr. Karla Campaña, coordinator of the program, final year pedagogy students and students from the first generation of the QSPE.

“My expectations within the program are to learn in advance the key knowledge to be an education professional, to know and put into practice the tools that are given to me and finally to be able to develop my soft and hard skills. I consider it to be a very good initiative, since many of us have the vocation to be a teacher and we cannot achieve it either for economic or personal reasons,” said Carla Videla, who studies at the Claudio Arrau School and hopes to be able to study a career related to the area of ​​chemistry.

On the other hand, Jalima Carmona, from the Andrés Bello Pampa School, hopes that this experience will clarify her vocation. “I find it a good idea, it helps you grow integrally as a person, because it not only trains you to be a good professional, but it focuses more on creating well-rounded and humanitarian people, and it is also within the reach of any socio-economic position. “It contributes by creating a better environment where we already have a good relationship with our peers,” she emphasized.

Mauricio García, from the Pedro Aguirre Cerda School, has a similar opinion, whose goal is to be able to enter the Pedagogy career in Spanish and Philosophy. “This opportunity seems great to me, it is an initiative that thinks of everyone in general, and students can opt for this benefit as long as they are persistent and make an effort to achieve their goals. This initiative builds education for us as a driver of life projects and allows us to realize that things are always possible with perseverance,” he urged.

The program is formative in nature and works on each module in a comprehensive manner, covering academic, psychosocial, and innovation areas, in addition to addressing topics directly related to the educational system. Once they approve the program, and meeting all regulatory and institutional requirements, participants have the opportunity to access any pedagogy taught by the school.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, UGIP