At the meeting, the "Situation of Gender Equality and Harassment Protocols in the Universities of the Council of Rectors" was announced.

The academic of the Department of Education and in charge of the Inclusion and Gender Table of the University of La Serena, Dr. Georgina García Escala, participated in the meeting of the Gender Network of the Group of Regional Universities of Chile - Council of University Rectors Chilenas (AUR - CRUCH), held on Friday, January 12 in Santiago.

At the meeting, the "Situation of Gender Equality and Harassment Protocols in the Universities of the Council of Rectors" was announced, a diagnosis carried out during 2017 based on the instruments "Towards the construction of a Pilot Project of Indicators Basics of Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutions Indicators for the short term” by Carcedo (2014), and “System of indicators for gender equality in higher education institutions” by Buquet, Cooper and Rodríguez (2010), prepared by Antonia Santos Pérez (UNAP) and Georgina García (ULS).

The results of the diagnosis show that there are large gaps and gender stereotypes in the 23 universities that responded to the survey. These gaps are observed not only in the authorities, which are mostly positions held by men, but also 70% of the institutions surveyed are unaware of the gender gaps in their institution, 1/3 declare that they are not a priority, and only 20% apply equality policies and have resources to promote the elimination of these gaps.

At the meeting, the proposal of the Gender Equality Unit, Undersecretariat of Education of the Ministry of Education, for higher education institutions was also announced: “Gender Equality Plans in Higher Education” to develop said Plan, that is to promote an “ethical-political reflection, installed in a normative and regulatory framework, that considers all administrative, academic and student management processes, and that operationalizes levels of equality between women and men.”

The fundamental purpose of the Gender Equality Plan is: “to build a process of reflection, awareness, planning, installation, execution and evaluation of a policy on gender and inclusion, which contributes to student, academic, research, management and development. institutional of the Universities”. And as strategic objectives: “create mechanisms that allow validating and institutionalizing the proposed Gender Equality Plan in the different departments of the institution, promoting and ensuring within the education departments the need to eliminate gaps, biases and gender stereotypes through a culture respectful of gender equality and equity, disseminate and promote the incorporation of recommendations and guidelines in the procedures and standards regarding Gender mainstreaming in the institution, and generate institutional mechanisms for the equal and participatory promotion of women and people LGTBI in all spaces of institutional life.”

CRUCH Gender Equality Network

Furthermore, at the AUR-CRUCH meeting, the Gender Equality Network of the Council of Rectors was formed and to coordinate administrative aspects, it was proposed to work by macro zones -north, center and south-. Thus, the Network was made up of: Antonia Santos, UNAP; Georgina García, ULS; Marisol Durán, UTEM; Patricia García, PUC; Javiera Arce, UV; Vania Figueroa, UOH; Andrea Hurtado and Amaya Pavez, USACH.
           
Finally, the Network agreed to prepare a video to commemorate International Women's Day on March 8 in each university and hold a meeting on Friday, March 16 in Santiago to plan the Network's activities and a seminar that will report on the actions that each university is carrying out regarding gender equality.

The attending authorities valued this instance, a pioneer at the national level, since it allows projecting the results of this work.

In a ceremony held in the Prat Hall of the Regional Administration, with the participation of regional and university authorities, the Operating Regulations of the GORE Regional Table - Universities were signed.

The objective of this document is to formalize the operation of this body, made up of the Regional Council of Coquimbo, six universities based in the region and the executive, by virtue of generating dialogue and coordination between the parties and from there contributing to social and territory of the region.

At the ceremony, the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies of the ULS, Dr. Eduardo Notte, representing the Rector, highlighted the initiative, pointing out that “this consolidates a work that has been carried out for more than a year. It is important to highlight that this Table will make it possible to make all the work of the universities available to the authorities to contribute to what we do: education, research and links with the environment, with the aim of contributing to the development of our region. This is in line with our mission as the only university of the State of Chile in the Coquimbo Region.”

The event was also attended by representatives from the Santo Tomás, INACAP, Católica del Norte, Pedro de Valdivia and Central universities; as well as the regional councilors Eduardo Alcayaga, José Montoya, Alberto Gallardo and Agapito Santander.

According to the Regional Councilor, José Montoya, the signing of the document orders the participation of the Regional Council, the universities and the executive in matters of joint work, “a fact that represents the culmination of a work that we have been doing for quite some time with the houses of studies, a fact that has allowed us to provide a space for the decisions made by the Regional Council to have the guidance of the universities, sources of knowledge of the country and the regions."

It should be noted that the Regional Table of Universities and Regional Government is made up of rectors, vice-chancellors and representatives of six universities with a regional presence, and is working in areas such as microbusiness management, decentralization, entrepreneurship, among others.

The team made up of students, alumni and academics of the University of La Serena, who work year after year on this project together with Minera Los Pelambres, received the invitation to be part of this important international competition.

On Saturday, February 3, one of the most important motorsport competitions in the world, Formula E, was held for the first time in Chile, a category organized by the International Automobile Federation that is distinguished by the use of vehicles powered by electric energy instead of fossil fuels.

Among the main objectives that this category of motorsport seeks to achieve is to promote the use of conventional and non-conventional renewable energies, demonstrating the power that can be achieved with the use of these energies and, in addition, promoting care for the environment. .

This is why the solar car team from the University of La Serena and Minera Los Pelambres, Intikallpa 4, was invited to be part of this international competition, where they were able to showcase to the national and international public the important work they have been doing for years. years, even representing Chile in international competitions, such as the solar car world championship held in Australia, where it took tenth place.

For Leonardo Saguas, an academic at the University of La Serena and a member of the Intikallpa team, this has been important work that was carried out a few years ago to achieve the achievements they have obtained. “We have been working on it for several years, it is more than the four versions we have, there are previous works, each with its own challenges and drawbacks, which has meant a development for the knowledge that is being generated at the level of materials, the use of non-conventional renewable energies, which is very important for the University and obviously all this work has meant that many people have become interested in the development of new technologies and the use that can be given by people in their daily lives” , he pointed.

In addition, he referred to the importance for the team of being invited to take part in competitions of this magnitude, where they can show all the work they have done. “We are very proud to be in this situation. The first time that a competition of this magnitude has come to Chile and we were immediately invited by the organization, it means that the achievements obtained by the solar car are recognized both in national and international competitions, especially what happened in the last version of 2017 in Australia".

One of the visits to the stand of the solar car of the University of La Serena and where it was possible to talk about the different experiences that achieving all these achievements has meant for the team, was that of the Minister of Energy, Andrés Rebolledo, who highlighted the important work done in the region. "The truth is that this solar car is a good reflection of what has been happening in our country in recent years, in relation to its energy matrix and also, in this case, in an association between the University of La Serena and a company of the mining sector. This seems to us that, in addition, in a sports context, where we can stand out globally in international competitions and we can show what has been happening in our country, where solar energy has been the protagonist of the change in the energy matrix ”, he assured.

He also added the vision he has regarding the importance that the work carried out together between different entities can have. “I think that in energy and in many areas, the possibility of working and having a common vision between the government, universities and private companies, in this case in a very specific project that allows us to make visible this change and the use of energy solar car in Chile, even beyond our borders, I think it is very remarkable and it only remains to congratulate the entire team of this vehicle and hope that they continue to represent us as well as they have already done in the following editions of the solar car world championship ”, he indicated.

In addition to being exhibited in the e-village sector of the international competition, the Intikallpa solar car made a tour on the same track where the Formula E race was held, being the first vehicle to lap this track, which meant great pride for the team members.

On Monday, March 19, classes for the First Semester 2018 begin for new and returning students.

This Monday, March 5, academic activities resumed at the University of La Serena, after the summer break that ended on Friday, the 2st of this month.

According to the 2018 Academic Calendar, this Wednesday, March 6, the enrollment and registration of subjects of former students from the First Semester 2018 continues, while from the 6th to the 12th of this month the Planning of Teaching Activities and configuration of the evaluation procedures in PTDI platform.

From March 12 to 16, the Induction to University Life for new students will take place. In addition, on Friday the 16th of the same month the registration period for courses for former students of the First Semester 2018 ends, and the internal delivery of enrollment information required by MINEDUC for the student benefits allocation process is also set.  

On Monday, March 19, classes for the First Semester 2018 begin for new and returning students, and on Tuesday, March 20, the inauguration of the 2018 Academic Year will take place.

For more information on the 2018 Academic Calendar, visit the following link (http://www.userena.cl/images/archivos/calendario_academico_2018.pdf).

The young people arrived with enthusiasm to take these first steps as ULS students, many of them accompanied by their parents and family.

The enrollment process at the University of La Serena was a complete success, in which more than 1.730 new students became part of their undergraduate careers.

The Rector of the state campus, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, positively evaluated the process and highlighted the high number of enrolled students, “which demonstrates the interest of young people in pursuing their higher studies at our University, a prestigious institution committed to the quality assurance".

For his part, the Head of Admission and Enrollment, Eduardo Rojo, expressed that the institution's courses improved their scores and that it was a normal process, where the students were attended to without difficulty, “with personnel who helped them in the different points, providing all kinds of support to resolve your doubts.”

The young people arrived at the Ignacio Domeyko Campus with enthusiasm to undertake these first steps as ULS students, many of them accompanied by their parents and relatives, who were able to very expeditiously carry out each of the procedures involved in the process.

Carlos Olivares, one of the new students of the school, was happy to enroll in the ULS and in the Commercial Engineering career, motivated to “use it as a life tool, since it has multiple strategies in the economic area, the issue of creating a business and, mainly, your own label.”

While the new student, Juliana Barraza, pointed out that she chose the University of La Serena “because of the tradition and prestige it has, in addition to being located in my city.”

These days included the participation of different units of the higher education institution, whose professionals, administrators and monitors worked to support this process that was developed expeditiously, providing the best welcome to the students selected in their undergraduate programs.

The recordings will be used in the official events of the house of higher education.

The academics of the Department of Music, Hugo Domínguez and Gonzalo Tomckowiack, presented the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, with two copies of the recordings of the National Anthem of Chile and the University Anthem, performed by the “Jorge Peña Hen” Youth Symphony Orchestra and the ULS Vocal Ensemble, groups directed by the aforementioned teachers.

“It is a project that we had in mind since last year with the choir director, Gonzalo Tomckowiack, to leave here these versions of recordings that can be used by the institution,” explained professor Hugo Domínguez, who a few days ago had an emotional farewell to the stage, after being uninterruptedly for more than 30 years under the baton of the Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The highest university authority valued the delivery of these recordings and the work carried out by the orchestra and the ensemble, highlighting the significance of “that they are quality groups and from the institution itself that perform the anthems, which will be used in the ceremonies and the official acts of the University of La Serena”.