Representatives of public and private Higher Education institutions from the Coquimbo Region and the Province of San Juan participated in the event.

Within the framework of the XXIII Meeting of the Paso de Agua Negra Integration Committee, the ''Table of Universities'' was formed, in which the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, was elected by the members as president of this body , which seeks to lay the foundations for joint work between the Higher Education institutions of the Coquimbo Region and the Province of San Juan. 

For his part, the rector of the National University of San Juan, Dr. Oscar Nasisi, was elected secretary of the Board.

The Table of Universities is made up of delegates from both countries, among which representatives of universities and professional institutes stand out.

On the occasion, Rector Avilés emphasized that ''the work of this Table once again proves that the academic world has no borders and that this is the starting point for a series of new challenges that lie ahead of us, in the framework of this Paso Agua Negra integration project.

Main themes

After an intense day of work, the Commission, in which more than 20 representatives of academic institutions from Chile and Argentina participated, managed to define a series of relevant topics for the development of joint work, the foundation of which lies in the contribution that the academic world that serve for effective integration between both countries, considering Higher Education as the intellectual engine of the development of the regions involved.

Due to the above, the Universities Board proposed the areas of Teaching, Research and Liaison as central axes. In this regard, topics such as: student mobility; academic internships; new offer of undergraduate courses and technical courses; implementation of Postgraduate and Postgraduate programs taught jointly; initial teacher training; development of research and innovation projects; creation of a Bibliographic and Information Center for Academic Work carried out by both countries; and most importantly, the formalization of a Network of Higher Education Institutions around the ''Coquimbo-San Juan Macro Zone''; among other initiatives.

In the work session, the Commission received a visit from the governor of Elqui, Américo Giovine, and the vice-governor of San Juan, Sergio Uñac.

It should also be noted that the University of La Serena, through its academics, also participated in other commissions such as Commerce, Production and Tourism, associated with the opportunities and challenges that arise for both countries and specifically for businessmen. of San Juan and the Coquimbo Region.

Representatives from the public and private sectors participated on the occasion, including the academic from the Department of Food Engineering, Elena Lara, who pointed out that ''the problems that both regions have are very similar, and so is our production. We have made contact with Argentine peers who have been interested in food analysis and processing. We have already established contact and we hope in September to have something put together in projects, exchange and training, among others.''

The academic, who recently participated in the 34th Conference of the International Society for Teacher Education in Turkey, will continue in that position for the next two years. 

The dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of La Serna, Dr. María Zúñiga, was re-elected as president of the Council of Deans of Education of CRUCH, whose board of directors was unanimously ratified by its members. 

The Council of Deans of Education met on May 8 and 9 at the San Joaquín Campus of the Pontifical Catholic University, on which occasion they agreed, together with representatives of the Ministry of Education, to begin work to contribute to the development of the project. of Teaching Career that will be sent during 2014 and in the changes to the Inicia test.

Presentation at International Conference in Türkiye

On the other hand, Dr. Zúñiga participated between April 21 and 25 in the 34th Conference of the International Society for Teacher Training, in Antalya, Turkey, where she gave a presentation on this subject.

Dr. Zúñiga's presentation, titled, "Building a Learning Community for Teacher Training Programs as an Opportunity to Improve Student Training Processes and Backgrounds," addresses the issue of the importance of the degree of univocality that academic bodies can achieve. the respective units in the success of the curricular renewal processes.

''The construction of an academic culture and the collegiality of the members of the units can allow the processes of innovation and renewal of training curricula not only to remain formal, but also to improve pedagogical action, which impacts cognitive competencies. , as well as those related to the professional performance of the students,'' he said.

The activity organized by the Coquimbo Zone of the College of Engineers of Chile allowed us to recognize the work of outstanding professionals who practice in the Coquimbo Region and share knowledge and experiences around the various areas of professional practice.

In the premises of the Technological Center of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of La Serena, the ceremony was held on May 14 with which the College of Engineers of Chile, Zonal Coquimbo, commemorated the National Engineering Day, an act that had as purpose to recognize the work carried out by these professionals and their contribution to society.

The first speaker of the day was the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, who reaffirmed the recognized prestige in the field of Engineering education, which characterizes the University and which has been able to maintain, fortify and update by innovating in curricula, teaching methodologies and the development of skills, contributing to the generation of the engineer profile that Chile requires.

''The University of La Serena, through its Faculty of Engineering, has strived to provide its students with the best teaching, through its valuable academics, first-class equipment and opportunities to get closer to the world of work, to the great companies and the local, national and international environment,'' he said. 

Another point to highlight ''is the fluid and close relationship that has been established with the alumni, bearers and disseminators of the Engineering heritage that this institution is proud to bequeath to each of the generations that comprise it,'' he noted. Rector Avilés.

Subsequently, the Sports Seremi, ing. Herman Osses, representing Mayor Hanne Utreras, greeted the College of Engineers, highlighting "the commitment and leadership they have had to materialize large projects and consolidate the Coquimbo Region as a development pole." . Likewise, the authority highlighted the value of engineers for their professionalism, uncompromising uprightness, responsibility and commitment to work. 

For his part, the regional president of the College of Engineers of Chile Zonal Coquimbo, ing. Raúl Vergara Contreras, through the presentation of 'Conjuncture of Productivity and Economic Growth', analyzed the different aspects of both essential factors to understand the economic development of our country.

Then, a distinction was presented to two outstanding Engineers from the Coquimbo Zone, for their outstanding professional career and their great contribution to the community and the College of Engineers of Chile. This year the recognition went to engineers Erick Weber Paulus and Luis Díaz Zamora.

Engineer Luis Díaz Zamora has developed a long academic career, dedicating much of his life to teaching and research. He excitedly thanked the distinction awarded by the College of Engineers, pointing out that through teaching, with the training of numerous generations of professionals, he has given his contribution to the country. ''Happy day to all engineers for the important work we carry out every day in different specialties that contribute very significantly to the development of the country and the world. You can't imagine our planet without us engineers,' he noted.

While Erick Weber P., general of CAP Minería, thanked the College of Engineers of Chile for this recognition on behalf of the entire team of people who are part of CAP Minería, a company that has been in the region for more than 55 years. Engineers and future professionals face several challenges in today's society, where we must be more complete and attentive to various topics such as the environment, social management, quality, corporate social responsibility. In addition, we must improve communication between students and companies, strengthening the University-Company relationship, because engineering plays a very important role in the development of the country. Finally, I hope that both in engineering and in mining we project ourselves with a view to a long-term country.''

The activity concluded with the Master Class by Engineer Alberto Cortés Álvarez, dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of La Serena and partner of Zonal Coquimbo, who offered the detailed conference ''History, Current Events and Perspectives of Mining''. This work appears in Magazine No. 8 of the College of Engineers of Chile AG-Antofagasta-Coquimbo Zonal Council, corresponding to the bimonthly publication May-April 2014.

The dean pointed out that ''in 2013, US$81.116 million dollars in products were exported, and of that more than 40 billion dollars was due to copper alone. Among the 10 national export products, 8 are miners. Hence the importance of the reserves that our country currently has. The manager also pointed out, when reviewing the origins of mining in Chile, that our country needs to further develop its mining culture and ensure the training of excellent professionals to strengthen this economic activity.

At the recent meeting of the Coordinating Commission of the University Selection Test (PSU) of the Council of Rectors, held at the University of Santiago, the head of Admission and Enrollment of the University of La Serena, Eduardo Rojo Muñoz, was re-elected vice president of said Commission for a second period.

On the occasion, Professor Rojo reported that they should be concerned about the changes that will occur in the next PSU test, such as the modification of content in Language, Mathematics and Social Sciences, according to the secondary education curricular modification that was It began in 2009. In addition, the discount system for erroneous questions is eliminated and the grade ranking is maintained.

It is worth remembering that the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities approved the calendar of the 2015 Admission Process, which sets the PSU surrender dates for December 1 and 2, 2014.

The guest speakers have the task of infecting the audiences with the same entrepreneurial spirit that the great International Congress of Entrepreneurs has been promoting for 10 years. 

Nearly 300 students had the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience from prominent speakers during the first Entrepreneurship Session E-Sessions 2014, a division created in 2013 by the organization of the International Congress of Entrepreneurs, an event promoted by Business Engineering students from the University of La Serena and is part of the Entrepreneurship Program of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences. 

The agreement seeks to generate instances of mutual collaboration in aspects related to the execution of projects in the fields of education, health and science, with mutual training activities and professional practices or internships for students of the institution's majors.

In the premises of the Central House of the University of La Serena, the first work meeting was held within the framework of the collaboration agreement between the house of higher education, through its faculties of Sciences, Social Sciences and Economics, and of Humanities, and the Illustrious Municipality of Coquimbo, through the Department of Municipal Education Administration (DAEM).

Participating in the meeting, representing the ULS, were the academic vice-rector, Dr. Jorge Catalán, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Dr. María Zúñiga, the dean of the FACSE, Mg. Jorge Fernández, the director of the School of Pedagogy in Humanities, Dr. Berta San Martín, and the director of the School of Pedagogy in Sciences, Dr. Patricia Pizarro; while Carlos Videla, Lisette Fretz and María Ivanovic were present for the DAEM.

It should be noted that this framework collaboration agreement seeks to carry out projects in the fields of education, health and science, contributing the faculties of Sciences, Social and Economic Sciences, and Humanities of the institution, with professionals and students in training from the careers assigned to them; the development of mutual training activities, coordinated according to the common needs in the various areas of each of the parties, such as workshops, tutorials, training, seminars, conferences, among others; and the carrying out of professional practices and/or internships for students of the courses of these macro-units of the U. of La Serena, in the establishments managed by the DAEM of the Illustrious Municipality of Coquimbo. 

Let us remember that on January 7, the Municipality of Coquimbo and the University of La Serena, represented by Mayor Cristian Galleguillos and Rector Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, signed this cooperation agreement in the field of educational strengthening that aims to promote the development of actions for the benefit, on the one hand, of students from municipal educational establishments, as well as students from the faculties of Sciences, Humanities and Social and Economic Sciences of the higher education institution, through the acquisition of generic skills and professionals.