Communiqué No. 12 from the Rector's Office: General information on the development of the First Semester 2020

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La Serena, May 29, 2020.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE RECTORY N°12

Dear ULS Community:

Along with greeting and giving each one a fraternal hug, I address you as usual, to continue reporting in general terms about the work carried out as an Institution in these months; period in which, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been forced to carry out all our university functions remotely.

I know that, for everyone, each new day represents a great challenge, not only in the performance of their work tasks, but also in the future of complex family situations that intertwine, and to which we cannot be oblivious. Therefore, first of all, considering the unfavorable scenario, I would like to deeply thank you for your professionalism and sense of responsibility; since as a university community we have shown that, in the face of adversity, our commitment is inalienable.

In general terms, as we know, the beginning of the first academic semester of 2020 has begun virtually, where academics and students are playing a very important role so that it is carried out in the best possible way, just as all universities are doing. .

In this area, we recognize the effort and economic and family suffering that many students, not only from ULS, are suffering due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. I reiterate again, our Institution is also vulnerable, and 1.600 workers and their families depend on it. In short, continuing functions means taking care of our beloved University.

To be realistic in my message, I want to point out that there are also many officials who are going through difficult situations, economically and family-wise, that is, no one in our community is exempt from some suffering.

In the midst of this complex health crisis, the academics have already advanced to the fourth week of remote classes, and I believe that they have been able to live up to the task of responding with dedication and responsibility. At the same time, there has been a deep learning and experience of them together with their students and they have demonstrated their ability to adapt and reinvent themselves in the face of the complexity and uncertainty that this remote modality has brought.

This progress, I reiterate, has not been without complications, and even though corrections have been applied, they are still insufficient, but we are proud that a House of Studies like ours, state-run, with very few resources, has managed to make a great effort to continue with their work, in a context where I insist, there is no precedent, and therefore, we will continue to analyze and review in a timely and continuous manner so that the implemented processes, if improvements are required, we can apply them and thus anticipate and support to the extent possible to whoever needs it.

It is also central for us to empathize with student problems, trying to support them in every way possible. It has been a long process to detect the needs of this group and respond to them. Here, along with thanking all the students for their effort and understanding, I also extend recognition to the Interim President of the Student Federation and its Vice President, who have been attentive in raising the problems and permanently concerned about providing solutions. In addition, we count on the committed and supportive work being carried out by the CECs who have been providing more information on students in need. Therefore, we have made progress, but we still need to reach everyone who requires our support.

From what was mentioned in the previous paragraph, I complement my recognition to all the officials of the General Directorate of Student Affairs (DGAE), where the visible faces have been the director María Teresa Fierro Page and the Coordinator of the Student Welfare Department, Mrs. Patricia Astroza Morgan. And on the way to the Personnel Department, among others.

So far, we have delivered 400 chips, 156 tablets and 52 notebooks. Additionally, with great effort, we are in the process of purchasing 100 more chips and 100 tablets, and we will request that the Departments make equipment available for this period, making the corresponding records and documentation, or doing so through the DGAE.

If necessary, we will continue to provide all the support, because we will spare no effort to ensure that no student has difficulties in continuing their studies, but we also ask them to be realistic and empathetic, since institutional resources are very limited, especially now. with contingency. Academics, officials and also students must make personal efforts, otherwise it will be unfeasible to respond to all demands, no matter how justified they may be.

It should be noted that until now the student requirements have been realistic, and together with the work of the social workers, we have managed to identify those who really need support. Practically in the first three weeks, we detected almost all the needs and now we are addressing the remaining ones and those that have appeared as the weeks go by.

It should also be noted that, for the correct development of teaching work, we have had to reinforce existing platforms and there has not been any downfall of the system, because the increase in capacity that was implemented has worked adequately, allowing the well-functioning Virtual Classroom System, recognized at the university level of our country.

It must be kept in mind that an external variable that we have detected, such as the high internet consumption that currently exists in the country, is complicating the quality of the service of the provider companies and, consequently, affecting the signal of all homes and people during peak consumption hours.

In this same informative framework, to provide general background, we must mention that we have been concerned with reducing the risk of claims and sanctions, considering that due to the contingency, a series of supervisory organizations such as the Superintendence of Higher Education (Official Letter No. 184 and Resolution Exempt No. 84), the Comptroller General of the Republic, Sernac, among others, have been attentive to the development of what was committed, such as the delivery of the educational service on our part, is being carried out, as well as the fulfillment of official tasks; To date, there have been 4 complaints submitted to the Superintendency of Higher Education, not counting those that have arrived by other means.

The above has meant having evidence of the monitoring of teaching activities, and ensuring that students are receiving the service for which they are paying. This motivated, for example, that through our computer system, we generated reports documenting the teaching work of each academic, with which we sought to support the work of the Department Directors, thus providing them with additional input that allows them to know the state of the art of the performance of the academics hired for such purposes, as well as how they have been able to adapt to the remote modality to teach their classes. In this sense, if the way of communication of the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs did not have the corresponding sensitivity within the framework of the pandemic crisis scenario, it is my responsibility to apologize accordingly.

In this sense, we thank the Department Directors for their immediate management, and it should be noted that as a result of the Zoom Platform records delivered, more than 100 academics have already provided a clarifying response and reported on the modalities they are using, which are different from the Virtual Classrooms of the Zoom-ULS platform and how other teachers would be recovering classes that, due to various situations, had not been able to take place.

Clearly, through your responses, we have identified that you have understood that this work has the sole purpose of joining efforts between Higher Authorities, Academic Authorities and Department Directors, so that we can successfully fulfill the delivery of our commitments and obligations, and thus Our task is carried out as closely as possible to the law and regulations that regulate us, in order to continue taking care of our Institution.

I invite you to reflect in the sense that today more than ever, the survival of our House of Studies depends on the work of our academics, therefore, the greatest understanding is required when we are urged to comply with the obligations, as we know, has direct relationship with legal, even ethical, duties.

On the other hand, it should be noted that both the Academic Council and the Board of Directors have continued to hold their respective meetings, advancing on matters considered urgent.

In statutory matters, we inform you that through the Consortium of Universities of the State of Chile (CUECH), we are managing the possibility that the deadlines defined by Law to present the projects for renewal of the Statute may be postponed. This given the need to have a longer period to fulfill this great desire that we have as Universities, in which we have been working since 2019, but since the so-called social outbreak and now the pandemic, the development of the work have been affected. We are waiting for the definitive solution, however, the modality of a short law has already been discarded and we have been verbally told that another mechanism would be studied and that the deadlines for now remain in force.

In particular, both the Academic Council and the Board of Directors received the progress report on our statutory change. We were made aware of this progress as a result of 18 meetings held by the Statute Commission, by the first board chaired by Cristian Noemi Padilla (Humanities), vice president Rodrigo Díaz Cuevas (Humanities), secretary, Cecilia Hernández Araya (Personnel Welfare) and Cristóbal Villalobos Nahuelñir as a student representative, as well as the plan that will be executed by the new board chaired by academic Germán Solís Godoy (Facsej), Miguel Ramos Tapia (Science), Cecilia Hernández Araya (Personnel Welfare), and student Carla San Francisco González (Humanities).

Both collegiate bodies were made aware of the work carried out, where the importance of the work and the risk of not meeting the dates were highlighted, considering that the Type Statute could be required. In summary, a concern was expressed about the progress, as well as a lack of community participation, which is not consistent with it being a highly participatory process. And that was the argument that as a Consortium we pointed out, to request more time, that the participation process could not be carried out adequately due to the prevailing contingency in our country. The current board stated that it had once again presented greater progress.

Likewise, another topic of great interest to everyone is the work for our Institutional Accreditation renewal process. In this regard, comment that the National Accreditation Commission (CNA) to date has not delivered a statement regarding what will happen to the universities whose accreditation date expires in 2020, where the existing scenario seems to imply that the possibility of carrying out the accreditation is unlikely. peer visit. However, the University of La Serena has considered the final deadlines established and is currently in the review stage of the Self-Assessment Report.

On this same topic, I must additionally report two recent successful Accreditation processes, one for undergraduate and the other for postgraduate. The first corresponds to the recent self-evaluation process of the Pedagogy Career in History and Geography for five years, within the framework of the new accreditation law for professional careers and in accordance with the new criteria and challenges that our society requires in terms of initial teacher training and in accordance with the demands of the regional and national educational context. And the second is the recent postgraduate accreditation, for two years granted by the CNA, to the recently created Doctorate in Energy, Water and Environment. This accreditation by the CNA reveals the quality and relevance of this program for regional and national development in the topics addressed.

We sincerely congratulate the governing bodies, academics and officials of the History and Geography Pedagogy program and the Energy, Water and Environment Doctorate as an Institution and there is no doubt that both results represent an important contribution to Institutional Accreditation.

Dear ULS community, the times we live in are not easy, unfortunately adopting the online teaching modality is the only alternative that exists under the prevailing conditions. We know that this modality is not without problems, both for students and academics, but what is involved is, on the one hand, the curricular advancement of the students and, on the other, taking care of the University and our source of employment.

I must clearly point out that we will try and do everything within our power and we will spare no effort to support all the students who require it, but we must also keep in mind that we are having an economic effect that, if it continues to be adverse, can lead us to a situation very complex that could mean chaos or institutional bankruptcy.

For this reason, we call on everyone, academic officials, students and non-academic officials, to print a seal of solidarity towards our University, which is needed today more than ever. The sustainability of its existence depends on it. Remember that the institutional budgets projected annually are nominative, and depend on the projected income, therefore, currently these are already affected as a result of various prevailing economic factors that have impacted our flows and that have been duly reported.

Finally, as a Higher Authority, I once again express my deep appreciation to everyone. Thank you for rising to the occasion, for demonstrating that we are working to provide sustainability to our institutional project, that in the case of students it is the only state university that can support them in their dream of being professionals and that at the end of the day It constitutes our source of employment and the sustenance of our families. Thank you, because despite adversity, we are capable of carrying out enthusiastic and responsible work.

Dr. Nibaldo Aviles Pizarro

Rector