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A delegation made up of six rectors from CRUCH participated in the Mission to Europe 2016, which took place during May at higher education institutions in France, Poland, Germany and Ireland with the aim of strengthening international cooperation ties.
With the aim of strengthening cooperation alliances between the Council of Rectors and European universities, as well as exchanging experiences in areas such as quality assurance, accreditation of binational programs and national qualification framework, a delegation of six rectors from CRUCH participated in the Europe 2016 Mission, which included visits to higher education institutions in France, Poland, Germany and Ireland, between May 9 and 20.
The official delegation included Rector Aldo Valle, Executive Vice President of the Council of Rectors and Rector of the University of Valparaíso; Diego Durán, Rector of the Catholic University of Maule (UCM); Claudio Elórtegui, Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV); Sergio Bravo, Rector of the University of La Frontera (UFRO); Jaime Espinosa, Rector of the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE); and Christian Schmitz, Rector of the Catholic University of the Most Holy Conception (UCSC).
The 2016 European Mission, organized by the Academic Development Area of the General Secretariat of the Council of Rectors, also included the participation of academics and other university authorities. Among them were: Ricardo Herrera, Director of Institutional Analysis at the University of La Frontera (UFRO); Marcos Avilés, Director of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV); and Margarita Pastene, Director of Outreach at the University of Playa Ancha (UPLA).
The program included, firstly, a visit to France, between May 9 and 12; then to Poland, between May 12 and 13; then to Germany, between May 17 and 18; and finally to Ireland, between May 18 and 20.
According to Christian Blanco, academic director of the CRUCH General Secretariat, who coordinated the visit agenda, “specific objectives were established for each of the countries, in accordance with the CRUCH Development Plan for 2016 and considering the invitations from the different countries.”.
In this way, cooperation alliances with France were strengthened, experiences on quality assurance and accreditation of binational programs were shared in Germany, a cooperation agreement was signed in Poland, and there was an opportunity to learn more about the qualification model of Ireland.
France
The delegation's visit to France was in response to an invitation extended to the university rectors by the French Embassy, within the framework of existing cooperation agreements between the two countries. The French government's invitation aimed to introduce the French Higher Education System to the rectors of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH). Meetings were held with various organizations and institutions, including the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, the Chilean Embassy in France, AgroParisTech, Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC), Campus France, the Conference of University Presidents (CPU), and the University of Montpellier. At the latter, two research centers were visited: one in the biological sciences (CEFE) and the other in robotics and microelectronics (LIRMM).
Poland
Meanwhile, the visit to Poland focused on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Rectors and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, CRASP, which had been managed by CRUCH since the end of 2015.
The signing of the agreement will open new opportunities for collaboration in the areas of teacher mobility, joint research, academic events, information exchange, short-term programs and professional development initiatives.
This collaborative agreement between CRUCH and CRASP includes the Ignacio Domeyko International Seminar, to be held in 2017, which will bring together university authorities and academics from Poland and Chile in our country. The stay in Poland also included a visit to the Ochota Campus of the University of Warsaw to learn about the recently established UW Biological and Chemical Research Centre, an activity organized by CRASP.
Germany
As with the visit to France, the trip to Germany was also at the invitation of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) from the German government. Its purpose was to participate in a Chilean-German Meeting of Rectors in Bonn, which brought together the Chilean delegation and members of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) to discuss topics such as current trends in higher education in both countries, the internationalization process, quality assurance, social innovation, and sustainable development. The tour of Germany also included a visit to the Technical University of Dortmund to tour the Technology Park and learn about several social innovation initiatives.
Ireland
Finally, the visit to Ireland aimed to learn about the experiences with the National Qualifications Framework of the universities belonging to the Irish University Association (IUA), the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) agency, as well as Trinity College and University College Dublin, among others. The visit also laid the groundwork for a future collaboration agreement between CRUCH and its Irish counterpart, which will strengthen relations between universities in both countries.
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