Committee of Academic Vice-Rectors
The meeting of the authorities of the Council of Rectors took place at the Central House of the UCN.
An analysis regarding the challenges to overcome in terms of gaps and inclusion in Higher Education was carried out at the Meeting of Academic Vice-Rectors and Undergraduate Teaching Areas of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) held at the Central House of the Catholic University of the North (UCN).
The activity was attended by directors of undergraduate teaching areas of the CRUCH, being an instance of great importance to generate strategies to strengthen the work of the universities of the council.
In this regard, the rector of the Catholic University of the North, Dr. Rodrigo Alda Varas, explained that “today we are in a national context that we cannot ignore. If we refer to the latest CEP survey, universities are the institutions most valued by communities, as they place their greatest trust in us, which represents a greater responsibility for us, as we must live up to that trust.”.
Along the same lines, he added that “this is a truly powerful space, given the possibilities for collaborative work, which reflects what is happening at the level of the Council of Rectors. I believe that the Council of Academic Vice-Rectors and the Undergraduate Areas have the role of enriching the agenda of the Council of Rectors, so that what is important takes center stage, and goes hand in hand with collaborative work that complements capabilities.”.
For his part, the host of the event, UCN's Academic Vice-Rector Nelson Fernández, explained that “this meeting is essentially a forum within the Council of Rectors that seeks to resume collaborative work—so important in these times—and to highlight the issues that bring us together today, which include inclusion, mental health, and the gaps in education related to student progression. Today we are resuming this essential work and, of course, planning for the future. We are also joined today by the directors of undergraduate teaching, who play a vital role in this entire process.”.
Also present at the meeting were the rector in charge of the commission, Eduardo Silva sj (Alberto Hurtado University) and the general secretary of CRUCH, Angélica Bosch.
Themes
Among the topics addressed during the day were the challenges of narrowing the gaps for undergraduate students, given that during the pandemic this gap increased with respect to the knowledge of young people who were arriving at university for the first time.
The speaker on this topic was David Figueroa Hernández, Academic Vice-Rector of the Catholic University of Temuco (UCT) and President of the Commission of Academic Vice-Rectors. “The causes can be diverse, one of which could be the pandemic. Students had two years of online education, starting with the school system, and therefore their grades don't reflect what they actually learned. We are finding students in universities who have problems mastering the material; these are situations that universities have to address. This has meant that we have had to innovate, hire more professors for more hours, and the teaching load has certainly increased, precisely because we have a need that we didn't have before, on the scale we are experiencing today in universities,” he explained.
He added that “the importance of this meeting is to learn about the best practices implemented by different universities in order to foster collaborative work that will allow us to solve the common problem we face across all our institutions. Therefore, from this perspective, this presentation aims to introduce the topic and also explore how we can collectively develop new strategies to address the issue. We can also escalate this to the Council of Rectors or the Undersecretariat of Higher Education, seeking funding opportunities, because we have finally realized that we need to invest more resources in hiring new faculty, providing additional support, and so on—so many things that need to be developed.”.
Inclusion
Also speaking on the topic of inclusion was Catalina García, Director of the Inclusion Office at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC), who outlined the work that needs to be done in this area. “I think the understanding of what inclusion means and how we want it to be expressed, in our case here in Higher Education, has evolved considerably over the years. Inclusion is a very broad, sometimes abstract concept that relates to how we want to operate as a society. So, inclusion as a concept is relevant, and its operationalization in education is also important, and I think that's what has been happening. The fact that the framework we want to work on is being revisited conceptually is a tremendous achievement—that this willingness has been put on the table,” she explained.
He added, “I would say the great challenge is for inclusion to become the way we operate every day. It's not about separating it into a particular sphere or limiting it to certain groups. Inclusion is how a university, or higher education as a whole, must function. Strategies are specifically targeted to identify where there is no inclusion, where there is no equity, where there is a lack of respect or appreciation, or where diversity is not expressed. But inclusion must be how we operate for everyone; we shouldn't think that inclusion is only for people with disabilities. Inclusion is for all of us to be included.”.
Presentations:
Results of the Academic Gaps Questionnaire
Disability in Higher Education: Background and proposals for CRUCH universities
Comprehensive Support and Accompaniment Network for Students of the University of La Serena
*Information and photographs: Communications Department, Catholic University of the North
Spanish 
English