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During the plenary session of the Council of Rectors and Rectors that took place this Thursday, November 24, at the University of Aysén, in Coyhaique, the executive vice president, Emilio Rodríguez, valued that during the budget discussion process the groups that are represented in the CRUCH (CUECH, G-9 and AUR) have worked “in a harmonious manner”.
Also present at the session was the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Verónica Figueroa, who presented a mental health diagnosis in which 85.71% of the country's universities participated.
“As the Council of Rectors, we value the effort made by the Undersecretariat of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, as well as the effort made by the parliamentarians, but we feel that the Budget Directorate has ultimately not understood all these signals that we have tried to give about the importance and role of university institutions for the development of the country,” said the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Emilio Rodríguez, regarding the fact that the 2023 Budget Bill is in its final stage before being sent by Congress next Tuesday, November 29.
During the 639th session of the CRUCH, held this Thursday, November 24th at the University of Aysén in Coyhaique, Rodríguez also highlighted that during the budget discussion “we have worked harmoniously with all the groups represented in the CRUCH (the Consortium of State Universities of Chile, CUECH; the network of non-state public universities, G-9; and the Association of Regional Universities, AUR)”, but that “our aspirations have not translated into concrete results, but only partially”.
It is worth mentioning that the main proposals of the CRUCH are: to obtain authorization to increase the use of surpluses from the University Credit Solidarity Fund (FSCU) accumulated up to 2021 from 20% to 35%, which does not represent a real cost to the Treasury since these resources are available within the universities themselves; to postpone the application of Article 48 of Law 21.094, so that it is viable for the institutions; and to recover the institutional development contributions for the universities of the G-9 network, which were eliminated in the previous government (since 2021).
Mental health diagnosis
Another of the relevant topics of the session was the analysis of the diagnosis “Institutional Approach to the Mental Health Dimension: Education Subsystem”, presented by the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Verónica Figueroa, and the Head of the University Education Division, Thomas Griggs.
The diagnosis was based on a survey conducted between September 9 and October 12, 2022, which collected both quantitative and qualitative information. Of the 56 universities in the country, 48 responded, representing 85.71%.
In this regard, the rector of the University of Aysén, Natacha Pino, pointed out that "the study presented by the Undersecretary is very comprehensive," and allows us not only to understand how students perceive the academic workload, but also "we were able to demonstrate that we need to take concrete actions regarding coordinating with the health system to refer care.".
On the other hand, the rector of the host university stated that “we realized that many universities are implementing actions related to mental health, so it is necessary to share best practices, and we will continue working on this matter.”.
Executive Vice President Emilio Rodríguez also highlighted the importance of the Undersecretary's mental health assessment, as it helps address a complex reality for universities. He noted that this was the reason the CRUCH's Commission on Coexistence and Mental Health was created a few months ago.
According to Rodríguez, the area of mental health “adds to other challenges we face as the Council of Rectors, related to digital transformation, gender equality, and strengthening teaching methodologies, all within a framework of quality assurance.” All these issues “are very significant for the development of the country and for public policy in higher education,” she affirmed.
Accreditation process of the University of Aysén
In mid-December, the University of Aysén will undergo the external evaluation of its first accreditation process. In response, the vice president of CRUCH and also rector of the University of Tarapacá stated that "the University of Aysén is doing excellent work in an extreme area, with low population density, which consequently generates a series of restrictions and limitations for the development of higher education.".
Rector Rodríguez acknowledged the leadership of Rector Natacha Pino, the work of the entire university community, the support of the community, as well as that of the Governor and the Presidential Delegate, in the development of the university project, and expressed his confidence in the outcome of the process. “I have no doubt that the university will achieve accreditation at an advanced level, and I believe it will be successful in its future development,” he stated.
Photographs: Rafael Elgueta, U. of Aysén.
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