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The Council of Rectors unanimously adopted an agreement to advance the academic modernization of the university system, taking into account the demands of society and various environmental factors. Executive Vice President and Rector Emilio Rodríguez stated that “the universities of the Council of Rectors have an obligation to implement some of these changes related to digital transformation, flexibility, and collaboration.”.
The Undersecretary of Higher Education, Víctor Orellana, thanked the plenary for the statement and expressed "the Undersecretary's willingness to transform this into work and public policy.".
“Today we have agreed to a commitment to deepen the academic modernization of the Chilean university system,” said the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Rector Emilio Rodríguez, at the end of the session held this Thursday, May 25, at the Arturo Prat University, Iquique.
Several universities belonging to the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) have made progress in this direction over the last ten years, and the rector stated, “We believe all these advances are positive and must be further developed.” The vice president added, “Further developing them means entering into a broader discussion about, for example, the role of online and digital education; what elements of digital transformation can be incorporated into educational processes; and how we can better serve a society and a student body that is more demanding.”.
This commitment from CRUCH responds to “a series of elements that are occurring in the environment today, demands that also emerge from society and, consequently, the universities of the Council of Rectors have the obligation to implement some of these changes that relate to digital transformation, flexibility and articulation,” concluded Rector Rodríguez.
This unanimous agreement by the Council aligns with one of the key areas of focus for the Undersecretariat of Higher Education. In this regard, the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Víctor Orellana, who was present
Present at the session, he thanked the plenary for its pronouncement and expressed that "it goes in an edifying direction for higher education," while also stating "the will of the undersecretary to transform this into work and public policy.".
Work agenda for Regulated Tariffs
During the session, Undersecretary Orellana also presented a proposed work schedule for regulated tariffs.
The authority reported that in July it will work with higher education institutions to develop a proposed timeline for programs not yet included in the tuition fee regulation process. A new data collection effort on the costs of programs and degrees is expected to take place between August and September, so that between October and November a joint effort can be undertaken by the Undersecretary, the Budget Directorate, and the Expert Commission (CERA) that oversees the work on regulated tuition fees. Finally, between December and January 2024, the review phase for calculating these fees would begin. The timeline anticipates that tuition fees will be published in April 2024 and will take effect in 2025.
In this context, Orellana reaffirmed her commitment to working with the vice-rectors of finance at the CRUCH universities to resume the process of regulating tuition fees within the framework of free higher education. The first meeting is scheduled for next week to review the results of this pilot program for regulated tuition fees.
The executive vice president of CRUCH, Rector Rodríguez, valued the possibility of dialogue and the openness that has existed in this matter.
Challenges for Admission 2024
The challenges for the 2024 Admission Process were also analyzed in the session, given that universities must present their preliminary course offerings by May 31.
In this context, Ruth Candia, president of the CRUCH Admissions and Enrollment Committee and professor at the University of La Frontera, emphasized that universities must inform applicants whether they will be adding optional programs with Mathematics 2 (M2) to those required by the Higher Education Access System. This presents the challenge of communicating to prospective students why some programs require it while others do not. She also mentioned the amendment to the Teacher Training Law and the criteria applied for admission to these programs, which are linked to the program's accreditation period, the eligibility requirements for continuing studies, the scores on the mandatory tests (Mathematics 1 and Language), and the accreditation validity periods.
Photographs courtesy of the Communications Team of Arturo Prat University.
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