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The visit was part of the training process for the Doctorate in Higher Education Management in that country, which seeks to learn about the Chilean higher education system in the areas of quality assurance, accreditation, institutional governance, research, internationalization and community engagement.
With the purpose of learning about the Chilean higher education system and the functioning of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), an academic delegation from El Salvador participated in a series of presentations given by representatives from different areas of the Council.
The visit to the General Secretariat (SG) of CRUCH, this Tuesday, October 28, was framed within the training process of the Doctorate in Higher Education Management of that country, which seeks to learn about the Chilean higher education system in the areas of quality assurance, accreditation, institutional governance, research, internationalization and linkage with the environment.
The Salvadoran delegation, made up of eight university authorities, including rectors, rector's advisors, general secretaries, deans, academic and financial directors, and coordinated by the executive director of the Commission for Accreditation of the Quality of Higher Education (CdA) of El Salvador, Ángel Cartagena.
During the day, the acting Secretary General of CRUCH, Marcela Cifuentes, welcomed the first cohort of doctoral students, after which three presentations were made: the head of the Legal Area of the SG, Gloria Herrera, addressed the main pointselements of the governance of the education systemChilean higher education and the CRUCH; subsequently, the analyst from the Studies Area, Matías Oyarce, spoke about the financing of the higher education system in Chile, addressing its mecurrent approaches, tools and challenges; finally, one of the members of the board of the CRUCH Community Engagement Commission and general director of Community Engagement at Diego Portales University, Sebastián Pérez, shared the challenges of universities in this area and the contributions of the commission in terms of good practices and collaboration strategies.
The participating institutions were the following: ITCA-FEPADE, Specialized Institute of Education; Central American University José Simeón Cañas; University of the East; University of Sonsonate; Evangelical University of El Salvador; Francisco Gavidia University.
The delegation's agenda, between October 21 and November 1, included meetings with various institutions of the Chilean higher education system, with the purpose of delving into the foundations of the Chilean system of quality and accreditation in higher education, as well as the regulatory, organizational and operational aspects.
Positive evaluation
The executive director of the Salvadoran Commission for Quality Accreditation in Education, Ángel Cartagena, stated that the day was “highly productive” and that the agenda of topics was
Very relevant. “In that sense, I think it allowed us to complement, expand, and deepen the information we already had with other actors in the system, and we greatly appreciate the time they took to do so,” he mentioned.
Furthermore, Cartagena highlighted the main lessons learned. First, he mentioned that “Chile has managed to establish different mechanisms and levels of dialogue for members throughout the system. For us, it is very valuable to take note of these tools, these instruments, these mechanisms that you have so that we can apply them in our country. This, perhaps as a first major lesson, I believe could lead to important actions in our public policy in the future.”.
On the other hand, “we recognize the efforts that CRUCH makes to strengthen and promote best practices in community engagement among its member institutions. This constant dialogue among the 30 universities is very valuable in terms of the progress being made. For us, what we have learned about what you have built in quality assurance is very significant.”.
From the delegation's perspective, Chile is a relevant benchmark in Latin America in terms of quality assurance policies and consolidated regulatory structures, so this experience represents a strategic opportunity for analysis and critical reflection on management models in higher education in the region.
Text and image: CRUCH Communications
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