Professionals committed to sustainable development, and committed to academic programs from UDCA This is how this institution promotes its plans

In these 40 years of experience, how has UDCA’s academic training areas expanded?

Germany’s Anzola Montero: in 1983, University of Applied and Environmental Sciences It was created with a non-professional profession devoted exclusively to agricultural science. After 40 years of experience, it has been able to popularize its activities, as we deal with other fields of knowledge and knowledge, with the same enthusiasm and the same motives. Today we have fields such as environmental sciences, sustainability, health sciences, sciences, legal sciences, administrative and business sciences, and education sciences.

Why does the Institutional Education Project (PEI) stand out for the university?

GAM: Our mission is to train citizens who are at the service of the nation and who are competent in their training specializations and who, in addition, Be the professionals Colombia demands of the new generations. To achieve this, we develop activities in teaching, research and extension that allow us to put our excellence and abilities to work for the benefit of society.

The university has sustainable development as its roadmap. How do you think the Academy can contribute to this?

GAM: Harmony between society, the environment and the economy must be an essential part of any educational project at a higher level. If we do not educate for the benefit of the planet, the panorama is very complex. The needs of humanity must be included in all professions. Everyone must contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the struggle for increasingly better education, less poverty, more justice and equity, basic needs met, and respect for the environment is unquestionable.

What actions does UDCA perform to contribute to achieving the SDGs?

GAM: To talk about training components, one can think not only of new technologies but also of strategies aimed at the benefit of society. We have attached ourselves to all local, national and global goals to achieve. The first thing to do is be aware of the type of professional you are The country needs to achieve the Sustainable Development GoalsAnd this is determined by the training that we must provide in each of the programs. For example, agricultural science is a program that, in its training plans, must constantly strive to ensure food for mankind.

What is the integrated environmental management system for the organization?

GAM: UDCA belongs to a large network of global universities that are distinguished by their campus environmental management. Our system was born from an internal commitment, as we are located in the Bogota Savannah, which is a very sensitive place from an environmental point of view. For this reason, it is our duty to contribute to the sphere of influence by protecting the soil, water, atmosphere, flora and fauna, and waste management that arises in a community of more than six thousand people. Through this integrated system, the university becomes a natural laboratory.

What are the main strengths of university graduates?

GAM: Social commitment to the less fortunate is crucial. Since the beginning of the university and the training of talents in the service of agricultural and animal sciences, we think of the rural people of Colombia who have so many needs. The main characteristic of our professionals in all disciplines today is, without a doubt, a commitment to sustainable human development.

UDCA has achieved high quality institutional accreditation…

GAM: The university’s most important value has been ensuring recognition for quality and excellence. This seal bestowed on us by the national government becomes our greatest potential and wealth. We’ve been baptized for four years and there’s still one to go. We proudly say that we have already completed the full improvement plan that we have imposed for institutional recertification. Our students pay very reasonable tuition fees, so the lack of material wealth is compensated for by the pursuit of academic excellence. Thus, institutional accreditation has been achieved for 60 percent of our programs.

What did you decide about increasing tuition fees?

GAM: The country’s financial problem also affects higher education. As a starting point, we will look for a way that does not significantly impact our students by increasing enrollment. We will do our best to make the increases very reasonable in the realities of the country. In university life, we have to acquire the items that are imported, such as equipment, endowments of materials, computers, platforms, and all technological innovations that we must buy with dollars, and we cannot neglect that. Our challenge is to find the formula to get more affordable expenses.

Specifically, the university is also known for its educational credit alternatives and modalities…

GAM: We provide financial support to students who need to award credits and other payment methods. In addition, we have agreements with financial entities so that students can access various alternatives.

This year you celebrate your 40th anniversary, how do you expect it to be in the coming years?

GAM: What we need to do is to maintain and improve the quality of the education we offer, as well as to fight for the relevance of all the doctoral, master’s, specialization and undergraduate training programs that we offer. This relevance is achieved through enhanced research and our commitment to community, teacher and principal levels.

Also read: This is how the University of La Guajira advances in its goal of achieving institutional accreditation