Mission and vision

The University of Cundinamarca establishes the following objectives *:

1. To train well-rounded professionals required by the department of Cundinamarca and the country, with academic, scientific, and human capabilities, trained in the fundamental aspects of postmodern knowledge and consistent with the national and global socioeconomic context.

2. Promote the awareness and reaffirmation of human values, culture, and the comprehensive integration of Colombians into the benefits derived therefrom.

3. Contribute to the development of technologies for the protection and use of natural resources, the preservation of life on Earth, and sustainability with nature and the environment.

4. Promote professional training, within the framework of culture, science, technology, and innovation, at the higher education level and at the service of the community through social interaction oriented toward the development required by the department and the country.

5. Advance programs that respond to the interests of vulnerable populations at the urban and rural levels in the department of Cundinamarca.

6. To promote comprehensive training based on scientific, ethical, and humanistic foundations for occupation, work, and the free development of personality, so that individuals integrate efficiently and responsibly into the axiological, professional, and scientific dimensions. Likewise, to foster an education for life that promotes democratic values, civility, and freedom.

7. Continuously evaluate institutional operations, taking as a reference the principles established in the Institutional Educational Project and its Development Plan.

8 Consolidate the institutional presence in the national and international scientific and academic context, through results resulting from the competencies and skills of the UCundinamarca university community.

9. Promote the University’s integration with various social sectors at the local, departmental, and national levels, so that it may serve as a catalyst for social, economic, and political development.

10. Contribute to the development of the educational levels that precede it, in order to facilitate their coordination and the achievement of their respective goals.

*Superior Council Agreement 018 of May 5, 2016, by which the Institutional Educational Project (PEI) of the University of Cundinamarca is adopted.

The functions of the University of Cundinamarca are:

Through this initiative, UCundinamarca seeks to fulfill the goals of comprehensive education for its “opportunity creators,” as defined in the pedagogical model, within the framework of a humanistic, liberating, dialogical, flexible, emancipatory, critical, and complex education that contributes to the construction of meaning and purpose. In short, within the framework of this core function, we constantly strive to ensure the quality of education and learning.

In the training and learning process, the curriculum is defined as an investigative, self-evaluating, and communicative project of a dialogic nature, oriented toward the comprehensive education of citizens committed to social development and the production of knowledge. In short, the curriculum is the organized conjunction of all the constituent elements of the educational act that make it possible to guarantee a high-quality service; to this end, the University establishes academic organization by credits, which privilege the autonomous development of the opportunity creator.

For its part, the development of knowledge and learning managers is inherent to education and learning, science, technology, innovation, and other core functions of the University, which entails establishing a rigorous selection process based on academic merit. Additionally, with regard to the qualifications of the knowledge and learning management staff, projects are carried out aimed at doctoral training, pedagogical and research training, professional development in a specific discipline, and proficiency in a second language.

The knowledge and learning manager is a researcher in two senses: within their discipline and in the field of education and pedagogy, in a constant quest for knowledge in the face of scientific innovation, technology, and pedagogical experience, reflecting on the world in which we live, demonstrating an awareness of the times and a disciplinary imagination and creativity that must give rise to innovations and developments within the framework of the cultural production of a revealing, local, and globalized human present.

In line with the above, the knowledge and learning manager is a free, transformative, interactive individual who manages knowledge. Likewise, the creator of opportunities is at the heart of academic culture—an autonomous, critical, and proactive individual who creates opportunities.

This field of knowledge is conceived as an ongoing practice, articulated with the institution's Mission and objectives, which makes it possible to formally consolidate a set of theoretical-conceptual, methodological, and technical capacities, competencies, and skills, identified with the teleological, scientific, and ethical monitoring of the principles of plurality, interdisciplinarity, integrality, and intersectoral action, which contribute to the economic, social, and cultural development of the country.

In this regard, the University of Cundinamarca views the field of Science, Technology, and Innovation as one of the core functions of higher education and, in its implementation, as an endeavor that requires dedication and discipline to generate and manage relevant knowledge, and capable of responding to the rapid pace of change in society. Through its social engagement, the University interacts with the country’s academic and business communities and offers academic programs with curricula contextualized in relation to scientific and technological advances and the specific challenges faced by its communities.

From this field, the University assumes the responsibility of fostering the development of Science, Technology, and Innovation, as well as critical, reflective, and analytical capacity, which contributes to national scientific and technological advancement and strengthening, oriented with priority to the cultural improvement and quality of life of the population, participation in the search for alternative solutions to problems, and the social and economic progress of the country. The guiding and structural framework of the science, technology, and innovation system at the University of Cundinamarca is designed to contribute to creating and managing knowledge, and is subject to adjustments in accordance with institutional evolution and change, as well as the dynamics of knowledge in the global environment.

The University of Cundinamarca defines guidelines on Science, Technology, and Innovation in the Learning Field, research training, the production of scientific knowledge, the promotion of research groups, research seedbeds, assistants, and young researchers, and the fundamental parameters regarding research lines. In this process, it is viewed as a transversal component of the curriculum in the development of competencies for project formulation, methodology design, teamwork, approaches, the development of innovations, and the search for alternatives to problem-solving.

Research training views learning as a construct mediated by praxis applied by the creator of opportunities, accompanied by the knowledge and learning manager, starting from the observation, description, and reflection of problems in their environment, seeking to participate in their qualified intervention and solution in order to capitalize on experiences and knowledge, thereby contributing to the transformation of reality.

Science, Technology, and Innovation at the University of Cundinamarca are developed with the purpose of creating new knowledge and transfer; a dynamic oriented toward the development of disciplinary knowledge, which seeks to transcend teaching understood as the reproduction of knowledge, and to generate, from the classroom learning field, a training and learning process that in turn defines the new role of the researcher.

University interaction is a function that is articulated with Science, Technology, and Innovation, with the Training-Learning processes, and with social interaction. Its purpose is the execution of permanent exercises of production, construction, and transfer of knowledge and culture that allow integration, encounter, and dialogue with the community and society in the creation of solutions that contribute to national policies and aid in the understanding and transformation of social, local, regional, and national reality.

University interaction starts from the purpose of training the educational community, both in the exercise of their professions and within the framework of the ethical responsibility of their actions, through: processes of inquiry and knowledge construction in specific social environments, the contextualization and exchange of experiences and knowledge, the training and capacity building of the community, the socialization, dissemination, promotion, circulation, and communication of culture, art, sports, and knowledge and innovations in multiple areas of knowledge.

University interaction will imply a real and effective connection with the environment, especially in three areas: the productive sector, the State, and civil society. Interaction with each of them will occur based on the identification of the interests and needs of each party, adhering to criteria of solidarity, sustainability, and recognition of the spheres of action of each actor and their consequent role in the construction of sustainable development.

University engagement fosters connections and active participation among its graduates to enrich their personal and professional lives, strengthen their sense of belonging, and help them make an impact in their communities through contributions to the University of Cundinamarca’s policies and programs. To this end, it will be necessary to produce graduates who are innovative, entrepreneurial, and—as a result—job creators; individuals who contribute to solving problems at the local, departmental, and national levels, thereby enabling the University to fulfill its mission of educating individuals for life, democracy, and freedom.

*Superior Council Agreement 018 of May 5, 2016, by which the Institutional Educational Project (PEI) of the University of Cundinamarca is adopted.

Mission and vision

Mission and vision

Legal nature

Mission

Vision

Objectives of UCundinamarca

The functions of the University of Cundinamarca are: