Boosting university transparency

The Awareness Campaign on Transparency and Integrity concluded successfully, promoting good practices and ethics within the university community

By: Alejandro García Suárez – Advisory Office of Communications

The University of Cundinamarca, through the Directorate of Institutional Planning, held the First Awareness-Raising Day on University Transparency and Integrity. The purpose of this event is to foster a culture of transparency and good practices within the educational community.

The initiative is part of the National Plan to Fight Corruption, which seeks to prevent corruption in public procurement, guarantee access to information as a fundamental right, and promote the revaluation of the public sector, social control, and citizen participation.

Adriana Asención Torres Espitia, Director of Institutional Planning, highlighted that “in fulfillment of the commitment made by the rector, Dr. Adriano Muñoz Barrera, we are implementing the Institutional Development Plan that reinforces the values of university transparency and integrity. This process includes the audit of the Anti-Bribery Management System, recognized by Icontec, which demonstrates the significant compliance of our practices.” Torres emphasized that this recognition is an important milestone for the institution and reflects her team's commitment to a culture of integrity and transparency in all its activities.

Likewise, the director emphasized that “within the Integrated Planning and Management Model, we have a policy focused on transparency and integrity. The workshops and actions promoted by the university strengthen compliance with this policy and the Anti-Bribery Management System. It is essential to promote ethical values of transparency and integrity among our officials, with the goal of consolidating ourselves as an institution committed to its mission and the responsible use of the resources we manage, thereby contributing to the development of the department through the education of our students.”.

Torres also emphasized the University of Cundinamarca's determination to promote a culture of transparency and public ethics among its students and academic staff. “These spaces involve not only our administrative team, but also the managers of knowledge and learning. Our students are the fundamental axis of the institution, and we work daily so that they understand the opportunities they have to exercise control over the university's activities, both administratively and educationally. Likewise, we seek for them to know the mechanisms that can foster a culture of integrity and allow them to make decisions that reflect our ethical values, in line with the Transmodern Digital Educational Model (MEDIT),” he concluded.

Dayana Rodríguez Valbuena, a professional from the Office of the Chief of Staff and Good Governance of the Governorate of Cundinamarca, stated that “the transparency program is a fundamental pillar in the Public Administration of all entities. The University of Cundinamarca has promoted this awareness-raising event so that both students and the community in general can learn about the actions that the Governorate, the University, and the Presidency are carrying out in this area. In addition, it seeks to involve all citizens, encouraging their participation through reporting channels and promoting transparency and integrity at the university and in the department.”.

For his part, William Ospino Diaz Granados, advisor to the Presidential Secretariat for Transparency, mentioned that “the Secretariat for Transparency has implemented various strategies aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of all entities, both public and private, including educational institutions. These efforts begin with the identification of risks associated with potential acts of corruption.”.

Once identified, it is crucial to establish measures to control, prevent, mitigate, or, if necessary, relocate these issues. We propose that these actions be integrated into transparency and ethics programs, ensuring that higher education institutions comply with these high standards. As part of this approach, it has been established that all entities supervised by a superintendency must implement a business transparency and ethics program,” the official stated.

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