Girardot Translocal Forum, a positive outcome!

This event was opened by the director of the Girardot branch, engineer Miguel Ángel Ávila, who began his presentation with an interesting summary of his work. “The branch had two main budget categories: operating expenses and investment expenses. The former amounted to 1,884,273,540 pesos with an execution rate of 881%, while the latter totaled 1,700,182,814 pesos with an execution rate of 791%.”.

He also explained the revenue from the Prodesarrollo UdeC stamp tax, approved by the city council, which has a specific purpose. “We managed to collect 1,447,162,753,060 pesos because there were funds that the mayor's office had not yet transferred to the university. These resources will be invested in 2024.”.

Similarly, he explained that the following actions were carried out under the Annual Investment Operating Plan: acquisition of laptops for the library, socioeconomic support and student retention strategies, purchase of lockers, adaptation of the water laboratory premises, as well as furniture, remodeling of the library, purchase of an interactive screen, acquisition of computer equipment for the CRE, day plan, restaurants, accommodation and strengthening of research.

Regarding the fiscal targets, the director noted that they were met through the execution of inter-administrative agreements. “Two were carried out, one with the Special Administrative Unit for Disaster Risk Management for a value of $45,207,354 and another with the Municipality of Cajicá for a value of $40,200,000. In order to achieve this objective, we relied on the Environmental Engineering program.”.

Regarding physical resources and general services, Dr. Ávila stated that, in order to comply with the certification of the Environmental Management System and Occupational Health and Safety, works were carried out such as: replacement of sanitary facilities, lighting, construction of access ramps and installation of an emergency door in the auditorium.

Regarding internships and academic outings, he reported that twenty-one were carried out in the first semester and thirty-three in the second.

At the forum, engineer Sandra Milena León explained the university's commitment to the Environmental Management System. “The main achievement was obtaining ISO 14001:2015 certification from Icontec. We also met the Sustainable Development Goals, which are global in scope. In this regard, we implemented strategies related to environmental awareness, a green university, compliance with legal requirements from IDEAM (the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies), austerity and sustainability (including a feasibility study for water and energy), paper conservation, and providing training and information through our website. To meet these requirements, we invested approximately 112 million pesos.”.

Similarly, the coordinator of the Environmental Engineering program, Luis Miguel Castañeda, highlighted that, within the self-evaluation improvement plan, they were assigned twenty-four actions. “Of those, sixteen already have a follow-up plan or action.”.

Furthermore, he confirmed that they had a visit from the National Accreditation Council (CNA) to achieve high-quality accreditation for the program. “Their observations were very positive. In this self-evaluation process, we obtained 4.7 out of 5, a figure that was highlighted by the CNA advisor.”.

On the other hand, Laurentino Carranza, coordinator of the Business Administration program, emphasized that they are working towards accreditation. “The program has already been redefined. This allows for quality, continuous improvement, and self-evaluation, among other things.”.

Regarding science, technology and research, he commented that with the Los Acacios group, they had four articles approved with two professors and this year they have six teachers.

Meanwhile, Adriana Rocío Rodríguez, coordinator of the Tourism and Hotel Management program, explained that there are eighty students, for whom a contingency plan was created with activities that guarantee their continued education. “In that regard, we continue working with three full-time professors and four part-time instructors.”.

Regarding the number of graduates, the coordinator reported that a total of twenty-five were achieved and they were encouraged to continue their studies with the Business Administration program so that they can achieve professionalization.

For her part, Dr. Nancy Castro, from the Bachelor's Degree in Basic Education with an Emphasis in Humanities, Spanish Language, and English, spoke about academic culture. “In that regard, I must highlight that we have an agreement with the Federal University of Roraima in Brazil to teach Spanish as a foreign language there and for our students to learn Portuguese. Also, regarding University Social Interaction, I want to emphasize that we held a literary carnival, a writers' meeting, and the Pablo Freyre Open Lecture Series, among other activities.”.

The Nursing program coordinator, Sandra Carmona, closed this interesting accountability session with a very comprehensive summary. “We are currently revising the curriculum. This year, the program received its accreditation. Furthermore, we developed several disciplinary learning areas, and twenty-one were approved by the Curriculum Committee. We will begin the first learning pathway in February 2024. We also fully complied with the improvement plan.”.

Also participating in this interesting forum were Ana Milena Bejarano from the Research Directorate, Antonio Acosta, leader of University Social Interaction, Lina María Celis, coordinator of University Welfare, July Gutiérrez, manager of the Academic Support Unit and the Center for Knowledge and Learning Management, and Roxana Serrano, manager of the environmental management system.

Within the development of this forum and as part of the senior management's policy of listening carefully to the attendees, there was a space for questions.

In this way, the institution reaffirms its commitment to working with transparency as a fundamental element for building a just society, fulfilling the premise of accountability of UCundinamarca Open and Clear.

More news from the Girardot branch at the News Agency