During the most recent session of the Academic Council of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), the proposal “Competencies for academic activities corresponding to comprehensive training” was presented, an initiative that seeks to establish an institutional roadmap around the development of generic and citizenship skills at all academic levels.
Alexandra Cortés Aguilar, director of Institutional Planning, explained that this proposal responds to the need to consolidate a student profile with a marked UIS seal. “Today we begin to work on the definition of a training route of generic and citizenship competencies for comprehensive training, with the purpose of defining those competencies and those characteristics that our UIS students have,” she said.
Cortés Aguilar specified that the institutional mission has as its axis to form ethical, innovative and politically aware citizens and professionals, and that this requires a clear definition of the competencies that support this vision. “It is necessary that we define in each of our educational projects what are those generic and citizenship competencies that lead to generate that UIS identity,” he said.
The proposal contemplates a joint work with the teams of the Academic Vice Rector’s Office, deans and deans, to structure a plan to consolidate an articulated set of macro and micro competencies. These will serve as a key input for academic units to formulate comprehensive training activities aligned with institutional objectives.
“We want this to apply to both undergraduate and graduate programs at all academic levels, and also to facilitate the follow-up process that we have to carry out for the acquisition of these competencies to which we are committing ourselves as an institution,” added the director.
Regarding the seal that identifies the UIS professional, Cortés Aguilar emphasized that these are people committed to solving real problems. “Many of our academic advisors characterized that we have UIS professionals who are recognized worldwide as people who solve problems, who use their knowledge to face challenges… who are not passive, who do not simply try to follow orders, but who are always ready to face challenges and contribute to the institution of which they are a part.”
With this initiative, the UIS reaffirms its commitment to a comprehensive education that responds to contemporary social challenges and strengthens the institutional identity through the development of key competencies in its students.
