Contained within the University of Santiago, Chile's assessment are a series of findings, challenges, and recommendations focused on two pivotal institutional issues: the connection between research and teaching, and coordination across undergraduate and graduate programs.
This study aligns with Project USA 23992, which focuses on “Implementation of policies to link research with undergraduate programs and coordination between undergraduate and graduate programs, strengthening the generation of advanced human capital.”
Led collaboratively by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Office of the Vice President for Graduate Studies, and the Office of the Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Creation (VRIIC), the project seeks to establish institutional policies. These policies are designed to promote flexible educational pathways, enhance academic integration between undergraduate and graduate programs, and foster the generation of relevant, interdisciplinary, and socially impactful knowledge.
Crucially, these objectives resonate with the university community's priorities for the current update of our Institutional Educational Model.
The assessment sought to identify existing gaps and potential improvements in academic practices that integrate undergraduate and postgraduate programs, and in strategies that foster the link between teaching and research."
A robust and representative document emerged from the interviews and surveys conducted during the second semester of 2024. These included insights from all faculties, encompassing 17 directors of postgraduate programs, 7 curriculum registrars, 32 department heads, 14 vice deans, and 7 support professionals and postgraduate secretaries.
The assessment was further strengthened by a review of the Institutional Educational Model, the University of Santiago, Chile's Research Policy, institutional regulations and resolutions, and documents provided by the involved vice-rectors' offices.
Accreditation
This assessment supports the continuous improvement processes demanded by the National Quality Assurance System, offering strategic input vital for successful future institutional accreditations.
In fact, Project USA 23992 is highly relevant to several dimensions addressed by the Quality Criteria and Standards for Institutional Accreditation of the University Subsystem.
Criterion 4 examines the extent to which the university's research and/or innovation activities concerning its teaching experience yield a positive influence on the educational process, encompassing both disciplinary and pedagogical dimensions.
Criterion 13, on the other hand, evaluates the university's commitment to research, creation, and/or innovation by examining their explicit inclusion in the mission and stated purposes, their integration into the institutional development plan, and the availability of management mechanisms and resources for their implementation.
Finally, Criterion 14 observes whether the university generates research, creation, and/or innovation outcomes that demonstrate impact across various domains, including academic, cultural, service, productive, or social, and whether these outcomes contribute to student training at every level.
Coordination: Findings, Challenges, and Recommendations
The assessment uncovered significant coordination challenges, stemming from the absence of a comprehensive cross-cutting policy. Key missing elements identified were coordinated curriculum itineraries, formal academic staff incentives, and a monitoring system to track the progress, quality, and impact of coordination initiatives.
Furthermore, certain disparities were apparent, notably the uneven contribution of faculties in this type of process. The assessment also identified insufficient levels in critical areas such as resources and logistical support, engagement from the academic body, dissemination and student assistance, and interdisciplinary and/or inter-faculty cooperation.
The study recommends several key actions: developing an institutional articulation policy, updating and supplementing current regulations, establishing articulated curriculum paths, incorporating articulation into internal quality assurance systems, implementing academic tutoring for articulated students, expanding the scholarship and differentiated support system, raising awareness and positioning articulation as an academic development option, promoting interdisciplinary and inter-faculty articulations, and recognizing participation in articulation within the academic career.
Outreach Dynamics: Challenges, Findings, and Recommended Actions
This area similarly suffers from the absence of a clear policy and critical elements, including curricular integration designed to systematically foster research skills, academic career recognition for faculty who link research with teaching, and comprehensive impact instruments and indicators.
Additionally, a clear need exists for expanded resources and infrastructure, enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration and thematic networks, and greater academic commitment to research, including student involvement in these processes.
The text recommends several key actions: developing an institutional research policy with an outreach focus, strengthening curriculum coordination and research trajectories, creating institutional programs for research initiation, increasing and decentralizing research funding, professionalizing research management, institutionally recognizing and incentivizing research-teaching links, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, improving shared-use infrastructure, systematizing impact monitoring and evaluation, and raising awareness and communicating research opportunities.