IGLU is a program for authorities, executives and academic staff of higher education institutions, to perfect their skills in university management and leadership and, at the same time, to generate instances of mutual cooperation.

High Authorities and scholars of different Latin American Universities from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina visited the Universidad de La Frontera within the Institute for University Management and Leadership (IGLU) Program, which is organized by the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE).

On this occasion, the Los Lagos University was the headquarter and host of a series of management and leadership activities that have been developed within the IGLU Program, which includes classes and on site experiences at institutions with good practice. The IGLU Program is one of four development programs (CAMPUS, COLAM, EMULIES) the IOHE offers.

UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

The IGLU Program is offered by the Institute for University Management and Leadership, which is distributed in Regional Centers of the Americas. One of those Centers is at the Los Lagos University, which chose the UFRO in order to show the work of a public, regional and state university with good practice and auspicious projections.

In this context, the rector, Sergio Bravo, pointed out that “the Los Lagos University thought of this institution as an example for an important delegation with people from universities who have come to get to know the implementation of different programs, having in mind that we work corresponding to the Chilean education policies, which can be quite different compared to other countries.”

According to Dr. Julio Crespo, the director of International Relations of the Los Lagos University, the visit at the UFRO meets the objective of observing the work of universities, with regard to leadership and academic development. “This is why university executives and managers participate in this program: to obtain new experiences, make synergies with universities, and to strengthen their own institutions through an innovation project.”

Some of them have similar cultures, we have cooperation agreements with some of them and with others not. This is why the rector, Sergio Bravo, said that there is no doubt that this encounter supports our work of internationalization, and the experiences we presented address the management of research, the creation and development of the scientific nuclei, the fields of technology transfer and innovation, and the connection with graduates.

UFRO EXPERIENCE

At present, the Osorno Campus and the International Affairs Office of the Los Lagos University have been receiving participants since 2016 and are the headquarter in the south of Chile this year.

Against this background, the Universidad de La Frontera enabled them to get to know other university realities and educational contexts.
“We wanted to show this delegation of foreign universities the evidence of our strategic guidelines that positioned us among the 10 leading universities in Chile”, said the director of the International Affairs Office, Dr. Pamela Leal. She also explained that this visit opens doors to Latin America, since it helps to establish new cooperation networks and to strengthen the internationalization of our institution.

Dr. Leal added that the main interest was to get to know the work in the areas of innovation and technology transfer, monitoring of graduates and scientific and technology nuclei. “There is no doubt that this experience will provide new tools that can be used in each of the institutions.”