A new achievement of the University of La Frontera. This year, our institution is in 12th place of the general classification of the Universities Ranking by the Copesa Group and after 12 years, we were able to improve in the dimension “Quality perceived by employers”.

It is the 18th version of the ranking and the University of La Frontera obtained encouraging results. This consolidates a successful year regarding the factors considered. In the general classification, the UFRO improved one position and is now in 12th place. In the dimension “Quality Perception” the UFRO made a qualitative and quantitative step up, from 20th place in 2016 to 16th place in 2017, and in the dimension “Management” it climbed 5 positions up.

“The results of national and international rankings play an important role in public conversations about the prestige of universities. At the same time, they are a measurement method and source for reputation and because of that, since some years ago, they also are one of the indicators of our strategic plan. In addition, it is also a merit for a regional and state university to achieve better results each time, since Chile is a highly centralized country. Getting results like this in the University Quality Ranking of the Copesa Group motivates us to keep working for excellence, each day and in each of our actions”, the rector, Sergio Bravo, commented.

PERCEIVED QUALITY

One of the institutional achievements in this version of the ranking is the result in the dimension “Perceived Quality” that registers the level of knowledge and estimation of employers regarding the universities. On this occasion, one thousand employers – who directly or indirectly decide in the hiring process of future professionals – have been surveyed. In order to avoid bias, the grade each employer gives to the institution he/she studied at have not been considered.

“Being responsible for the communication strategies of our institution, I am extremely proud of this result. Not only because it confirms the institutional decision to create a Communications Direction and to include it in the directive group of the university, but also because receiving a better perception by employers, creates new opportunities for our graduates and academic staff members. Also because with this task, the institution has a better understanding of the transformative and not only disseminative role of university communication”, the director of Communications, Carola Espinoza, pointed out.

She adds that in 2018 she hopes that the university’s internal strategic communication culture will get strengthened and that every member of the UFRO community will assess his/her role to build a strong reputation. “The function of communication within an organization is to convert the objective quality into perceived and valued quality. This is what pushes the university towards reputation levels of excellence. For being able to achieve this, it is necessary to be, act and communicate with consistency – a task in which each UFRO staff member plays an essential role.”

MANAGEMENT QUALITY

Out of the four factors considered by the ranking in order to assess the dimension “Management Quality”, the factors institutional accreditation and number of full-time students are the ones with a higher preponderance. The other two factors are the retention rate and the timely graduation. Regarding this last factor, the UFRO shows an average of 1,5 semesters of difference between the formal and the actual duration of the programs. This puts the UFRO in second place at the national level.

In the overall ranking, the UFRO is on the ninth place in the dimension “Management Quality”, improving five positions compared to 2016.

“These university rankings fulfill a social function, because they give information to students, academic staff and researchers at the moment of choosing the university they want to go to or they are at. They are also a work tool for the employees in charge of directive management and they act as a barometer of comprehensive quality. From this perspective, they are our feedback for the quality system and help us to develop our internal culture of continuous improvement”, the director of Academic Quality, Dr. Martha Ramirez, pointed out.

According to the University Ranking, this year, 14 institutions maintained their position – three more than in 2016 – 12 universities moved down and 14 climbed up.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CHILEAN UNIVERSITY RANKING

Written by: Dirección de Comunicaciones
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