University to have new, more dynamic and horizontal organizational structure

University will have a new, more dynamic and horizontal organizational structure

In order to have a more flexible and appropriate structure to respond to the new demands of society, the Board of Directors, at the proposal of the Academic Council, approved a new organizational structure for the Corporation, which will take effect in October. Acting Vice-Rector Juan José Troncoso noted that this measure is characteristic of an institution that, throughout its history, has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changes in its environment and the various challenges it must address. “A modern university is one capable of interpreting the evolution of its environment and, based on this, making adjustments that allow it to respond to that reality as efficiently as possible, without losing alignment with its strategic objectives,” he explained. The modification to the University’s organizational structure was analyzed as a single item on the agenda of the 105th extraordinary session of the Academic Council, an opportunity in which the members of the collegiate body supported the motion presented by the Vice-Rector’s Office for Economic Management and Administration. In this context, the vice-rector maintained that the new organizational structure’s main characteristic is that it is more horizontal than the current one. “Several units are being restructured to provide a simpler and more streamlined structure that allows us to act more agilely,” he indicated. Along these lines, Troncoso recalled that in the exit report issued by the National Accreditation Commission (CNA) at the end of the process that allowed the University to increase its accreditation from five to six years, the organizational structure was mentioned as one of the aspects that could affect institutional management. Therefore, the director observed that “our institutional growth requires us to be versatile so that, as we complete each stage, we are also capable of making the necessary adjustments to advance toward strengthening areas that require a different level of development and are in line with a University with the level of accreditation we have.”

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Among the changes contemplated in the new structure, the Vice-Rector’s Office will give way to the General Directorate of Quality Assurance and Planning, and the current Vice-Rector’s Office for Community Engagement will become the new General Directorate of Community Engagement. The Vice-Rector’s Office for Innovation and Technology Transfer will adopt a more transversal, interdisciplinary approach consistent with the institutional mission that defines UTalca as an innovative institution. From this perspective, it will address issues and projects that impact corporate activities in the use of new teaching technologies, such as the virtual campus, the use of the Internet of Things in the daily life of the university community, and the application of Big Data for institutional management, among other considerations. Some modifications are also contemplated in Directorates, Departments, and Units in the other Vice-Rector’s Offices, in the General Secretariat, and in the Offices of Outreach and Corporate Communications, among others; details of which will be provided by the authorities of each area.