English (pdf)
Article in xml format
Article references
Automatic translation
Send this article by e-mail
Cited by SciELO 
Cited by Google 
Similars in
SciELO 
Similars in Google 
Permalink
1. Introduction
The present work deals with a concept that currently is becoming increasingly relevant, Social Responsibility, focused on the development of Universidad del Valle’s activities framed within University Social Responsibility. Vallaeys, (2008) defined University Social Responsibility as “a policy of continuous improvement of the University towards the effective fulfillment of its social mission through four processes: ethical and environmental management of the institution; training of responsible and supportive citizens; production and dissemination of socially relevant knowledge; social participation in promoting a more humane and sustainable development”.
Gómez de Segura (2014) stated that since 1987 thanks to the Brundtland Report, also known as “Our Common Future”, published by the World Commission on the Environment and Development (WCED), awareness began to rise on the importance of Organizations involving a commitment to sustainable development into their activities. Although initially only the environmental issue was referred to and was a topic exclusive to the business discourse, nowadays the concept is viewed from a much broader spectrum transcending into other scenarios.
According to the European Commission’s Green Paper[emphasis] (2001), many of the existing definitions of CSR “understand this concept as the voluntary integration of social and environmental concerns by companies into their business operations and their relationships with their stakeholders”. As far as Higher Education Institutions are concerned, in addition to contributing to the preservation of the environment and social inclusion, they are committed to relevant and quality training and knowledge management. Recognizing the University as an agent of social and environmental transformation, guidelines and standards have sought to be implemented seeking to provide the entire university community with management tools focused on involving practices of CR within the strategies of organizations. In this regard, De la Cuesta, Porras, Saavedra and Sánchez (2010) state that the University does not distance itself from this commitment because as an organization it is not only responsible for the social and environmental impacts generated in each of the university management scenarios, but also for the role they must play in society and in the challenge they have undertaken to train integral professionals with values, principles and a profile that is more coherent with social needs.
According to the United Nations Global Compact (2015), currently there are three globally applicable guides that also involve educational institutions, namely: the United Nations’ Global Compact, an initiative seeking that organizations voluntarily design their strategies and develop their activities within 10 principles whose basis is human rights, labor standards, environment and anti-corruption. (What is the Global Compact, for. 1; The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (2010) publishes ISO 26000 [emphasis], a management tool designed for organizations of different sectors, sizes and geographical location, which “provides guidance on the Fundamental Principles and Matters of Social Responsibility that help integrate socially responsible behavior”. Finally, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a private entity that seeks to promote in organizations an initiative to implement sustainability reports. (Global Reporting Initiative GRI. for. 1). In this regard, Vallaeys, de la Cruz, Sasia (2009) suggests the First Steps Manual proposed by the IDB as an exclusive tool for Universities, which “seeks to contribute to the task of thinking about the university from the key of its social responsibility”.
The present work was developed in the Universidad del Valle, North Cauca Facility, Carvajal Campus, located in the Municipality of Santander de Quilichao, this institution is a state entity engaged in higher education. At a general level, the University has a strategic plan entitled “Development Plan of the Universidad del Valle 2005-2015” and Regionalization for its part, attached thereto. It has also drawn up its “2012-2015 Action Plan” and in three out of the five strategic issues raised herein, a socially responsible approach is clearly identifiable. For the Universidad del Valle, as well as the nine (9) facilities that encompassed in its Regionalization program, CR is inherent to its mission. With the purpose of establishing what position the Universidad del Valle, North Cauca Facility, has assumed regarding the issue of USR, the following objective is proposed: Elaborating a diagnosis on the relationship betweem the four axes of Social Responsibility proposed by the IDB and the practice of Social Responsibility applied in the Universidad del Valle, North Cauca Facility for the period 2014-2015.
In order to respond to the research problem, the concept of USR was initially approached with an emphasis on its four axes of action, to finally set forth an example through a case study, where the information obtained through interviews, the documentary and bibliographic review that gives an account of the actions taken by the Institution are analyzed.
2. Conceptualization of Social Responsibility (SR) and University Social Responsibility (USR)
Fernandez (2009) suggests that Social Responsibility as a management tool that becomes involved in the basic activities of an Organization, which at the same time contributes to it remaining, should be evaluated in 4 fundamental areas. These areas of action match the approach proposed by the 4 axes of USR to be addressed in point 2.
Values and ethical principles: It refers to how the company’s decisions, processes and strategic objectives are aligned with a set of principles (ideals and beliefs) and ethical values that in turn are articulated with the mission, vision and codes of conduct.
Working environment and employment conditions: It involves all the policies and actions implemented by a company that have some degree of impact on employees in terms of their working, professional and personal conditions.
Community support or social inclusion: This includes all actions implemented from the business scenario aimed at generating long-term value for the communities wherein it operates.
Environmental Protection: This refers to the commitment of companies to contribute to the preservation of the environment and sustainable development through socially responsible practices.
Meanwhile the ISO (2010) in the International Standard ISO 26000 defines CSR as the commitment that an organization must undertake on the positive or negative impacts that its decisions and activities are capable of generating at a social and environmental level, engaging in an ethical and transparent behavior that involves sustainable development, stakeholders’ expectations, international standards of behavior, and integration throughout the Organization. The foregoing indicates that the organization is not only committed to providing its clients with a quality product or service but must also contribute responsibly to the environment in which it is immersed, and the university as an institution that affects and is affected by the environment must assume that responsibility.
In line with the above, since 1960 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has supported Latin American universities in matters of innovation and curricular adaptation to the needs of the region since its founding in 1959, began to raise awareness on how important it is that universities involve the commitment to reconnect with the social context and rediscover their identity into their activities. Although initially the concept of SR was focused solely on companies, with the creation of the Social Capital, Ethics and Development Initiative in 2002, Latin America began to generate awareness on University Social Responsibility (USR). This concept has evolved and in this sense, Vallaeys, et al. (2009) suggest that Universities as organizations that contribute economically, politically, socially and environmentally to their environment should assume a socially responsible attitude. As Vallaeys (2008) states in his paper, USR is not meant to be confused with CSR, but rather simply understanding that each organization must be aware of its impacts and the nature of these makes a difference in the implementation process of its Social Responsibility programs and this does not exempt Universities.
The Inter-American Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank’s Global Learning Network for Development held the II Global Dialogue on University Social Responsibility on November 30, 2005. Professionals, presidents, professors, and administrative personnel from different University institutions in Latin America converged on this stage. Martí Noguera, Martínez Salvá, Martí Vilar, and Marí Mollá (2007) believe that one of the most significant contributions was that of Francois Vallaeys for whom University Social Responsibility (USR) is the “ethical and intelligent management of the impacts generated by the organization in its human, social and natural environment. It promotes the need to rethink the four pillars of the university: the internal organization of the university itself, educational training, scientific and epistemological research and its relationship with society.
In the same broad sense, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 1998) in its World Declaration on Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century: Vision and Action poses that:
The relevance of higher education should be assessed in terms of its adequacy between what society expects of institutions and what they do. This requires ethical standards, political impartiality, critical capabilities and, at the same time, better articulation with society’s issues and the labor world, basing long-term orientations on societal objectives and needs, including respect for cultures and protection of the environment. (Unesco, 1998. p. 24).
3. Perspectives or approaches to University Social Responsibility
University Social Responsibility is a concept that has been approached from different perspectives by theoreticians and institutions. Table 1 consolidates three approaches (Management, Transformational, Normative) from which the concept can currently be understood.
Table 1 Perspectives or approaches to USR
| Perspective or approach | Description | Some exponents | Core objective | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managerial or directive | These positions are concerned with analyzing the impact of university work in society, especially through the accountability of their actions and decisions to their stakeholders. Brical Report (2000). Vallaeys (2009). Accountability to society. Responsible Management of University Impacts | European Association of Universities | Increased interaction and participation of stakeholders in the management of Universities | ||
| Accountability to society | |||||
| Responsible Management of University Impacts | |||||
| Transformational | They are aimed at reviewing the contribution of university work to the necessary debate and reflection to achieve a more sustainable and just society. | Formation | Service Learning | Training of responsible citizens, social transformation | |
| Research | UNESCO (1998, 2009) | Responsibility of the University in the production of socially demanded scientific knowledge | |||
| Gibbons 1997 | Emphasizes the incorporation of multiple actors into the process and a social awareness of the problems to be investigated. | ||||
| Social Leadership | Kliksberg(2009) | Ethical leadership by the University, participation in the debate on social issues | |||
| Chomsky (2002) | Reflective, critical and propositive role on society | ||||
| Social commitment and action | University cooperation to development | Transferring skills and knowledge to developing countries | |||
| Multiversity | Academic responses to growing social expectations of their work | ||||
| Normative | Development of value frameworks from the university as a normative axis to do the right thing living in a society, through setting up national or global university networks around social responsibility. Global compact PRME. Talloires Declaration (2005). Global Responsible Principles. Strengthening the social and civic responsibilities of Higher Education | Corporation participates (2001) | Transmission of University values to society | ||
| Global Responsible Principles | |||||
| Strengthening the social and civic responsibilities of Higher Education | |||||
Source:Gaete Quezada (2011).
4. Universities’ Stakeholders
The stakeholder concept has been evolving and becoming increasingly important within organizations, with Freeman (2010) being one of the main drivers thereof within the business strategy and SR. He defines it as “any group or individual that is affected or can affect the achievement of the objectives of an organization. Stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, banks, environmentalists, the government or other groups that may help or harm the corporation”.
The authors (Emshoff and Freeman)” (Garriga and Melé, 2004, p. 59) posit that stakeholder management is basically based on two principles. The first one is strengthening the commitment of all stakeholders to the company’s objectives, the second one poses that “the most efficient stakeholder relationship management strategies involve efforts, dealing simultaneously with multi-stakeholder issues”.
The sustainability of an organization necessarily involves its different stakeholders to some extent, and these in turn contribute directly or indirectly to the achievement of this objective. In this regard, Freeman and Gilbert (1988) state that “Organizational success is due in part to the choices and actions of groups that have an interest in the organization.” That is why organizations should recognize the importance that these groups represent for it and involve them as an essential part of its activities and decision-making process.
The idea of managing stakeholders, or a stakeholder approach to strategic management, suggests that managers should formulate and implement processes that comply with all those groups that hold an interest on the business. The central task in this process is to manage and integrate the relationships and interests of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, communities and other groups in a way that ensures the long-term success of the company. A stakeholder approach emphasizes active management of the business environment, relationships and the promotion of shared interests (Freeman, Mcvea 2001).
Fernández (2007) states that from an ethical perspective the raison d’être of an Organization is to create long-term value for all its stakeholders, that is, providing benefits and well-being for its collaborators, clients, suppliers and society in general, etc., in unison to generate economic-financial results that satisfactorily meet the expectations of shareholders. Like any organization, the actions of Universities and other educational institutions have an impact on diverse interest groups, among which it is worth mentioning teaching staff, non-teaching research staff, authorities, students, suppliers, graduates, employers, competitors, local communities, local communities, social organizations and the State, which Table 2 described more accurately.
Table 2 University Interest Groups
| Non-teaching staff | People who work under a contract in the functional areas of the university (administration and services). |
| Research teaching staff | People who work under a contract in the academic areas of training and/or research. |
| Authorities | People with maximum management responsibility, in charge of defining policies and promoting the necessary resources for the administration of the institution. |
| Students | People who benefit from the teaching duty at the university. They may have different responsibilities within university management. |
| Suppliers | People and organizations that contribute jobs, products and services to the university without belonging to it. |
| Graduates | People who have obtained an academic degree from the university and therefore have an interest in the good social reputation of the university. |
| Employers | People and organizations that hire the services of university graduates and/or students, and therefore have an interest in the academic quality of their education. |
| Competitors | Universities or teaching and/or research centers performing tasks that compete with or complement those of the university. |
| Local Communities | Groups with which the university interacts in various programs and projects (neighborhood associations, rural communities, vulnerable populations, etc.). |
| Social Organizations | Public and/or private entities with which the university interacts in the framework of agreements or contracts (NGOs, companies, local governments, etc.). |
| State | Public authorities with the power to configure the legal framework in which universities carry out their activities (ministries of education, public research bodies, etc.). |
Source: Vallaeys, et al. 2009.
5. Some background on USR
The United Nations Global Compact (2007) leads another promotion initiative for USR through its platform Principles for Responsible Education Management, PRME, which through the adoption and internalization of six principles seeks (purpose, values, method, research, partnership, dialogue) that business schools and in general, all educational institutions promote Social Responsibility. According to a study in 2014, Yepes establishes that by 2014 eleven (11) Business Schools were part of the PRME platform in Colombia, in addition to a working group led by the Global Compact Local Network and ASOLFA.
Considering the above, there is evidence of some institutions’ concern to align USR practices with the activities of the University, in order to attain benefits for itself in unison with the welfare generated for the environment wherein it is immersed.
In accordance with the foregoing, a study determines:
“That the academy occupies second place after non-profit entities in compliance with the application of SR. In an interview conducted to determine the degree in which the Academy is applying Social Responsibility and integrating it into its activities, 38% consider that it is being applied to a high degree, for 36% it is to a medium degree and the remaining 26% state that its application is given a low degree. Although the balance thereof is positive given that 74% of the Universities apply and integrate Social Responsibility to medium and high degree, wherefore it is important to continue working on the barriers or limitations that still remain in the spirit of achieving its consolidation into the Academy (Poll, 2014, pp. 160-161)”.
Taking into account the information contained in the Corresponsables Yearbook (2014), it can be established that Colombian Universities are committed to the issue of University Social Responsibility. These institutions have identified USR practices aimed at structuring their projects according to a socially responsible Environmental Management System, as is the case of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, and in this same vein, the engineering school of Antioquia organizes the Expo SUSTAINABILITY forum, a space for proposals and reflection to generate innovative strategies that allow sustainable management for organizations. According to the article Good Practices [emphasis] of the Corresponsables Yearbook 2014, the CAFAM University Foundation and the Corporación Universitaria Centro Superior promote learning - service through solidarity volunteering, encouraging their students to develop initiatives aimed at supporting and contributing to solving problems in vulnerable communities.
In this search on the experiences that the Universities have had with respect to this topic, they have been found to be undertaking high-impact actions as it is the case of the Universidad de los Andes (undated), which officially institutionalized inside its curriculum the “Social Practice” program which to December 2016 had counted with the participation of 3861 students and the attention to 2827 users and whose purpose is to create an academic space so that all their students have the opportunity to know the realities of their surroundings and to interact with the community in projects of solidarity volunteering at the same time that it raises awareness in students, and a sense of responsibility and commitment before the different issues of the city and its communities. In addition, to date, the University has different programs: Computer Literacy Project, the LIFE Project, Academic Reinforcement Project, Policy for students with scholarships or Icetex - Acces credits (Universidad de los Andes for. 1)
In the same sense, the Social Projection Division of the Universidad del Tolima (2015), from its Directorate, is carrying out various programs aimed at strengthening its social commitment to the community, wherefrom stand out:
UT Solidaria (Solidary). Total funding is provided for projects managed by the different faculties, aimed at solving problems in disadvantaged populations. In 2013, the first call was made and 14 projects were approved, benefiting 117 families, 5 indigenous communities, 16115 people including teachers, farmers, youths, peasants, mothers, etc. In 2014, 7 more projects were approved in different lines of action; these are figures with a lot of meaning and social impact.
Social Appropriation of Knowledge. This seeks to promote projects and spaces for debate and reflection in which the production and use of knowledge become the tools for solving social problems. In the first semester of 2015 alone, 10 projects were approved that had an impact on different municipalities in the department of Tolima and in Bajo Calima, Buenaventura.
A study carried out by Martínez González (2014) in the Universities ICESI, Mauela Beltrán and the Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, to identify the practices of Social Responsibility set in motion aligned with the 4 thematic axes set forth by the Global Pact, Human Rights, Environment, Labor Relations and anti-corruption, shows the FUA as having the greatest commitment to environmental issues (4 practices) and Human Rights (2 practices),;however in the anti-corruption issue there is no evidence of any sort of action by the institution. For its part, UMB shows a more integral work that involves its actions in the four thematic axes, showing greater strength in the issue of Human Rights with 5 practices. Finally, ICESI University is the least committed to 3 practices, 2 of which correspond to the matter of Human Rights, as shown in Figure 1. It is evident that the anti-corruption issue, despite being a key factor for Higher Education institutions, is not being adequately addressed by these.
6. Universities’ Social Responsibility Experiences by axes
The social responsibility process reaches all four spheres of the university:
Organizational scope: the institution operates around a university project, with a structure that develops it and specific policies that promote it.
Educational scope: the institution is in charge of training its students, with a professional and civic vocation.
Knowledge Scope: an institution that researches produces knowledge and transmits it.
Social scope: the institution makes up part of society and interacts with other agents, collectives and communities, both locally and globally. (Vallaeys et al., 2009).
6.1. Responsible Campus (Organizational Scope)
Refers to the socially responsible actions carried out by Educational Institutions and their institutional proceeding, which involves aspects such as work environment, Human Talent management, internal democratic processes and the preservation of the environment (Vallaeys et al., 2009).
6.1.1. Human rights, equity and non-discrimination
The Responsible Campus Axis involves different aspects. In order to undertake the analysis thereof, the topic of “Human Rights, equity and non-discrimination” must be addressed since to guarantee a healthy coexistence within an organization, it is indispensable to foster respect for the Fundamental Rights of the individuals who converge therein; in the case of educational institutions, that means teachers, non-teaching staff and students.
According to the information obtained in the interviews, within the North Cauca Facility, there are no specific official parameters regarding the topic of Human Rights; nevertheless, responding to the guidelines of national order, actions have been undertaken by the direction and the coordination of the academic programmes so that the methodologies and the academic dynamics allow making this concept transversal through the different lectures. Specifically, the Social Work Programme has been carrying out extracurricular activities like talks, forums, discussion groups and creating spaces to approach this topic with greater depth.
There is proof that could lead to infer that respecting Human Rights in immersed within the Facility’s daily life. An example thereof is the existence non-discrimination and the lack of gender-based violence, as evidenced by the fact that during the Facility’s time of operation, no case of this type of abuse by work peers or managers has been reported to the monitoring bodies.
The North Cauca Facility came to the region as an institutional alternative to satisfy the demand for skilled labor by the companies that began to consolidate their presence in the region as a consequence of the Paez Act. It is born as initiative of an inclusive University for the ethnic minorities that constitute the ethnic majorities in this region and pursuant of the strategies proposed by the commission of wise men “Colombia to the edge of opportunity”, wherefore within the North Cauca Facility, some policies of inclusion exist which guarantee to safeguard the rights of these populations and is governed by the regulations created by the university for that purpose, such as Resolution No. 006 from January 27, 19921and Resolution 038 from May 13, 20102 issued by the High Council, and others contained in the resolution of admission, which favor displaced population or those pertaining to any reintegration program. In addition to the economic benefits, two exclusive quotas for this population are additionally granted per programme.
6.1.2 Environment
Assuming this commitment, the University’s High Council issued Resolution N° 009 from April 4, 2014. Pursuant of this guideline, the hired the preparation of a diagnosis of the Facility’s environmental standing, which will serve as an input to move on to elaborate an intervention project, which has been budgeted for the first semester of 2016.
Basic socially responsible practices have been put in force within the institution, which aim at looking after the environment; an example thereof is that within the Institutional Welfare Management System the differentiation of waste has been set up for its disposal. Approaches have been made with the Corporation for the Integral Management of the Palo River Basin (CORPOPALO by its acronym in Spanish), who is in charge of the classification and final disposal of coffee growing waste. Since 2014, a campaign with the Association of Colombian Industry (ANDI by its acronym in Spanish) has been undertaken aimed at receiving, classifying and disposing of some highly polluting waste such as fluorescent lightbulbs, cellphones and batteries; while the administrative area promotes the “zero paper” initiative, whose objective is to promote the printing strictly imperative documents and reusing paper.
6.2. Vocational and Citizenship Training (Educational Scope)
This axis encompasses all the socially responsible actions developed by the University and other higher education institutions pursuing their commitment to provide an integral humanistic professional training that creates awareness of change in its students and future professionals, which involves aspects of the teaching-learning process such as topics, curricular construction and organization, applied methodology, and didactic proposal. In the same vein, it is important to show how the North Cauca Facility addresses the issues of ethics, citizen competencies, creativity and entrepreneurship, etc., from the curriculum of the different Academic Programmes.
The topic of ethics and citizen competencies is a transversal guideline to all the lectures of the different academic programmes imparted within the North Cauca Facility (Business Administration, Public Accounting Social Work, Basic Bachelor with emphasis in Mathematics and Technologies in Information Systems, Human Talent Management and Quality Management). Moreover, courses such Political Constitution of Colombia provide an in-depth approach to the topic, which is part of the curriculum of the 7 academic programmes. A lecture on Ethics is also offered in 6 academic programmes; in the Social Work academic programme, specifically within the Methodological Integration course, the ethical-political component is addressed.
Topics such as innovation and entrepreneurship have strengthened increasingly within the North Cauca Facility. Sixteen years ago the Business Administration Programme carried out the “Agricultural, Craftsmanship, Gastronomic and Services Showcase”, which sought to promote business ideas developed by students on the Creativity and Business Innovation, and Fundamentals of Marketing courses, while promoting the linkage of small producers such as artisans and traditional gastronomy; such initiative is strengthening the participation of producers in the Agricultural Sector. With the aim of making these projects sustainable and consolidating them as a business idea, the Facility is currently promoting an alliance with the Municipal Mayor’s Office and the Business Development Center (CDE by its acronym in Spanish) project is underway, which links different external actors at the business and government levels. This project also seeks to materialize these ideas, provide accompaniment and advice to small producers.
From the foregoing, the conclusion that the North Cauca Facility is complying with the mission of the University and its humanist emphasis can be drawn, as it has made great efforts to offer students, aside from professional training, tools that allow them to develop as integral and multidisciplinary professionals capable of assuming themselves as citizens in participation processes.
6.3. Social management of knowledge
This axis comprises all the actions implemented by the University in order to promote research and the dissemination of knowledge from the classrooms to its surroundings. The purpose hereof is to strengthen an open dialogue with different stakeholders in order to create institutional research lines aligned to the local and national development agenda and the social programs of the public sector (Vallaeys et al., 2009).
According to the Division of Institutional Planning and Development (OPDI by its acronym in Spanish) (2012a) the Strategic 2005-2015 Development Plan that governs the Universidad del Valle, contains a strategy to ensure quality and relevance in vocational training within the institution, i.e., “Promoting, supporting and strengthening the generation, dissemination, appropriation and responsible transfer of scientific and technological knowledge as a support and reference of quality and relevance of training processes and effective articulation of the university with its environment.” This is how in 2009 the Institution began to consolidate research matters with the creation of its first Research seedbed and its subsequent participation in 2011 in an internal call in which a project to characterize and trace the customs of the region received approval.
The Quality and Improvement Division (2015) in its 2015 Regionalization Action Plan, states that Regional Facilities should develop programs to foster research aimed at solving problems in the Facilities’ area of influence. As a result thereto, two research projects were successfully completed within the North Cauca Facility: The first was entitled “Design of a Fair Trading Model for Ethnocultural and Ecotourism Products Trade Shops of the Artisan Microentrepreneurs from Santander de Quilichao”, a project that has shifted towards the Agriculture guild, and to date is yielding results regarding the incorporation of the municipality’s trade dynamics and their articulation into Fair Trade theory, which represents an opportunity for development in the region. The second is a study on “Consumption Trends and Social Representations of Psychoactive Substances from an Ethnic-Racial and Gender Perspective. An exploratory study with the students of the North Cauca Facility.
From the Coordination of Social Work Practices and with a team of three Treatnet-trained assistants, a pilot study was carried out with the tool ASSIST (Test for detection of risk signals with regarding the use of alcohol, tobacco and other psychoactive substances) in order to build a baseline that serves as a reference to Institutional Wellbeing for addressing the issue of substance usage.
In turn, the different Academic Programmes work to promote the development of research projects, especially the Social Work Programme, where the monograph represents the only alternative for students to develop their Degree Project. In addition, the subject becomes transversal throughout their career and is addressed in greater depth from the fifth semester onward when they begin to take all courses related to research, qualitative and quantitative, which are key to this profession as it allows, among other things, to perform diagnoses prior to any intervention. On the other hand, the Academic Programmes of Business Administration and Public Accounting also include the Monograph alternative within their Degree Project options. Nevertheless, to date the documents resulting from this academic exercise and the findings obtained through them just rest in the University’s library as reference documents.
6.4. Social participation
This axis involves all the socially responsible actions taken by the University in order to achieve active participation in the community.
The participation of the university in its environment is not limited to the training of disadvantaged audiences, since nowadays its scope of action transcends the traditional duties of teaching and research, as it can be seen as an authentic social transformation factor capable of having a high-degree impact on the economic, social, cultural development of society. To that end, the University cannot work as an independent entity, as it is currently relevant to raise the University - State - Society relationship and build solid links with these (social capital) for mutual learning. “This is a meeting of various university and non-university actors to work together around a consensual social project, in such a way that collective actions ensure permanent learning among all (students, teachers and community alike) and at the same time contribute to solving specific social problems” (Vallaeys et al., 2009).
In the same vein, the Division of Institutional Planning and Development (OPDI by its acronym in Spanish) (2012b) establishes that within the Regional Facilities’ strategic issues contained in the 2012-2015 action plan their relationship with the environment must be strengthened as they contribute solving problems jointly. In order to meet this objective, some strategies have been designed such as extension and social projection, which aim at promoting continuous education programmes (for graduates as well). During 2014 and 2015, the University offered 11 Diploma Courses on several topics of regional interest (Financial information Regulations, Pedagogy, Comprehensive Care, conflict intervention, etc.) for a total of 1040 hours, which benefited 350 participants.
Fostering the development of local and regional links for mutual learning and social progress is another issue contained within the Social Participation axis. In this sense, in 2012, the North Cauca Facility answered the call of the Ministry of Education to partake in a project carried out by it in favor of strengthening technical and technological education within the framework of the 2010-2014 Development Plan of the “locomotive” sectors (Innovation, housing, agriculture, mining, and infrastructure). As a result of this project, the Technical-Technological Alliance of North Cauca and South of Valle was born, consisting of four Higher Education Institutions-HEIs- (Universidad del Valle, Universidad del Cauca, Corporación Universitaria Comfacauca, Institución Universitaria Antonio José Camacho), five companies from the productive sector (Fundación Mayagüez, Cámara de Comercio del Cauca Seccional Cauca, Fundación Caicedo González, Fundación Propal, ANDI seccional Cauca), three municipalities from the southern end of Valle del Cauca (Florida, Pradera, Candelaria) and eleven municipalities from the northern end of Cauca, except for Jámbalo and Buenos Aires.
Initiatives aimed at creating networks for local and regional development have been developed from the institution, such as: The project entitled “Design of a Fair Trading Model for Ethnocultural and Ecotourism Products Trade Shops of the Artisan Microentrepreneurs from Santander de Quilichao”, that year saw different constraints such as resistance to the union that prevented the processing of this project with the guild of artisans; however this worked as a platform for the Fair Trade and Agricultural producers project that today has been consolidated between the North Cauca Facility and the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC by its acronym in Spanish).
By 2014, the initiative of the aforementioned project is resumed with the participation of the Business Administration programme in the First Fair Trade Fair in Colombia carried out in Rionegro Antioquia, organized by FAIRTRADE International. Based on this experience and taking into account that the Northern Cauca Region’s main economic activity belongs to the agriculturally-oriented primary sector, joining this program is deemed relevant and a project to strengthen Fair Trade in this region’s agricultural sector went underway along with the Director of the CLAC. As a result, on May 22, 2015, together with the Universidad del Cauca within the facilities of the Carvajal Campus, the First Meeting of Agricultural Knowledge and Products was held. This first exercise served to systematize and identify producers and their products, their work dynamics, levels of association, etc.
After this opening exercise, the 29th 30th and 31st of October, the First Latin American meeting of Fair Trade and Universities took place, a space that was used to sign the agreement for the University’s insertion into the Fair Trade network led by the CLAC known as Latin American Universities for Fair Trade, an agreement mainly set up the following guidelines:
Acquiring products under the FAIRTRADE brand.
Generating academic spaces to strengthen Fair Trade (creation of courses).
Events where the achievements obtained at the Fair Trade level are socialized.
Dynamic Work Team to initiate the Fair Trade process (accompaniment, aggregation etc.).
From all the experiences above-mentioned may be concluded that consolidating this process suggests overcoming many obstacles, such as difficulties in associating, the absence of Good Agricultural Practices, etc. As a first step towards achieving this consolidation, work is being done on the local sourcing process, which consists of companies in the region acquiring their products from local suppliers.
As a result of the foregoing, in 2015 the Universidad del Valle, North Cauca Facility, was able to consolidate agreements with the Association of Northern Cauca Indigenous Councils (ACIN by its acronym in Spanish), with the University del Valle Palmira Support Foundation for the design and offering of diploma courses and continuous education, an inter-administrative agreement with the Universidad del Cauca to strengthen higher education in the region and to date is in the process of reviewing the agreement with IOM for student internship and the development of activities that strengthen the productive fabric (Universidad del Valle, 2011).
Finally, the North Cauca Facility is working on the execution of the Center for Business Development (CDE by its acronym in Spanish), which arises from the need to articulate an active and dynamic triad made up by University, State and Company that pursues, among other aspects, to strengthen the business fabric and the integration of the different socioeconomic sectors at the Northern end of the Cauca Department in order to have a more competitive, inclusive and job-generating region in the national and international scenario. One of its main strategic objectives is to promote the social and economic inclusion of the Afro-Descendant, Indigenous and Countrymen through the strengthening of their enterprises and new and inclusive businesses. Another one is cooperating with national and territorial governments in the execution and implementation of development policies and programmes at the local level, in the post-conflict context.
7. Conclusions
As far as the preservation of the Environment is concerned, some isolated activities have been carried out within the Facility, but they are not part of a structured programme and are insufficient if contrasted with the countless aspects that must be dealt with in this topic. This situation is largely due to the lack of guidelines since it was only until December 2015 that this topic was openly addressed through the socialization of the Environmental Policy that would govern the University from that moment.
With regard to the issue of Professional and Citizen Training, the North Cauca Facility is evidently concerned with it, especially the academic coordinators of the different programmes, since they want to involve topics such as Human Rights, SR, Entrepreneurship, and Environment transversally to professional training.
On the other hand, the Business Administration Programme holds a stronger commitment to social projects-based learning, also known as Learning - Service, through its Business Leadership lecture. It would be relevant for all Programmes to welcome this initiative and to perform this academic exercise at least from one course.
Another finding obtained by the present work is that the University has no policies that benefit the Regional Facilities or adjunct faculty members so that they become the ones leading research and development processes and executing the projects. Having stable staff (tenured professors) is a valuable tool that would dynamize the process within the facilities, bearing in mind that appointing professors is not the task of regional facilities but the central headquarters’ and that the greatest limitation for this process to take place is the budgetary deficiency; what the Regional Facilities could do to foster and boost research and make it sustainable in the long term is promoting the creation of an incentives program for those professors who engage in that process as a way of recognizing their work and dedication.
It is important to mention the effort made by the different Academic Programmes to strengthen research and address environmental issues; unfortunately, the findings obtained through these academic exercises do not transcend the shelves of a library and are limited to being mere consultation instruments. In this regard, it would be appropriate for the university promote spaces of dialogue with the actors or communities subject matter of said study so that those findings are used as input to treat jointly the evidenced problems.
A broader articulation and a more open dialogue between the Research area and the different Academic Programmes which employ the monograph modality is also advised, in order to generate strategies aimed at making the findings obtained therein a starting point for a process of intervention and transformation.
Around the subject of Social Participation, which is also part of the strategic issues of the Regionalization Action Plan under the title “integration with the environment”, within the North Cauca Facility there is evidence of actions aimed at strengthening it, which is how an area of Extension and Social Projection that supports and draws proposals and initiatives from different areas has been consolidated within this Facility. As a result, during 2014, 2015 it offered and executed diploma courses in different disciplines, which benefited over 300 people. Another important factor within the social projection axis is cooperation networks such as the T and T Alliance, the promotion and strengthening of the Fair Trade matter that brought about the signing of the agreement with CLAC, the implementation of the Business Development Center, etc.
It is evident that from the four axes governing USR in the North Cauca Facility, even without having an already-established program, has moved forward in this respect, which could serve as a support to structure and direct the USR program within this Facility, articulating all the actions, projects and activities developed independently into a structured and unified USR plan.
