B OARD OF TRUS T E E S PRESIDENT Jorge Iván Rodríguez Castaño VICE-PRESIDENT Juan Rafael Cárdenas Gutiérrez HONORARY MEMBERS Franz X. Stirnimann
B OARD OF DIRE C TORS RECTOR/PRESIDENT Juan Luis Mejía Arango VICE-RECTOR Julio Acosta Arango SECRETARY GENERAL AND DEAN, SCHOOL OF LAW
Bernard J. Hargadon Jr.
Hugo Alberto Castaño Zapata
ACTIVE MEMBERS
DEAN, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Alejandro Ceballos Zuluaga
Francisco López Gallego
Alicia Mendoza de Puerta Álvaro Estrada Mesa Álvaro Uribe Moreno
DEAN, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Alberto Rodríguez García
Beatriz Restrepo Gallego David Escobar Arango Guillermo Restrepo Arbeláez Hans Udo Steinheuser Jovy
DEAN, SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES Jorge Alberto Giraldo Ramírez
Jorge Londoño Saldarriaga Jorge Posada Geiffenstein José Alonso González López
DIRECTOR, EAFIT LLANOGRANDE Mario Enrique Vargas Sáenz
José Manuel Restrepo Fernández de Soto Luis Miguel de Bedout Hernández
DIRECTOR, EAFIT BOGOTA
Nicanor Restrepo Santamaría Ricardo Obregón Trujillo TAX ADVISOR Luis Óscar Herrera Velásquez
Luis Fernando Rendón Cortés DIRECTOR, EAFIT PEREIRA Roberto Arenas Mejía
rica Ame ia | Sout h
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Int r oduction MisSiOn, VisiOn, INSTITUTIONAL Commitments THE campus HISTORY STUDENT POPUL ATION AC ADEMICS: THE ESSENCE OF THE UNIVE RSIT Y
RESEAR CH: CONSTANT DISCOVERY
AC ADEMIC EX TENSION: LIFE-LONG LEARNING
BE YOND FR ONTIERS: INTERNATIONALIZATION UNIVERSIT Y-ENTERPRISE REL ATIONSHIP
COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
C AMPUS LIFE
INTRODUCTION
A country’s level of development is closely related to its
Culture is a main issue within the institutional statement. It
people’s level of education. Therefore, preparing new
is not possible to think about EAFIT’s activity leaving out this
generations is an investment in the future that implies great
important component of thought and action, always present
responsibility. Since its foundation in 1960, EAFIT has been
in learning, research and extension activities. Culture is a
committed providing a type of education that will have a
comprehensive concept at the university, well beyond arts and
positive impact in the growth of Medellín and Colombia.
humanities, which embraces everything that gives sense to
This institution strives to achieve Eminence in society by
human labor.
carrying on the Mission and Vision statements as its ruling
The campus has grown and has been developed in perfect
principles.
harmony with nature. More than a campus, EAFIT is a park-
The university has been granted the institutional Accreditation
university, where all activities are embedded in an environment
by the Ministry of Education. This award entails a major challenge
where art, landscaping and nature interact with research,
to maintain the academic leadership in daily activities with
science and technology.
students. However, academic excellence is not the only field on
We face an enormous institutional challenge. For this reason, in
which EAFIT is targeted.
search for excellence in learning, research and social projection,
Research is one of the ruling principles at EAFIT since
the university counts on an efficient team to manage the human
responsibility goes beyond transmitting knowledge, to
and financial resources as well as the infrastructure throughout
generating more knowledge aimed at benefitting society as a
all of its campuses.
whole. EAFIT is a university with research, which means that it
Bound by historical principles, and based on the Mission and
counts on nationally and internationally recognized research
Vision statements, EAFIT declares itself as an accessible and
groups,together with research incubators and begginer`s
democratic institution: Open to the World; in a constant pursuit
research teams in different areas of knowledge, in which
for excellence as a means to become one of the best educational
academic staff, as well as students, youngsters and kids, are
alternatives.
involved. Internationalization is one of the main priorities, as a means to insert the university in the academic, social and cultural circles worldwide, as it corresponds to a contemporary institution, aware of the challenges of globalization. This is the reason
JUAN LUIS MEJÍA ARANGO
why EAFIT has reached beyond the national frontiers, to
Rector / President
establish relationships and cooperation agreements with other universities and organizations around the world.
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INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENTS •
Responsibility: the ability to identify, to foresee and to face the consequences of
MISSION
the own doing. •
Tolerance: attitude and ability to listen to others; to analyze, to share and to
Universidad EAFIT mission is to contribute to the country’s social, eco-
disagree from others’ opinions within
nomic, scientific and cultural development by offering undergraduate and
the realm of awareness and respect for
graduate programs –imbedded in ideological pluralism and academic excellence, to educate individuals who are internationally competitive in their
pluralism. •
Integrity: the constant effort to properly
areas of knowledge; within scientific and applied research processes in con-
achieve all responsibilities undertaken,
stant interaction with the academic, corporate and governmental sectors.
framed within the respect of universal ethical values.
VISION
•
Audacity: willingness to generate and propose new ideas in the academic, corporate, cultural and social areas. Like-
Universidad EAFIT, inspired by the highest spiritual values, respectful of the
wise, it refers to the ability to undertake
dignity of the individual and conscious of its social responsibility, seeks to
the actions needed to carry out those
be recognized nationally and internationally for its academic competence
ideas.
and excellence in research, and because:
•
Excellence: commitment to always strive for the achievement of goals, under high
•
It will have an open and democratic standpoint that will positively
quality conditions.
affect the development of its students, allowing them to enjoy a multiculturally integrated program geared toward the task of learning and the academic debate is predominant. EAFIT will be a space where ideas will be exchanged and contrasted, respecting the opinions of others. It will stimulate creativity and productivity in all members of the community. •
It will develop the intellectual capacities of its students and teaching staff
•
It will use advanced technology and a student-centered pedagogical model.
•
It will maintain agreements with other educational institutions nationwide
throughout its academic programs using research as a basic support.
and internationally with the objective of improving its educational programs and teaching staff. •
lt will contribute to the progress of the nation, with its innovative research and professional programs with an academic construction based on fundamental human values, especially in respect to democracy and to the free private initiative.
•
It will have an academic administration, in which all the human and institutional resources are entirely committed to the achievement of the university’s goals.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
TH E C AMPUS EAFIT is located on Las Vegas Avenue, in a neighborhood called El Poblado, in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The neighborhood, which has close to 92,000 inhabitants, is known as one of the best residential and business places in town. Whoever comes to the university enters a 150,000 square meters property, on which 22 buildings of classrooms, offices and laboratories will be found, as well as open spaces where academic and cultural activities can be carried out. The constructions hold 237 classrooms equipped with the latest technology, plus 89 workshops and laboratories, complementary to the teaching and research activities. Sports are performed on grounds 26,467 square meters in size, comprised of two soccer fields, two synthetic multiple-sport fields, a small coliseum, a pool, a service zone (dressing rooms showers and toilets), aside from wide resting areas. Throughout the campus, 40,097 square meters of gardens with native vegetation offer a beautiful landscape.
Par k – U niversity A park is an abstraction from nature for human use. It offers aesthetic and sensorial possibilities to reconcile the human being with the environment, because these spaces are not concrete walkways, but instead real paths that allow direct contact with natural beauty. EAFIT has incorporated this concept in designing the campus, thus assigning great value to the native plants and animals, integrated to the buildings by gardens that combine aesthetics with ecological respect. That is how Schinus Molle, Calliandra Pittieri and Tabebuia chrysanthas, combine with works of art like the Agora, a sculpture made by the artist Hugo Zapata, which has become the meeting place inspired in the Greek Polis. Likewise, the Propileus, made by the artist Rony Vayda, represents the magnificent porticos used in ancient Greek and Egyptian architectures. Landscaping has been assigned to experts, and the results are the relocation of trees, new furnished spaces, and the creation of an administrative environmental unity at the university. Architectonical changes are the result of a proposal made by the architects Carlos Julio Calle and Juan Fernando Forero. They designed the Cultural Center and Library “Luis Echavarría Villegas”, together with a Master Plan to reorganize the campus and achieve functionality, harmony, ecological responsibility and order, which are the axis of the Park-University project.
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MEDEL LÍN Medellín, the second Colombian city after Bogotá, the capital, is located at 1538 meters above sea level and has a population of 3,500,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by evergreen mountains, Medellin has a spring-like climate, appropriate to carry on just about any activity. Mean temperature is 24 degrees Centigrade (74 Fahrenheit), which allows public and private organizations to keep the offer of cultural, recreational, sports and business activities. The city is being organized in clusters –geographical concentrations of firms and institutions that interact to create a favorable environment, improve performance, competitiveness and profitability- in sectors such as electricity, textiles, apparel design and fashion, construction, business tourism, fairs and conventions.
Other campuses The university has expanded its activity to other zones of the country: Bogotá, the country’s capital; Pereira, in the coffee zone, and Llanogrande, 40 kilometers away from Medellín. In those campuses, different postgraduate programs, extension and language courses are offered. EAFIT’s presence in the regions just mentioned conveys the message of the university’s contribution to the economic, scientific, social and cultural development of the country, as it is stated in its Mission.
HI STORY The Escuela de Administración, Finanzas y Tecnología – Universidad EAFIT (The School of Administration and Finance, Institute of Technology) was founded in 1960 by a group of businesspeople with the objective of imbuing talented new professionals with the sense of responsibility necessary for the effective administration of organizations that contribute to the growth of the country. That same year, EAFIT opened its doors to the fifty-nine students enrolled in the undergraduate program in business management. Thus began the academic activities that for years have contributed to the industrial and commercial development of the region. In 1962, work began at the Institute of Technology, with the financial aid of the “Tools for Freedom” Program of the U.S. government and the Whirlpool Foundation. Initially, it offered three-year degree programs in textile, industrial, and mechanical technology, as well as computer programming. In 1975, these programs were suspended and, from the experienced acquired, longer degree courses were implemented. As a result, the School of Engineering now offers undergraduate degrees in Computer Science, Production Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, Process Engineering, and Geology. Between 1988 and 1996, EAFIT opened other campuses in Bogota and Pereira, offering graduate programs and continuing education courses. In 1997, the Science and Humanities School was opened, which represented a new academic focus for the community. The Music undergraduate program was launched, followed by Physics Engineering, Mathematical Engineering, Political Science and Communication Studies. At this time, the university implemented changes in the curriculum, beginning the “flexibility” process for all its undergraduate programs wherein students could choose elective courses beyond the courses mandatory for their majors, enabling them to “customize” their educational careers.Two years later, the Law School was also formed, and the first undergraduate program in law commenced in the year 2000.
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By the end of 2004, the first Ph.D. program in business administration was launched. It is the result of a very fruitful cooperative program between EAFIT and the École de Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal, Canada. In 2007 the Ph.D. program in Engineering earned official approval. It came after developing an institutional research system, combined with the work in the graduate certificates and the Master programs in twelve different concentration areas. During the same year, a curricular updating system was launched. New curricular structures will allow students to earn a degree in a shorter time and continue on with their graduate studies. The aforementioned process is aimed at incorporating changes that are current in the international educational dynamics, to the academic programs: an education centered on the students’ learning process instead of on the professor’s teaching, awareness of the need to extend training to the graduate levels, and redefinition of undergraduate duration in terms of academic credits, double degrees and flexible curricula.
A cademic C hronology U ndergraduate programs 1960 Business Management 1976 Computer Science 1977 Public Accountancy 1979 Production Engineering 1980 Civil Engineering 1981 Mechanical Engineering 1983 Geology 1993 International Business 1995 Economics 1996 Process Engineering 1998 Music 1999 Product Design Engineering 2003 Mathematical Engineering 2004 Engineering Physics, Political Science and Communication Studies Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
STUDENT POPU LAT ION In and out the campus, the institution hosts a diverse group of human beings that enhance the concept of University. Students, staff, administrative personnel, alumni, visitors, children and elderly comprise EAFIT`s population.
S tudents and staff For the most part, the 8200 undergraduate and over 2000 postgraduate students are inhabitants of the city and its metropolitan area. However, there is an increasing population of students coming from other cities in the country: the Atlantic Coast, the Coffee zone, and the north-east part of Colombia, known as the “Santanderes�. Undoubtedly, this phenomenon enhances and enriches university life. Concerning Staff, most of them have Masters and Ph.D degrees, and a permanent effort is made to motivate further formal or non-formal education in different areas of knowledge, be it in the country or abroad. Part-time teachers are carefully selected and the institution fosters a relationship that goes beyond schedules. Three hundred full-time and close to 600 part-time teachers comprise the staff at EAFIT.
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Alumni EAFIT is proud to have prepared graduates who are outstanding in their professional performance and known for being entrepreneurial, socially responsible, and in a permanent quest for further education and professionalization. It is not uncommon to find EAFIT graduates in high positions, in private as well as in public institutions, but mainly at the head of their own businesses, creating jobs and contributing to the development of the region and the country.
C hildren and elderly Universidad EAFIT is open to children and also to retired people. In the recent years, programs oriented to the needs of those generations have been launched. ”La Universidad de los Niños” –a program aimed at children between 7 and 14 years old– was created in 2004. Its main objective is to establish long-lasting relationships with children, in which knowledge and amazement are the rule. Starting from questions asked by the children, a series of workshops combine feelings and practice to find the answers. Elderly people also have a space at EAFIT in a program called ”Saberes de Vida”. This continuing education program offers a possibility of intellectual enhancement while sharing with people their age in a relaxed environment, away from stressful evaluations.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
Universidad
EAFIT
offers
undergraduate and postgraduate programs to prepare internationally
AC ADEMICS : TH E E SSEN C E O
competent professionals in the following
areas: management, engineering, fundamental
sciences, humanities and law, featuring an academic and research workload that places the university as one of the best in the country. Academic structure is comprised of the Rector, a Vice-Rector, and four schools, which run the different academic departments, in charge of coordinating and administering the teaching activities, as well as research and the continuing education services. Less than five hundred administrative and operational people support the running of the institution. The university’s curricula structure is focused on the student’s learning, instead of the teacher’s teaching: the student plays the leading role while at the same time, is responsible for his/her own process.
EAFIT ’s HALLMARK In a wide sense, this concept applies to a set of distinctive features, symbolic as well as instrumental (traditions, attitudes, habits, values, competencies and life perspective), which produce in every alumnus an institutional, endurable “hallmark”. The comprehensive preparation of a student is EAFIT’s hallmark. The university provides society with graduates who are pluralist and tolerant of others’ opinions; people who are committed to the development of their community; that is, highly pragmatic, able to identify, and solve problems; and people who are internationally competent in their field of study.
OF T HE UNI V ERSI T Y
As a means to consolidate this hallmark, a specific educational project has been designed: it is the Institutional Preparation Nucleus (NFI for its Spanish name), which is aimed at developing competencies, capabilities and values that will be common to all students entering EAFIT, to achieve attitudes that will make them distinctive from graduates from other institutions. Those subjects are grouped into two cycles: a first, common to all programs, by which students learn about communication abilities, the Colombian Constitution and how to be a good citizen; entrepreneurship and the Colombian context. The second cycle is elective, featuring subjects like ecology, art and culture, history and politics, music and society, philosophy, science and technology. MedellĂn | Colombia | SuramĂŠrica
Commitment to q uality Quality is compulsory in all processes at the institution, and a perpetual goal. In recognition of this effort, in 2003 the National Ministry of Education awarded EAFIT the Institutional Accreditation. It is a quality seal given to Colombian universities that have achieved high standards in the management of issues such as: competence, pertinence, transparency and effectiveness in all of its main functions. Each of the academic programs undergoes the same process to get the quality award, once they get to the specifications required by the National Accreditation Council.
I nfrastructure EAFIT counts on a modern infrastructure to achieve the best quality of learning and research. The technological platform fosters a vanguard academic development.
T echnology The university has been a pioneer in technological advancement in the country. Internet, for instance, was introduced in Colombia by three universities: los Andes, Universidad del Valle, and EAFIT. Online registration, access to see grades from a mobile phone, wireless Internet on campus, the bi-modal campus known as Interactive EAFIT, the application of IT and the use of bio-metric identification systems have been some of the advancements in this sector, put to the service of the academic community. Information technologies have become, in time, one of the distinctive EAFIT characteristics of major impact on all of its components. At present, more than 2.000 computer equipments are available to students, staff and administrators, and close to 40 study rooms are furnished with the newest technology in hardware and software. Likewise, wireless access to Internet is avalaible campus-wide.
L aboratory C enter Located at the South end of the campus grounds, laboratories are built on an area of 7250 square meters. Eighty-one working allocations, be they labs, workshops or research cubicles, comprise EAFIT’s offer to the academic and the industrial sectors. The aforementioned laboratories are used not only for practices or research applications; they also serve the industry in fields such as: metrology (in a lab accredited by the national government for lengths and angles); materials, machines and tools, soils, concrete and pavements –in a lab also accredited by the national government for testing activities.
C ultural C enter Luis E chavarría V illegas EAFIT’s Library is much more than a place to keep books, videos, records and reviews. It is a knowledge management center, and a space where research and reading are fostered, as well as analysis, and constant creation of new ideas, besides intellectual, academic and cultural projects.
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To facilitate the task of converting information into knowledge, a variety of services is provided that combine the traditional forms with the new technology, virtual with actual reality, and the book on the shelf with the digital one in cyberspace.
M eta - library and D igital L ibrary EAFIT is the leader of a project called Colombian Meta-library: a co-operative effort to integrate referential catalogues and digital libraries, so the users can access to, and easily locate the books and articles needed in any of the various participant libraries all over the country. Following a model of integrated referential system of digital contents, EAFIT develops the concept of the Digital Library. Patrimonial documents, and a network of thesis, graduation projects and reviews, are constantly digitalized to integrate this database.
Patrimonial H all It is a space in the Library created in 2002, with approximately 35,000 books acquired from private collectors, among them the first woman to become part of the Colombian Academy of History, Pilar Moreno-Angel. Maps, charts, and manuscripts, together with books, magazines, newspapers, brochures and paintings, can be found in the Patrimonial Hall. The oldest book of this collection is “Departure”, written by Alfonso the Wise in 1506 in Salamanca, Spain, and produced in the house of Domingo Portonarisjis, the Catholic Kings’ printer.
T he M ultimedia C enter Equipped with the latest technology in TV, radio, and multimedia production, this unit offers it services to the different academic departments at the university, and to external costumers. For this purpose, a 113 squared meters TV studio was built to offer optimal conditions for audiovisual production. Production of educational, cultural, institutional and interactive videos is performed at this unit, as well as the management of the digital television network “Envivo” –Internet digital direct signal- and the digital radio station called Acustica.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
R E S E A R C H: CONS TA N T D IS CO VE RY
Beyond their training task, Higher Education institutions have the obligation to produce new knowledge and propose solutions to the problems of society. Conscious of this responsibility, EAFIT has declared itself a University with research, thus giving support to the training processes that help developing intellectual capabilities in students and teachers. The university counts on an institutional research system, integrated by research incubators, which approach the study of reality from the scientific, technological, social, cultural and economic perspectives.
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Young researchers At EAFIT research is also a learning strategy that produces methodological criteria to assume a greater responsibility in the pedagogical process. This was the reason for creating the Research Incubator Network, comprised of more than 40 EAFIT groups in all areas of the four Schools: Business,
Engineering,
Law
and
Science
and Humanities. All of the groups have the Research groups are formed to foster student and teacher participation
participation of undergraduate students, since
and the results have been evident in areas like: creation and design of new
they will be the researchers of the future.
products, processes or materials; process optimization; organizational effectiveness and competitiveness; markets and internationalization; social
In order to strengthen the system, in 2007 the
and environmental responsibility; information and communication for the
pre-research incubators groups were created.
21st Century; educational transformation; and innovation and frontier sci-
They promote curiosity and acquisition of
ences.
knowledge among children of ages 8 to 15 who initially participated in ”La Universidad
As a result of research, the University counts at present with five patents:
de los Niños”, under the supervision of young
two on inventions and three on utility models.
researchers. Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
AC A D E M I C EX TENS I O N: LIFE - LO N G L EA RNI N G
Activities and services provided by the university as extension include continuing education, the publishing of scientific and technological discoveries, social development projects, and cultural development programs. These services have positioned EAFIT as a cultural reference for the city and the country.
Continuing Education Center It works jointly with the different academic departments to assess the needs in the community and to respond creating various extension courses, diploma programs, seminars and conferences, to convey the modern concept of the university being the fountain of life-long learning. Some extension programs are already being offered in countries like the United States, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador. The services portfolio is complemented by the offer of specific programs for companies, tailor-made under command.
L anguage Center EAFIT has a Language Center to offer children, adolescents and adults, courses of English, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Sign language and Spanish for Foreigners, led by qualified teachers and supported by a Resource Center with adequate didactic materials and laboratories. “El Programa Ejecutivo en Lenguas Extranjeras”, an executive English training program, features a methodology adjusted for small groups and supported by case studies, companies’ projects and discussion of problems common to the professional activity, in an appropriate environment and with a higher course intensity than the regular programs.
Sislenguas This organizational unit offers a complete English learning program for primary and secondary schools, supported by constant research on, and evolution of, the pedagogical approach. This allows for a better articulation of the university with elementary and secondary education, to achieve the goal of bilingual proficiency expected for the region and the country.
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Confucius I nstitute Thanks to an agreement signed in 2009 between the Chinese Embassy, Medellin’s City Hall, the University of Antioquia and EAFIT, that The Confucius Institute was established as a specialized center for the study of Mandarin and the dissemination of Chinese language and culture. The Center counts on a number of highly qualified Chinese teachers, specialists in the teaching system called Great World. Courses will be offered to the general public. It will also be supported by the Language Center.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
BE YO N D F R O N T IERS: IN TE R N AT IO NA L IZ ATION For Universidad EAFIT, internationalization is another fundamental goal, because it comprises a series of transcendental activities aimed at the improvement of the institution and a progressive involvement in academic and entrepreneurial networks all over the world. Student and teacher exchanges, study abroad programs, foreign language improvement, joint research and international internships are some of the activities, which combined with the flow of students and researchers from almost all economic regions coming to learn Spanish or to participate in EAFIT’s programs, contribute to mobility, which maintains the quality of the university.
Agreements and affiliations EAFIT maintains academic cooperation agreements with partner institutions in countries like Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Vietnam. At the national level, besides bilateral agreements, there is a student exchange program called SIGUEME, signed between eleven universities in the country to offer students the possibility to spend a full semester in another university and have the courses accredited in their home institution. In eight years of activity, this program has moved more than two thousand students between public and private universities around the country. National and International associations and networks are also part of the strong ties that link the University to the rest of the world. As member of associations like: IAU,CLADEA, EAIE, ERASMUS MUNDUS, LACCEI, AUIP, PIMA, Ibero-American University, Network on Entrepreneurship, PACIBER, RCI, among others, EAFIT is prepared to play an important role in the world of higher education.
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C enter for Asia – Pacific studies This Center, opened in 2006, was the response to the need for research on the development of Asia, a continent considered nowadays the commercial axis of the new world order. The Asia – Pacific Center is a bridge between the academic and the entrepreneurial sectors. At the same time, it explores new frontiers of knowledge through cultural exchange. Among its activities is the preparation of lectures and seminars, as well as consulting on this topic.
C enter for C anadian and Colombian studies (C ecc ) This unit was created in 2003 to promote the Canadian culture and values in the city, providing a space for exchange and academic cooperation between the two nations. The Cecc is an autonomous administrative unit, attached to the International Business department (Business School) and it gets financing and resources from the Canadian Ministry of External Affairs and Trade, through the International Center for Canadian Studies (Iccs), which is the headquarters of the Colombian Association and Center for Canadian studies (Acec).
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
U N I V E R S I T Y- E N T E R P R I S E RELAT IONSH I P Ever since its foundation, EAFIT established a tight relationship with the enterprise and its environment. Its commitment goes beyond the preparation of highly skilled and socially committed professionals, to the transfer of knowledge to society.
P rofessional I nternship
Center for Innovation, Consulting and Entrepreneurship (CICE)
To know-how-to-do is a fundamental axis of education. That is
This unit is in charge of supporting the creation of new
why the university makes every effort to integrate in its programs
companies and the strengthening of old ones, based on
the “learning by doing” system. More than 1700 national and
the knowledge and innovations produced at EAFIT.
international organizations have hired close to 18000 students over the years in semester internships, which allows for a healthy
In order to satisfy the needs of various clients, the CICE
exchange: students learn from the experience and companies
has created a structure supported by four strategic
have new concepts, attitudes, skills and improvement ideas.
units: Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), Institutions, and Major Clients.
E ntrepreneurship Since its foundation, EAFIT’s objective has been to prepare
The creation of this unit helps EAFIT confirm its social
new generations capable of creating and transforming their
projection, thus consolidating its monitoring and
environment. This is the reason to train students into the
participation in the organizational network in Medellin
entrepreneurship initiatives.
and the country.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
COM P L I MENTA RY AC T I VI T I ES The university’s public image is being consolidated by a series of cultural and complementary activities oriented to support and enhance the quality of academic and research activities.
U niversity Press Universidad EAFIT Press was established in December 1997 to contribute to the cultural endeavor and the social projection to the community through the publication of quality textbooks in the various areas of knowledge. Since it was opened, around 300 hundred titles have been published, comprised in its 17 collections. The University Press carries out the selection, edition, production, promotion and commercializing of the intellectual production of different authors.
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Culture EAFIT is striving to become a cultural center for Medellin, with national and international projection. To that end, it is developing activities aimed at prepare a public that will be sensible to various artistic expressions. The cultural agenda includes concerts with the EAFIT Symphony Orchestra, the Music Conference, movie cycles, theater, contemporary dance, literature events, a Chamber of Music program called Musical Spring, and art exhibitions at the University’s Arts Centre. Likewise, in search for the students’ integral development, promotion of creative abilities is achieved through different workshops: woodcrafts, ceramics, paint, dance, jewelry and guitar, to name the most common ones.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
Arts Centre EAFIT’s cultural agenda is part of the regular events offered by the university at its Arts Centre, opened in 1999, and located in the Library. It offers a hall and two exhibition rooms that host national and international art exhibits. Ever since it was opened, the purpose is to use this space to promote talented artists, either from Colombia or from the rest of the world. Likewise, it is devoted to the rescue of long forgotten values of the national arts, and to the introduction of new artists. The Arts Centre has hosted renowned artists like Juan Antonio Roda, Ethel Guilmour, Nadin Ospina, Luis Fernando Pelaez, Oscar Jaramillo, Maria Teresa Hincapie, Rodrigo Facundo, Elias Heim, Luis Gonzalo Palma and Beatriz Olano, among others.
E A FIT Symphony Orchestra The University’s Orchestra was integrated in the year 2000, signaling once again the intention to become a space where the music, through the regular concerts featuring innovative interpretations, soloists and conductors, would contribute to cultural development. The Orchestra was formed as a Chamber ensemble, and has a permanent group of 50 musicians, who offer around 20 concerts a year, open to the general public. It is part of its policy to introduce young conductors and interpreters, and to include the works of contemporary composers, thus generating an educated public, eager to listen and able to judge new proposals.
Communication Media Each of the stages of the university life has been recorded and transmitted through the EAFIT media. Reviews, digital media, newsletters and newspapers have contributed to make public EAFIT’s rich life, and at the same time, promoting debate and analysis on themes related to the academic, social and cultural issues.
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MAG A ZIN E S Seven specialized reviews are edited periodically at EAFIT. El Eafitense (news), The EAFIT Magazine (scientific promotion) Engineering and Science (Engineering), Ad-Minister (Business); Co-Herencia (Humanities); Foro Penal (Law), and Echoes from the economy (Economics).
Digital radio and T V At the head of technological acquisition, EAFIT offers to the community the digital television Envivo, which features online programs produced in the studio, as well as some spaces in Telemedellin, the local TV channel. Broadcasting is done through Acústica, the digital radio system, which brings to the air themes prepared by students and teachers.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
C AM P U S An important part of preparing integral professionals and citizens is to open spaces where students and staff can take part, thus going beyond their academic training, to interact with their surroundings and with society as a whole.
U niversity health service EAFIT offers the academic community, their families and the general public possibilities to keep in good physical and mental health, through programs lead by the Medical Service, Occupational Health, Student Development and Artistic Development departments. Several activities: vaccination, forums, workshops, and the Health Festival are carried out on campus grounds.
S ports EAFIT considers of vital importance having physical, amusement and sportive activities, as a complement of everyday life, and as a good way to employ the free time. This is the reason why sport facilities to do athletic sports, or yoga, or to play basketball, capoeira, soccer, rugby, karate do, swimming, water polo, softball, taekwondo, tennis, ping pong, ultimate and volleyball are provided. Likewise, the university offers various courses, tournaments and events in which the academic community can participate. Complementary activities like relaxing treatments, physical maintenance programs, work active pauses, and creative vacations for children are also programmed. Since 2004, the international university Ultimate championship and the National High School Ultimate tournament take place on campus. EAFIT supports this sport because of its spirit, and the training characteristics it displays: negotiation, self-control and solidarity.
S ocial responsibility The university is committed to the society that surrounds it and
Activities as the active participation in civil movements, and being
its reality. In an effort to attain equity, a scholarship program has
a leader of institutional campaigns oriented to spread values
been designed, both internally and in cooperation with other
and ecological awareness, good service, civilian activities, are
institutions, in order to facilitate entrance of excellent students
fostered.
who would not be able to pay full tuition. In return, they must keep an outstanding academic record.
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L IF E S tudent groups
EAFIT promotes student association around various issues. More than a simple discussion of topics, active participation in academic, sports and cultural events is widely supported, as well the involvement in social campaigns. As an example, the Student Association (OE) gets institutional resources to carry on their ideas in favor of the students’ academic and cultural development. Each academic program has a student committee and several special groups to promote academic, sportive and cultural activities. It is also worth mentioning other groups: the Marketing Club, AIESEC, the Tutor Group, TVU tele-magazine, and the student newspaper Nexos.
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica
It is then clear that, since its foundation in 1960, EAFIT is aimed to achieve but one purpose: Eminence, understood as superiority in its surroundings, and a constant effort to be recognized within the society. Furthermore, the university confirms its active participation in the academic, cultural, technological, and social development of the region and the country.
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GR ADUATE PROG R AM S
UN D E R G R ADUATE PROGR AMS Business Management Communication Studies Computer Science Economics Engineering Physics Geology International Business Law Mathematical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Music Political Science Process Engineering Product Design Engineering Production Engineering Public Accountancy
GRADUATE CERTIFICATES Arbitrage Computer mechanics Construction management Design of Bio-technological and chemical processes Earthquake resistant engineering Economics (jointly with University of Los Andes) Ethics and entrepreneurial Social responsibility (jointly with the Luis Amigo University) Finance Hospital management Human development management Industrial maintenance Industrial organization and economic regulation (jointly with El Rosario University) Information systems Information technologies for education International Business Liability and insurance Literary Hermeneutics Logic and Philosophy Marketing Material design Mechanical Design Networks Operations and logistics management Organizational control Penal law Political communication Political studies Polymer and rubber transformation processes Project management Public law Quality management Re-design of products Risk Management and insurance Small and median enterprise management Software development Soil and foundations mechanics Strategic management of costs Systems audit Urban studies
MASTER ’S DEG RE E S Administration (MBA) Administration Science Applied Mathematics Earth Science Economics Engineering (majors in: Informatics, polymer processing, earthquake resistance, mechanics) Finance Finance Administration Humanistic studies Literary Hermeneutics Music
PH. D. Administration Engineering
Medellín | Colombia | Suramérica