Testimonials
  • Trenton Bruce, U.S.A. UVM Testimonio-Treton Bruce, USA

    Universidad de Viña del Mar “I chose to study at UVM because I wanted to learn my Spanish in a country where it was spoken everywhere… I liked that the campus was small and intimate for the students and their professors, and being in downtown Viña was great. Chile was an easy choice, since the [...]

  • Addy Jane Moon, U.S.A. UVM Testimonio- Anddy Monn

    Universidad de Viña de Mar UVM-Chile offered excellent opportunities to see the geography and experience the culture of Chile. The classes offered were small enough to foster great student-teacher and student-student interactions which contributed enormously to the retention of language and vocabulary skills picked up in everyday life outside of the classroom. Also, UVM-Chile made [...]

  • Patricia Alcoy, Francia. Duoc UC Patricia Alcoy

    “Chileans are very welcoming people, and are always ready to help foreigners that arrive to their country. I enjoy studying here because you are able to get close to Chileans, and learn more about their rich culture. What I´ve liked most about my experience has been sailing and be in touch with nature, since there [...]

About Us

KONOSUR



The Regional Agency for Productive Development in Valparaiso (ARDPV) borns in early 2007, after a big analysis of the undeniable advantages of the region as a Higher Education area – where 810 undergraduate and 123 postgraduate programs are offered – and that drives the definition of a development strategy that is embodied in the creation of the Competitiveness Improvement Program (PMC) KONOSUR.


Konosur, is the institutional expression of a joint effort designed to summon wills and criteria, to integrate the individual perspectives of IES towards a consensus vision of the future, for the creation of the Higher Education Institutions Cluster of Valparaiso Region. With 37 institutions including universities, professional institutes and technical training centers and a total enrollment exceeding 100,000 students, the need to translate ideas and individual efforts in a collective and coordinated program of work was imminent, in order to print a seal of continuous improvement in the quality of education and related services delivered to students, who put their trust and professional future in our academic centers.


Internationalization in higher education is a global trend in which Valparaiso Region has wanted to be a proactive participant and that has much to contribute. In 1980 there were 800,000 students registered abroad, a figure that continued growing in the next five years, but from 1995 – period that coincides with the internet massification- a remarkable expansion started: between 1995 and 2000, the number of students worldwide, who were enrolled outside their country of origin increased from 1.3 to 1.9 million (46%), while between 2000 and 2006 the number increased from 1.9 to 2 9 million (53%).


Vision

Konosur Vision is “To be a Higher Education integrated community, known in Latin America for its academic prestige and quality of life, where students can train themselves and develop professionally.”


To achieve this, entities in our region are working together towards a continuous improvement in 4 areas, with different priorities and timetable of execution:


Student Services: One of the priority areas that are significantly advancing with the creation and implementation of a program of certificated accommodation and a differentiator seal for inspected accommodation, ensuring an expert technical review of the places for ensuring the students integrity, especially after the of 27th February earthquake. It groups hosting services, restaurants, cultural activities and entertainment, security and transport and support services (libraries and photocopy centers). The objective of the actions undertaken in this area is to improve the quality of services provided to students to formally incorporate them as part of the universities academic offer.


Marketing and Communications: One of the initial tasks was to create a communications platform with other regions and abroad, through the creation of this webportal, in order to focus the information needed by students; to create a virtual meeting place where it is possible to establish a social networking community, show our advantages as the University Region of Chile, working together to deliver quality higher education and university life in cities known for their lifestyle and cultural interest.


Program Articulation: The objective is to articulate the academic offer that higher education institutions provide for student mobility- national and continental – to become a concrete reality. This is a long task of achieving the complexities that it entails, but Valparaiso Region have already taken the initial steps.


Job Placement: The objective is to work together to expand working programs, internships and thesis in companies or institutions, to strengthen the contact with graduates and to improve support and motivation for entrepreneurship in students. This is a basic skill that institutions across the region are promoting in their students, whereas the lack of an entrepreneurial culture is not a minor fallacy: according to Global Entrapreneurship Monitor GEM 2007-2008 Report, only 7.3% people consider starting a business and 56% of businesses close due to poor financial and commercial management.