University of Los Andes (Colombia)

University of los Andes

Universidad de los Andes
[1]
Type	Private
Established	November 16, 1948[2]
Affiliation	Nonsectarian
Rector	Pablo Navas Sanz de Santamaría[3]
Academic staff	1,457^a
Administrative staff	1,910[4]
Students	24,653^b
Undergraduates	12,497[4]
Postgraduates	2,515[4]
Doctoral students	276[4]
Other students	1,688 (Specialization)[4] 7,677 (Continuing education)[4]
Location	Bogotá, Colombia 4°36′06″N 74°03′55″W / 4.601613°N 74.065173°WCoordinates: 4°36′06″N 74°03′55″W / 4.601613°N 74.065173°W
Campus	Urban 24 acres (97,124.6 m^2) [5]
Colours	Black and Yellow
Nickname	Uniandes
Mascot	Séneca the Goat
Affiliations	Universia,[6] Asociación Colombiana de Universidades
Website	www.uniandes.edu.co
a This is a sum of 581 FTE professors, 105 faculty developing teachers, and 771 tenured professors.[4]

The University of los Andes (Spanish: Universidad de los Andes), also commonly self-styled as Uniandes,^[1] is a private research university located in the city centre of Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948 by a group of Colombian intellectuals led by Mario Laserna Pinzón, it was the first Colombian university established as nonsectarian (independent from any political party or religious institution).^[2][7] Uniandes has traditionally educated the Latin American academic elite, and is broadly considered to be one of the best universities in this region.

The university is academically composed of nine schools, three special academic entities^[8] — the Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government, the Center for Research and Training in Education (Spanish: Centro de Investigación y Formación en Educación, CIFE), and the Interdisciplinary Center for Development Studies (Spanish: Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo, CIDER) — and a joint academic venture with the medical institution Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation,^[9] offering 31 undergraduate, 18 doctoral, and 38 graduate degree-granting programs^[4] in areas of human knowledge such as medicine, engineering, science, law and others.^[7][10]

The university has given birth to 128 research groups recognized by Colciencias, most of them in the social sciences, mathematics, physics and engineering.^[4] It is one of the few Colombian universities to have received high quality institutional accreditation by the Colombian Ministry of Education, given in January 2015.^[11] Los Andes has consistently been regarded as one of the best Colombian universities, one of the top 10 in Latin America and one of the top 250 world universities according to both the QS World Top University Ranking and the Times Higher Education Classification.^[12][13]

Mission

The University of los Andes, an autonomous and independent institution, states that it fosters pluralism, diversity, dialogue, debate, criticism, tolerance and respect towards its members' ideas, beliefs and values.

Staff

As of 2014 Los Andes had full-time teachers, of whom 70% had a PhD from a top university in the world. Los Andes University has supported teachers in undertaking their master's and PhD studies in different subject areas in renowned foreign universities. The following data show the distribution of teachers in the different faculties.

Student population

• 55% male, 45% female.
• 30% come from outside Bogotá.
• 87% of the undergraduate students come from the 5% of the best high school students in the country.

Academic structure

Mario Laserna building of University of los Andes

Students can take classes from all academic programmes offered at Los Andes; this interdisciplinary approach allows students to design their own curricular programme, with the assistance of study counselors. The following scheme shows the academic structure at Uniandes, which includes four cycles: a Basic Professional Cycle (CBP in Spanish), which refers to the basic subjects belonging to each programme; a Cycle of Elective Courses in Socio-humanistic issues (CSH in Spanish), common to all programmes and that offers about 180 courses; a Professional Cycle (CP in Spanish), which includes the main professional subject for each programme; and a Professional Complementary Cycle (CPC), which includes subjects from the specific programme and subjects from other programmes.

International students

International students can attend the university as visitor students, who must take at least three courses a semester, or exchange students, who can take between two and six courses per semester. Los Andes has academic exchange programmes with more than 119 universities in 34 countries worldwide.

Campus

The university's campus is in Bogota's historical centre, an area that houses most of the city’s buildings of cultural interest, universities, banks and large Colombian companies, the main offices of the national and local government, and a variety of cultural meeting places such as libraries, museums, theatres, scientific and literary centres, and art galleries.

The campus is largely made up of a mixture of remodelled industrial and religious buildings and newly constructed facilities. The infrastructure covers 142,316 sq mt and includes approximately 116 classrooms, 219 laboratories, a central library and five satellite libraries (specialised by areas), where more than 409,700 books are available for students. It also has 26 computer rooms and six service units that hire out laptops, offering nearly 2,000 computers for student use (16.5 computers for each 100 students).

Also on campus are:

• Central cafeteria and nine other food stations inside and outside the campus.
• Gym and sports facilities.
• Health Services.
• Rest and study areas.

In addition to the main campus, the university also has an Internships Center for the Medicine Faculty, located in Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, in the north of the city. Uniandes and Fundación Santa Fe—one of the most renowned medical institutions in the country—engage in a joint academic venture.

University rankings

Universidad de los Andes has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 Latin American Universities.

University rankings
Global
Times[14]	261
QS[15]	283
Latin America
Times[16]	2
QS[17]	7[18]

Organization and structure

The university has a Board of Directors, an Executive committee, a Rector and three Vice Rectors, for academic and administrative management. It also has a General Secretary, an Academic Council, department deans and coordinators, Faculty Councils, academic and administrative staff and departments for the smooth operation of the institution.

Mascot

The mascot of Uniandes is a goat called Séneca, after the Roman Stoic philosopher. Its story dates back to the late 1940s when a goat roamed the campus freely. Students adopted it, and it became a symbol of the university. The goat died in 1966 when it fell off a cliff. Today it is not possible to keep a goat on campus, but Seneca is fondly remembered. The wireless spots are named after the goat, and every year a goat is brought to the university to celebrate "Students' Day".

Notable faculty and alumni

Former deans of Economics School

• Alejandro Gaviria Uribe
• Juan Carlos Echeverry

Alumni

• César Gaviria – President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994 and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 until 2004

See also

• Excellence research centers in Colombia

References

1. "Manual de Identidad Visual" [Visual Identity Manual] (PDF) (in Spanish). Communications Office of Los Andes University. Retrieved December 11, 2012. El símbolo de la Universidad de los Andes es el escudo. (The symbol of Los Andes University is the Shield).
2. "Historia - Información General" [History - General Information] (in Spanish). Los Andes University. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
3. "El Rector" [The Rector] (in Spanish). General Secretariat of Los Andes University. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
4. "Boletín Estadístico 2011 Universidad de los Andes" [2011 Statistical Bulletin, Los Andes University] (PDF) (in Spanish). Office of Planning and Evaluation of Los Andes University. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
5. "Areas". Los Andes University. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
6. "Universidades" [Universities] (in Spanish). Universia. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
7. "Estatutos Vigentes 2011" [Current Statutes 2011] (PDF) (in Spanish). General Secretariat of Los Andes University. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
8. "Organigrama" [Organizational Structure] (PDF) (in Spanish). Los Andes University. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
9. "Pregrado - Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá" [Undergraduate Program - Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation] (in Spanish). Los Andes University. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
10. "Programas" [Programs] (in Spanish). Los Andes University. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
11. "Instituciones de Educación Superior Acreditadas - Consejo Nacional de Acreditación" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 9, 2004. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
12. "Universidad de Los Andes - Topuniversities". QS University Rankings. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
13. "University of the Andes". Times Higher Education. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
14. "World University Rankings 2015-2016". Times Higher Education. 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
15. "QS World University Rankings® 2015/16". Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
16. "World University Rankings". The Times Higher Education. 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
17. "QS Latin University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
18. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2015#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Universidad de los Andes website (Spanish)