Ingeniería Eléctrica

Planning and self-evaluation are two guiding principles for university action. Universidad de Antioquia is framed by a general Development Plan for a period of ten years, which takes shape through institutional action plans, and specific plans and projects under the responsibility of each academic unit. Planning at the university is accompanied by a qualified management evaluation procedure, to verify fulfillment of academic and administrative responsibilities, and establish corrections in the direction of the Institution. Self-evaluation, scientific and pedagogical updating, continuous quality improvement, and the social pertinence of university programs are permanent tasks at the Institution. (General Statute of Universidad de Antioquia, Superior Agreement 1, 1994 Articles 16 and 22).

For the Faculty of Engineering, through Faculty Agreement Number 414, October 18, 2012, Minutes 1936, the Self-Assessment and Accreditation Committee of the Faculty of Engineering (CAAFI by its acronym in Spanish) was created, with the following functions:

a. To propose to the Faculty Council the self-evaluation models for the Faculty's academic programs.
b. To propose to the Faculty Council the methodological specifications to be followed by the academic departments, in the improvement and maintenance of plan models, as a result of the self-evaluation.
c. To specify database and necessary knowledge to perform the tasks defined in the previous sections of the IT and Support Resources Department (DRAI by its acronym in Spanish), responsible for keeping this information available and updated to whoever requests it.
d. To define, establish, and respond to the Faculty Council on the factors and characteristics common to all the academic programs of the faculty.
e. To permanently review and update the models, methodologies, and database specified in the previous sections and submit to the Faculty Council for approval, if necessary, during the first calendar term of each year.
f. To promote permanent contacts with the self-evaluation and accreditation commissions of the faculty’s academic programs.
g. To create spaces for disclosure and regular training for those responsible for the processes described in the previous models, as well as advise those who require it in the self-evaluation and accreditation processes of the Faculty's programs.
h. To submit a semi-annual report, and when required, to the Faculty Council on the progress of the improvement and maintenance plans of the Faculty's programs.
i. To study and issue an endorsement argued before the Faculty Council of the self-evaluation reports generated by the academic programs for purposes of accreditation or qualified registry.

In this Committee, we continuously participate to develop applications that allow a better appropriation of the existing information in the University and the Faculty, in such a way that projects can be generated for the improvement of the programs, based on the criteria defined by the National Committee of Accreditation (CNA by its acronym in Spanish). However, it has currently focused on projects for the Accreditation of the academic programs that have expired; therefore, no progress has been made in the self-evaluation strategies of the other programs. 

As for the Electrical Engineering program, it has high quality accreditation, granted for 8 years by Resolution 1313, February 12, 2013, Ministry of National Education (MEN by its acronym in Spanish).

It should be noted that since 2018, a characterization study of graduates and consultation of students, professors, and administrative employees began, for the preparation of the self-assessment document. This document served as input for the re-accreditation, which began its process in 2020. 

Intermediate Self-Evaluations for Qualified Registry

For the self-evaluation processes, the diagnosis of the University Development Plan, 1995 - 2006, it is recognized that "The faculties do not yet have the culture of self-evaluation and hetero-evaluation of the academic programs and academic units, as a mechanism for the achievement of excellence and productivity," and in response to the above, in May 1995 University Superior Agreement 046 created the Central Committee for Self-evaluation and Accreditation, and Committees by academic units. From that moment on, the culture of evaluation has been developed and assumed by all academic and administrative units, and the University is recognized for its national leadership in self-evaluation and accreditation processes.

The result of these efforts was the Institutional Accreditation of the University and the achievement of having all the undergraduate programs accredited. Through Resolution 2087, September 5, 2003, the Ministry of Education (MEN by its acronym in Spanish) granted Universidad de Antioquia accreditation for 9 years, being the first public higher education institution to be accredited in the country and the one that has achieved the longest period.

Regarding the self-evaluations for qualified registry, in 2016 a self-evaluation was carried out with a view to the renewal of this document, which expired in 2017. For this reason, 8 meetings of professors were held, which only objective was to update the study plan, according to the guidelines provided by Resolution 1075, f 2015, f the Ministry of National Education (MEN).

In a professors' meetings, modifications were made to the prerequisites and co-requisites of the subjects of the study plan. Likewise, adjustments were made to the objectives and contents of some subjects, to the updating of the content and to the bibliography used. All of the above, sought to update the study plan to the guidelines of the Shared Vision document of the Department of Electrical Engineering, which shows the need to strengthen research and teaching from the perspective of renewable energy sources (commonly called Renewable energies), considering the electrical power system and the requirements of these sources for their implementation in the electrical network. Consequently, the following subjects were included, from different approaches: Electrical Measurements, Power Electronics, Power Systems, Electrical Machines II. Additionally, 3 mandatory courses were created, namely: Power Systems II, Power Systems Planning, and Electrical Safety and Risk Seminar. In the first two, analyzes of electrical systems with renewable energies, especially intermittent sources, will be carried out, while in the third, the administrative foundations for any practical work of an Electrical Engineer will be offered. Lastly, the creation of elective subjects was considered to complement the topics related to renewable energies, such as: Photovoltaic Solar Energy, Microgrids, Renewable Energy Technologies, New Technologies for Distribution and Transmission.

Graduate self-evaluations – Graduate Certificate Program in Maintenance Management (GEMA)

Article 55, Law 30 establishes that institutional self-evaluation is a permanent task of Higher Education Institutions (IES for its acronym in Spanish) and will be part of the accreditation process. Consistent with this, Universidad de Antioquia (accredited as a High-Quality Institution 2013-2023) has established, as a criterion in its Graduate Policies (Academic Agreement 0056, 1995), the continuous evaluation of its graduate programs with a view to achieve high quality levels, understanding the concept of quality not as something external to the program, but something that is generated in itself. Its nature and way of achieving it are related to the philosophy and methodology that sustain it. Specifically, the self-evaluation of the GEMA Graduate Certificate program is planned from the presentation of the proposal to create the program and is a requirement to renew its qualified registry. This self-evaluation is carried out by the program's graduate committee, as indicated by the Central Graduate Committee.

On the other hand, article 16, General Statute of Universidad de Antioquia has established itself as a general principle: “Self-evaluation, scientific and pedagogical updating, continuous improvement of the quality and social pertinence of university programs are a permanent task of the University and part of the accreditation process. The Institution welcomes and participates in the National Accreditation System. ” At the same time, in the Development Plan 2017-2026, in its strategic theme, number 3.1, it talks about the "Comprehensive formation of citizens through the articulation and development of missionary functions, from the territories and in connection with the world," referring to the need to generate interactions between undergraduate and graduate programs, in addition to research. All this articulated through the self-evaluation plans of all the University programs.

Self-Evaluation Criteria to Renew the Qualified Registry 2018

• Pedagogical pertinence of the training strategy, according to the specific knowledge, and the training objectives.
• Sufficiency, timeliness and depth of the contents.
• Integration of the above with the Research Project and the students' learning process.
• Professors’ qualification, according to academic degrees and teaching experience.
• Existence of research lines, within the monographs can be registered. These lines must be developed by research groups ranked in A or B categories.
• Social and scientific pertinence of the Graduate Certificate program, according to the infrastructure and educational needs of society and according to the field of knowledge of the analysis and design of structures.
• Communicational, creative knowledge application skills of Graduate Certificate program’s students.
• Updating and availability of bibliographic resources, of database networks in such a way that they enable communication with the scientific world.
• Adequacy, sufficiency, and availability of physical resources including capacity for renewal and equipment maintenance.
• Concordance of the Training Plan with national and international parameters, which guarantee the internal and external competence of graduates in the international scientific community.
• Relevance of the academic-professional profile of graduates, in such a way that their participation in work processes in the area of analysis and design of structures is possible.
• Efficiency in terms of quality of the monographs developed by the students and in terms of the conditions provided to the students to satisfactorily complete their Graduate Certificate program.