Our
Office
The
objective of the International Affairs Office (OAI) is to increase the presence of
the University internationally and coordinate activities leading to the internationalization
of the USM.
Among
other activities, this Department is responsible for the administration of international
agreements signed by the President of the University. We also manage the centralized
exchange programs for undergraduate students and maintain links with partner universities
and organizations abroad.
- Ms.
Karol Trautmann, Director
- Ms.
Katharine Sherwin, Coordinator
- Ms.
July Valencia, Secretary
- Mr. Andrés Andrade, Student Assistant
Since
its conception, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María has had strong international
ties. According to the instructions of Don Federico Santa María, the University's
founder, the professors were primarily foreign, mostly from Europe, at least for
the first ten years.
According
to these orders, Agustín Edwards McClure, Executor to Mr. Santa María, traveled
to Germany to hire Professor Karl Laudein. At that time, Professor Laudein was the
Director of the Technical School of Stettin and had done great work in the reorganization
of German technical schools in the aftermath of the First World War. The first Directive
Council of the Federico Santa María Foundation was formed on May 24, 1929. In that
same month, Professor Laudein arrived from Germany to assume his new title of President
of USM.
The first generation of students started in March 1932.
This
spirit of internationalization has remained throughout the years and has even been
strengthened by the numerous academic links generated between the USM and foreign
universities.
In
the past few years, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María has made particular
efforts towards internationalization. Understanding that globalization means opening
up to the rest of the world, the University is moving towards creating a fluid exchange
of knowledge and people from similar institutions of every continent.
For
this reason, USM has implemented exchange programs for undergraduate and postgraduate
students, joint investigations, and collaborations between visiting professors.
In
1996, USM created the Campus Guayaquil, in Ecuador. Today many students from this
campus take advantage of this relationship, and study abroad for a semester or year
at the USM Main Campus in Valparaíso.
The Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María was the first in Chile to develop
a Campus abroad.
