UNC to Allocate 540 Million for Its Institutional Strengthening

The Board of Regents approved the bases and guidelines for the project "Universidad Nacional de Córdoba's Institutional Strengthening Program" (Profoin, in its Spanish acronym) and allocated 540 million pesos that will be distributed between 2017 and 2020. The funds will come from the national government's budget, the university's own funds and the surplus from previous years.
Outlined by the Secretary of Institutional Management, the Profoin is a multi-annual plan aimed at strengthening strategies for academic and institutional quality improvement that all the divisions within our university have been carrying out. The funds may be allocated to infrastructure, equipment, books and publications and also for teacher, administrative and technical staff training, among others.
Its creation made the most out of several resources generated by the commissions that have taken part in the Participatory Strategic Planning 2016-2026.
In order to obtain financial support, the different offices, faculties and schools should submit projects of strategic development. It is intended that these projects have at least one component in association with another UNC division or higher education institution.

What can be financed?
The terms of Profein clearly state what can be financed under this scheme. Among the most important ones, the following can be mentioned: students and graduates management and follow-up, administrative staff, laboratory and field technician training, pedagogical content and practice renewal, practical training improvement and tutoring classes.
The program will also support teachers, administrative staff, students and graduates exchange programs, improvement  of infrastructure (repairs, security and accessibility improvement), acquisition of laboratory equipment and provision of books and publications.
Among its guidelines, it is also arranged that the teaching and administrative staff will be strengthened. In the first case, through the enhancement of the existing teaching staff and by increasing the number of full time professors. As regards high schools, through the increase of lecturing hours. As for administrative staff, promotions are stipulated. It is worth mentioning that in these three cases, the feasibility of implementation will depend on the granting of funds by the National Ministry Education.
As stated in the document approved by the UNC Board of Regents, the central administration may obtain up to 60 million pesos (20 million pesos per year), each faculty may request a maximum of 30 million pesos (ten million pesos per year) while highschools, a maximum of 15 million pesos (5 million pesos per year).
The projects submitted by the different divisions will be assessed. As there is no competition between different projects, if some of them do not comply with the required terms, they will be returned for revision. After that, the projects will be be supervised to monitor their implementation.

Documents
UNC Institutional Strengthening Program - Decree Number 949/2017 of the Board of Regents
UNC Institutional Strengthening Program - Annex

Translation: Lin Chun Wu