eafit english

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PRESIDENT

Jorge Iván Rodríguez Castaño

VICE-PRESIDENT

Juan Rafael Cárdenas Gutiérrez

HONORARY MEMBERS

Franz X. Stirnimann

Bernard J. Hargadon Jr.

ACTIVE MEMBERS

Alejandro Ceballos Zuluaga

Alicia Mendoza de Puerta

Álvaro Estrada Mesa

Álvaro Uribe Moreno

Beatriz Restrepo Gallego

David Escobar Arango

Guillermo Restrepo Arbeláez

Hans Udo Steinheuser Jovy

Jorge Londoño Saldarriaga

Jorge Posada Geiffenstein

José Alonso González López

José Manuel Restrepo Fernández de Soto

Luis Miguel de Bedout Hernández

Nicanor Restrepo Santamaría

Ricardo Obregón Trujillo

TAX ADVISOR

Luis Óscar Herrera Velásquez

BOARD OF DIREC TORS

RECTOR/PRESIDENT

Juan Luis Mejía Arango

VICE-RECTOR

Julio Acosta Arango

SECRETARY GENERAL

AND DEAN, SCHOOL OF LAW

Hugo Alberto Castaño Zapata

DEAN, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Francisco López Gallego

DEAN, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Alberto Rodríguez García

DEAN, SCHOOL OF SCIENCE

AND HUMANITIES

Jorge Alberto Giraldo Ramírez

DIRECTOR, EAFIT LLANOGRANDE

Mario Enrique Vargas Sáenz

DIRECTOR, EAFIT BOGOTA

Luis Fernando Rendón Cortés

DIRECTOR, EAFIT PEREIRA

Roberto Arenas Mejía

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CONTENTS

INTrOduCTION

MISSION, VIS ION,

INSTITuTIONAL COMMITMENTS

THE CAMpuS

HISTOrY

STudENT pOpuLATION

ACAdEMICS: THE ESSENCE OF THE uNIVErSIT Y

rESEArCH: CONSTANT dISCOVErY

ACAdEMIC EX TENSION: L IFE-LONG LEArNING

BEYONd FrONTIErS: INTErNATIONALIZATION

uNIVErSIT Y-ENTErprISE rELATIONSHIp

COMpLEMENTArY ACTIVIT IES

CAMpuS LIFE

I N T R O D U C T I O NA country’s level of development is closely related to its

people’s level of education. Therefore, preparing new

generations is an investment in the future that implies great

responsibility. Since its foundation in 1960, EAFIT has been

committed providing a type of education that will have a

positive impact in the growth of Medellín and Colombia.

This institution strives to achieve Eminence in society by

carrying on the Mission and Vision statements as its ruling

principles.

The university has been granted the institutional Accreditation

by the Ministry of Education. This award entails a major challenge

to maintain the academic leadership in daily activities with

students. However, academic excellence is not the only field on

which EAFIT is targeted.

Research is one of the ruling principles at EAFIT since

responsibility goes beyond transmitting knowledge, to

generating more knowledge aimed at benefitting society as a

whole. EAFIT is a university with research, which means that it

counts on nationally and internationally recognized research

groups,together with research incubators and begginer`s

research teams in different areas of knowledge, in which

academic staff, as well as students, youngsters and kids, are

involved.

Internationalization is one of the main priorities, as a means to

insert the university in the academic, social and cultural circles

worldwide, as it corresponds to a contemporary institution,

aware of the challenges of globalization. This is the reason

why EAFIT has reached beyond the national frontiers, to

establish relationships and cooperation agreements with other

universities and organizations around the world.

Culture is a main issue within the institutional statement. It

is not possible to think about EAFIT’s activity leaving out this

important component of thought and action, always present

in learning, research and extension activities. Culture is a

comprehensive concept at the university, well beyond arts and

humanities, which embraces everything that gives sense to

human labor.

The campus has grown and has been developed in perfect

harmony with nature. More than a campus, EAFIT is a park-

university, where all activities are embedded in an environment

where art, landscaping and nature interact with research,

science and technology.

We face an enormous institutional challenge. For this reason, in

search for excellence in learning, research and social projection,

the university counts on an efficient team to manage the human

and financial resources as well as the infrastructure throughout

all of its campuses.

Bound by historical principles, and based on the Mission and

Vision statements, EAFIT declares itself as an accessible and

democratic institution: Open to the World; in a constant pursuit

for excellence as a means to become one of the best educational

alternatives.

JUAN LUIS MEJÍA ARANGO

Rector / President

M e d e l l í n | C o l o m b i a | S u r a m é r i c a

Responsibility: the ability to identify, to •

foresee and to face the consequences of

the own doing.

Tolerance: attitude and ability to listen •

to others; to analyze, to share and to

disagree from others’ opinions within

the realm of awareness and respect for

pluralism.

Integrity: • the constant effort to properly

achieve all responsibilities undertaken,

framed within the respect of universal

ethical values.

Audacity: willingness to generate and •

propose new ideas in the academic,

corporate, cultural and social areas. Like-

wise, it refers to the ability to undertake

the actions needed to carry out those

ideas.

Excellence: commitment to always strive •

for the achievement of goals, under high

quality conditions.

MISSION

Universidad EAFIT mission is to contribute to the country’s social, eco-

nomic, scientific and cultural development by offering undergraduate and

graduate programs –imbedded in ideological pluralism and academic excel-

lence, to educate individuals who are internationally competitive in their

areas of knowledge; within scientific and applied research processes in con-

stant interaction with the academic, corporate and governmental sectors.

V IS ION

Universidad EAFIT, inspired by the highest spiritual values, respectful of the

dignity of the individual and conscious of its social responsibility, seeks to

be recognized nationally and internationally for its academic competence

and excellence in research, and because:

It will have an open and democratic standpoint that will positively •

affect the development of its students, allowing them to enjoy a multi-

culturally integrated program geared toward the task of learning and the

academic debate is predominant. EAFIT will be a space where ideas will

be exchanged and contrasted, respecting the opinions of others. It will

stimulate creativity and productivity in all members of the community.

It will develop the intellectual capacities of its students and teaching staff •

throughout its academic programs using research as a basic support.

It will use advanced technology and a student-centered pedagogical model.•

It will maintain agreements with other educational institutions nationwide •

and internationally with the objective of improving its educational

programs and teaching staff.

lt will contribute to the progress of the nation,• with its innovative research

and professional programs with an academic construction based on

fundamental human values, especially in respect to democracy and to

the free private initiative.

It will have an academic administration, in which all the human and •

institutional resources are entirely committed to the achievement of the

university’s goals.

INSTITUTIONAL

COMMITMENTS

U N I V E R S I D A D E A F I T 5

CAMPUSEAFIT is located on Las Vegas Avenue, in a neighborhood called El Poblado, in the city of Medellín, Colombia.

The neighborhood, which has close to 92,000 inhabitants, is known as one of the best residential and busi-

ness places in town.

Whoever comes to the university enters a 150,000 square meters property, on which 22 buildings of

classrooms, offices and laboratories will be found, as well as open spaces where academic and cultural

activities can be carried out. The constructions hold 237 classrooms equipped with the latest technol-

ogy, plus 89 workshops and laboratories, complementary to the teaching and research activities.

Sports are performed on grounds 26,467 square meters in size, comprised of two soccer fields, two synthetic

multiple-sport fields, a small coliseum, a pool, a service zone (dressing rooms showers and toilets), aside

from wide resting areas.

Throughout the campus, 40,097 square meters of gardens with native vegetation offer a beautiful landscape.

PA R k – U N I V E R S I T YA park is an abstraction from nature for human use. It offers aesthetic and sensorial possibilities to reconcile

the human being with the environment, because these spaces are not concrete walkways, but instead real

paths that allow direct contact with natural beauty.

EAFIT has incorporated this concept in designing the campus, thus assigning great value to the native plants

and animals, integrated to the buildings by gardens that combine aesthetics with ecological respect. That is

how Schinus Molle, Calliandra Pittieri and Tabebuia chrysanthas, combine with works of art like the Agora, a

sculpture made by the artist Hugo Zapata, which has become the meeting place inspired in the Greek Polis.

Likewise, the Propileus, made by the artist Rony Vayda, represents the magnificent porticos used in ancient

Greek and Egyptian architectures.

Landscaping has been assigned to experts, and the results are the relocation of trees, new furnished spaces,

and the creation of an administrative environmental unity at the university.

Architectonical changes are the result of a proposal made by the architects Carlos Julio Calle and Juan Fer-

nando Forero. They designed the Cultural Center and Library “Luis Echavarría Villegas”, together with a Mas-

ter Plan to reorganize the campus and achieve functionality, harmony, ecological responsibility and order,

which are the axis of the Park-University project.

THE

MEDELLÍNMedellín, the second Colombian city after Bogotá, the capital, is located at 1538 meters above sea

level and has a population of 3,500,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by evergreen mountains, Medellin

has a spring-like climate, appropriate to carry on just about any activity. Mean temperature is 24

degrees Centigrade (74 Fahrenheit), which allows public and private organizations to keep the

offer of cultural, recreational, sports and business activities.

The city is being organized in clusters –geographical concentrations of firms and

institutions that interact to create a favorable environment, improve performance,

competitiveness and profitability- in sectors such as electricity, textiles, apparel design

and fashion, construction, business tourism, fairs and conventions.

OTHER CAMPUSESThe university has expanded its activity to other zones of the country: Bogotá, the country’s

capital; Pereira, in the coffee zone, and Llanogrande, 40 kilometers away from Medellín. In those

campuses, different postgraduate programs, extension and language courses are offered.

EAFIT’s presence in the regions just mentioned conveys the message of the university’s

contribution to the economic, scientific, social and cultural development of the country, as it is

stated in its Mission.


The Escuela de Administración, Finanzas y Tecnología – Universidad EAFIT (The School of Administration and Finance, Institute of

Technology) was founded in 1960 by a group of businesspeople with the objective of imbuing talented new professionals with the

sense of responsibility necessary for the effective administration of organizations that contribute to the growth of the country.

That same year, EAFIT opened its doors to the fifty-nine students enrolled in the undergraduate program in business management.

Thus began the academic activities that for years have contributed to the industrial and commercial development of the region.

In 1962, work began at the Institute of Technology, with the financial aid of the “Tools for Freedom” Program of the U.S. government

and the Whirlpool Foundation. Initially, it offered three-year degree programs in textile, industrial, and mechanical technology, as

well as computer programming.

In 1975, these programs were suspended and, from the experienced acquired, longer degree courses were implemented. As a re-

sult, the School of Engineering now offers undergraduate degrees in Computer Science, Production Engineering, Civil Engineering,

Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, Process Engineering, and Geology.

Between 1988 and 1996, EAFIT opened other campuses in Bogota and Pereira, offering graduate programs and continuing educa-

tion courses.

In 1997, the Science and Humanities School was opened, which represented a new academic focus for the community. The Music

undergraduate program was launched, followed by Physics Engineering, Mathematical Engineering, Political Science and Com-

munication Studies. At this time, the university implemented changes in the curriculum, beginning the “flexibility” process for all

its undergraduate programs wherein students could choose elective courses beyond the courses mandatory for their majors, en-

abling them to “customize” their educational careers.Two years later, the Law School was also formed, and the first undergraduate

program in law commenced in the year 2000.

H ISTORY

By the end of 2004, the first Ph.D. program in business

administration was launched. It is the result of a very fruitful

cooperative program between EAFIT and the École de Hautes

Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal, Canada.

In 2007 the Ph.D. program in Engineering earned official

approval. It came after developing an institutional research

system, combined with the work in the graduate certificates

and the Master programs in twelve different concentration

areas.

During the same year, a curricular updating system was

launched. New curricular structures will allow students to earn

a degree in a shorter time and continue on with their graduate

studies.

The aforementioned process is aimed at incorporating changes

that are current in the international educational dynamics, to

the academic programs: an education centered on the students’

learning process instead of on the professor’s teaching, awareness

of the need to extend training to the graduate levels, and

redefinition of undergraduate duration in terms of academic

credits, double degrees and flexible curricula.

AC A D E M I C C H R O N O LO G YU N D E R G R A D UAT E P R O G R A M S

1960 Business Management

1976 Computer Science

1977 Public Accountancy

1979 Production Engineering

1980 Civil Engineering

1981 Mechanical Engineering

1983 Geology

1993 International Business

1995 Economics

1996 Process Engineering

1998 Music

1999 Product Design Engineering

2003 Mathematical Engineering

2004 Engineering Physics, Political Science and Communication Studies



In and out the campus, the institution hosts a diverse group of human beings that enhance the concept of

University. Students, staff, administrative personnel, alumni, visitors, children and elderly comprise EAFIT`s

population.

STUDENTS AND STAFF For the most part, the 8200 undergraduate and over 2000 postgraduate students are inhabitants of the city and

its metropolitan area. However, there is an increasing population of students coming from other cities in the

country: the Atlantic Coast, the Coffee zone, and the north-east part of Colombia, known as the “Santanderes”.

Undoubtedly, this phenomenon enhances and enriches university life.

Concerning Staff, most of them have Masters and Ph.D degrees, and a permanent effort is made to

motivate further formal or non-formal education in different areas of knowledge, be it in the country

or abroad. Part-time teachers are carefully selected and the institution fosters a relationship that goes

beyond schedules. Three hundred full-time and close to 600 part-time teachers comprise the staff at

EAFIT.

STUDENT POPULATION

ALUMNIEAFIT is proud to have prepared graduates who are

outstanding in their professional performance and

known for being entrepreneurial, socially responsible,

and in a permanent quest for further education and

professionalization.

It is not uncommon to find EAFIT graduates in high

positions, in private as well as in public institutions, but

mainly at the head of their own businesses, creating jobs

and contributing to the development of the region and

the country.

CHILDREN AND ELDERLYUniversidad EAFIT is open to children and also to retired

people. In the recent years, programs oriented to the

needs of those generations have been launched.

”La Universidad de los Niños” –a program aimed at

children between 7 and 14 years old– was created in 2004.

Its main objective is to establish long-lasting relationships

with children, in which knowledge and amazement are

the rule. Starting from questions asked by the children, a

series of workshops combine feelings and practice to find

the answers.

Elderly people also have a space at EAFIT in a program called

”Saberes de Vida”. This continuing education program

offers a possibility of intellectual enhancement while

sharing with people their age in a relaxed environment,

away from stressful evaluations.



ACADEMICS: THE ESSENCE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y

Universidad EAFIT offers

undergraduate and postgraduate

programs to prepare internationally

competent professionals in the following

areas: management, engineering, fundamental

sciences, humanities and law, featuring an academic

and research workload that places the university as one

of the best in the country.

Academic structure is comprised of the Rector, a Vice-Rector,

and four schools, which run the different academic departments,

in charge of coordinating and administering the teaching activities,

as well as research and the continuing education services. Less than five

hundred administrative and operational people support the running of the

institution.

The university’s curricula structure is focused on the student’s learning, instead of the

teacher’s teaching: the student plays the leading role while at the same time, is responsible

for his/her own process.

E A F I T ’S H A L L M A R kIn a wide sense, this concept applies to a set of distinctive features, symbolic as well as instrumental (traditions,

attitudes, habits, values, competencies and life perspective), which produce in every alumnus an institutional,

endurable “hallmark”. The comprehensive preparation of a student is EAFIT’s hallmark. The university provides society

with graduates who are pluralist and tolerant of others’ opinions; people who are committed to the development of their

community; that is, highly pragmatic, able to identify, and solve problems; and people who are internationally competent in

their field of study.

ACADEMICS: THE ESSENCE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y

As a means to consolidate this hallmark, a specific educational project has been designed: it is the

Institutional Preparation Nucleus (NFI for its Spanish name), which is aimed at developing competencies,

capabilities and values that will be common to all students entering EAFIT, to achieve attitudes that will

make them distinctive from graduates from other institutions.

Those subjects are grouped into two cycles: a first, common to all programs, by which students

learn about communication abilities, the Colombian Constitution and how to be a good citizen;

entrepreneurship and the Colombian context. The second cycle is elective, featuring subjects

like ecology, art and culture, history and politics, music and society, philosophy, science and

technology.


CO M M I T M E N T TO q UA L I T Yquality is compulsory in all processes at the institution, and a perpetual goal. In rec-

ognition of this effort, in 2003 the National Ministry of Education awarded EAFIT the

Institutional Accreditation. It is a quality seal given to Colombian universities that have

achieved high standards in the management of issues such as: competence, perti-

nence, transparency and effectiveness in all of its main functions.

Each of the academic programs undergoes the same process to get the quality award, once

they get to the specifications required by the National Accreditation Council.

I N F R A S T R U C T U R EEAFIT counts on a modern infrastructure to achieve the best quality of learning and re-

search. The technological platform fosters a vanguard academic development.

T E C H N O LO G YThe university has been a pioneer in technological advancement in the country. In-

ternet, for instance, was introduced in Colombia by three universities: los Andes, Uni-

versidad del Valle, and EAFIT. Online registration, access to see grades from a mobile

phone, wireless Internet on campus, the bi-modal campus known as Interactive EAFIT,

the application of IT and the use of bio-metric identification systems have been some

of the advancements in this sector, put to the service of the academic community.

Information technologies have become, in time, one of the distinctive EAFIT character-

istics of major impact on all of its components. At present, more than 2.000 computer

equipments are available to students, staff and administrators, and close to 40 study

rooms are furnished with the newest technology in hardware and software. Likewise,

wireless access to Internet is avalaible campus-wide.

L A B O R ATO R Y C E N T E RLocated at the South end of the campus grounds, laboratories are built on an area of

7250 square meters. Eighty-one working allocations, be they labs, workshops or re-

search cubicles, comprise EAFIT’s offer to the academic and the industrial sectors.

The aforementioned laboratories are used not only for practices or research applica-

tions; they also serve the industry in fields such as: metrology (in a lab accredited by

the national government for lengths and angles); materials, machines and tools, soils,

concrete and pavements –in a lab also accredited by the national government for test-

ing activities.

C U LT U R A L C E N T E R LU I S E C H AVA R R Í A V I L L E G A SEAFIT’s Library is much more than a place to keep books, videos, records and reviews.

It is a knowledge management center, and a space where research and reading are

fostered, as well as analysis, and constant creation of new ideas, besides intellectual,

academic and cultural projects.

To facilitate the task of converting information into knowledge, a variety of

services is provided that combine the traditional forms with the new tech-

nology, virtual with actual reality, and the book on the shelf with the digital

one in cyberspace.

M E TA - L I B R A R Y A N D D I G I TA L L I B R A R YEAFIT is the leader of a project called Colombian Meta-library: a co-oper-

ative effort to integrate referential catalogues and digital libraries, so the

users can access to, and easily locate the books and articles needed in any

of the various participant libraries all over the country.

Following a model of integrated referential system of digital contents,

EAFIT develops the concept of the Digital Library. Patrimonial documents,

and a network of thesis, graduation projects and reviews, are constantly

digitalized to integrate this database.

PAT R I M O N I A L H A L LIt is a space in the Library created in 2002, with approximately 35,000

books acquired from private collectors, among them the first woman to

become part of the Colombian Academy of History, Pilar Moreno-Angel.

Maps, charts, and manuscripts, together with books, magazines, newspa-

pers, brochures and paintings, can be found in the Patrimonial Hall. The

oldest book of this collection is “Departure”, written by Alfonso the Wise

in 1506 in Salamanca, Spain, and produced in the house of Domingo Por-

tonarisjis, the Catholic kings’ printer.

T H E M U LT I M E D I A C E N T E REquipped with the latest technology in TV, radio, and multimedia produc-

tion, this unit offers it services to the different academic departments at

the university, and to external costumers. For this purpose, a 113 squared

meters TV studio was built to offer optimal conditions for audiovisual pro-

duction.

Production of educational, cultural, institutional and interactive videos is

performed at this unit, as well as the management of the digital television

network “Envivo” –Internet digital direct signal- and the digital radio station

called Acustica.



Beyond their training task, Higher Education institutions have the

obligation to produce new knowledge and propose solutions to

the problems of society. Conscious of this responsibility, EAFIT

has declared itself a University with research, thus giving support

to the training processes that help developing intellectual capa-

bilities in students and teachers.

The university counts on an institutional research system, in-

tegrated by research incubators, which approach the study of

reality from the scientific, technological, social, cultural and

economic perspectives.

RESEARCH: CONSTANT DISCOVERY

Research groups are formed to foster student and teacher participation

and the results have been evident in areas like: creation and design of new

products, processes or materials; process optimization; organizational ef-

fectiveness and competitiveness; markets and internationalization; social

and environmental responsibility; information and communication for the

21st Century; educational transformation; and innovation and frontier sci-

ences.

As a result of research, the University counts at present with five patents:

two on inventions and three on utility models.

YOUNG RESEARCHERSAt EAFIT research is also a learning strategy that

produces methodological criteria to assume

a greater responsibility in the pedagogical

process.

This was the reason for creating the Research

Incubator Network, comprised of more than

40 EAFIT groups in all areas of the four Schools:

Business, Engineering, Law and Science

and Humanities. All of the groups have the

participation of undergraduate students, since

they will be the researchers of the future.

In order to strengthen the system, in 2007 the

pre-research incubators groups were created.

They promote curiosity and acquisition of

knowledge among children of ages 8 to 15

who initially participated in ”La Universidad

de los Niños”, under the supervision of young

researchers.



Activities and services provided by the university as extension include continuing

education, the publishing of scientific and technological discoveries, social develop-

ment projects, and cultural development programs. These services have positioned

EAFIT as a cultural reference for the city and the country.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTERIt works jointly with the different academic departments to assess the needs in the

community and to respond creating various extension courses, diploma programs,

seminars and conferences, to convey the modern concept of the university being the

fountain of life-long learning.

Some extension programs are already being offered in countries like the United

States, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador.

The services portfolio is complemented by the offer of specific programs for compa-

nies, tailor-made under command.

LANGUAGE CENTEREAFIT has a Language Center to offer children, adolescents and adults, courses of English, German, French, Portuguese,

Italian, Japanese, Sign language and Spanish for Foreigners, led by qualified teachers and supported by a Resource

Center with adequate didactic materials and laboratories.

“El Programa Ejecutivo en Lenguas Extranjeras”, an executive English training program, features a methodology ad-

justed for small groups and supported by case studies, companies’ projects and discussion of problems common to the

professional activity, in an appropriate environment and with a higher course intensity than the regular programs.

S ISLENGUASThis organizational unit offers a complete English learning program for primary and secondary schools, supported by

constant research on, and evolution of, the pedagogical approach. This allows for a better articulation of the university

with elementary and secondary education, to achieve the goal of bilingual proficiency expected for the region and the

country.

ACADEMIC EX TENSION: L IFE-LONG LEARNING



CONFUCIUS INSTITUTEThanks to an agreement signed in 2009 between the Chinese Embassy, Medellin’s City Hall, the University of Antioquia and EAFIT,

that The Confucius Institute was established as a specialized center for the study of Mandarin and the dissemination of Chinese

language and culture.

The Center counts on a number of highly qualified Chinese teachers, specialists in the teaching system called Great World. Courses

will be offered to the general public. It will also be supported by the Language Center.

For Universidad EAFIT, internationalization is another fundamental goal, because it comprises a series of transcendental

activities aimed at the improvement of the institution and a progressive involvement in academic and entrepreneurial

networks all over the world.

Student and teacher exchanges, study abroad programs, foreign language improvement, joint research and international

internships are some of the activities, which combined with the flow of students and researchers from almost all economic

regions coming to learn Spanish or to participate in EAFIT’s programs, contribute to mobility, which maintains the quality

of the university.

AGREEMENTS AND AFFIL IATIONSEAFIT maintains academic cooperation agreements with partner institutions in countries like Argentina, Austria, Australia,

Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, korea, Mexico, New

Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United States, United

kingdom, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

At the national level, besides bilateral agreements, there is a student exchange program called SIGUEME, signed between

eleven universities in the country to offer students the possibility to spend a full semester in another university and have

the courses accredited in their home institution. In eight years of activity, this program has moved more than two thousand

students between public and private universities around the country.

National and International associations and networks are also part of the strong ties that link the University to the rest of the

world. As member of associations like: IAU,CLADEA, EAIE, ERASMUS MUNDUS, LACCEI, AUIP, PIMA, Ibero-American University,

Network on Entrepreneurship, PACIBER, RCI, among others, EAFIT is prepared to play an important role in the world of higher

education.

BEYOND FRONTIERS: INTERNATIONALIZATION

CENTER FOR ASIA – PACIFIC STUDIESThis Center, opened in 2006, was the

response to the need for research on

the development of Asia, a continent

considered nowadays the commercial axis

of the new world order.

The Asia – Pacific Center is a bridge between

the academic and the entrepreneurial

sectors. At the same time, it explores new

frontiers of knowledge through cultural

exchange. Among its activities is the

preparation of lectures and seminars, as

well as consulting on this topic.

CENTER FOR CANADIAN AND COLOMBIAN STUDIES (CECC)This unit was created in 2003 to promote

the Canadian culture and values in the

city, providing a space for exchange and

academic cooperation between the two

nations.

The Cecc is an autonomous administrative

unit, attached to the International Business

department (Business School) and it gets

financing and resources from the Canadian

Ministry of External Affairs and Trade, through

the International Center for Canadian

Studies (Iccs), which is the headquarters of

the Colombian Association and Center for

Canadian studies (Acec).



U N I V E R S I T Y - E N T E R P R I S E RELATIONSHIPEver since its foundation, EAFIT established a tight relationship with the enterprise and its

environment. Its commitment goes beyond the preparation of highly skilled and socially

committed professionals, to the transfer of knowledge to society.

PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIPTo know-how-to-do is a fundamental axis of education. That is

why the university makes every effort to integrate in its programs

the “learning by doing” system. More than 1700 national and

international organizations have hired close to 18000 students

over the years in semester internships, which allows for a healthy

exchange: students learn from the experience and companies

have new concepts, attitudes, skills and improvement ideas.

ENTREPRENEURSHIPSince its foundation, EAFIT’s objective has been to prepare

new generations capable of creating and transforming their

environment. This is the reason to train students into the

entrepreneurship initiatives.

CENTER FOR INNOVATION, CONSULTING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (CICE)This unit is in charge of supporting the creation of new

companies and the strengthening of old ones, based on

the knowledge and innovations produced at EAFIT.

In order to satisfy the needs of various clients, the CICE

has created a structure supported by four strategic

units: Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Enterprises

(SME), Institutions, and Major Clients.

The creation of this unit helps EAFIT confirm its social

projection, thus consolidating its monitoring and

participation in the organizational network in Medellin

and the country.


COMPLIMENTARY AC TIVIT IESThe university’s public image is being consolidated by a series of cultural and complementary ac-

tivities oriented to support and enhance the quality of academic and research activities.

UNIVERSIT Y PRESSUniversidad EAFIT Press was established in December 1997 to contribute to the cultural endeavor

and the social projection to the community through the publication of quality textbooks in the

various areas of knowledge. Since it was opened, around 300 hundred titles have been published,

comprised in its 17 collections.

The University Press carries out the selection, edition, production, promotion and commercia-

lizing of the intellectual production of different authors.

CULTUREEAFIT is striving to become a cultural center for Medellin, with national and international projection. To

that end, it is developing activities aimed at prepare a public that will be sensible to various artistic expressions.

The cultural agenda includes concerts with the EAFIT Symphony Orchestra, the Music Conference, movie cycles, theater,

contemporary dance, literature events, a Chamber of Music program called Musical Spring, and art exhibitions at the University’s

Arts Centre.

Likewise, in search for the students’ integral development, promotion of creative abilities is achieved through different workshops:

woodcrafts, ceramics, paint, dance, jewelry and guitar, to name the most common ones.



ARTS CENTREEAFIT’s cultural agenda is part of the regular events offered by the university at its Arts Centre, opened in 1999, and located

in the Library. It offers a hall and two exhibition rooms that host national and international art exhibits.

Ever since it was opened, the purpose is to use this space to promote talented artists, either from Colombia or from the

rest of the world. Likewise, it is devoted to the rescue of long forgotten values of the national arts, and to the introduction

of new artists.

The Arts Centre has hosted renowned artists like Juan Antonio Roda, Ethel Guilmour, Nadin Ospina, Luis Fernando Pelaez,

Oscar Jaramillo, Maria Teresa Hincapie, Rodrigo Facundo, Elias Heim, Luis Gonzalo Palma and Beatriz Olano, among others.

EAFIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAThe University’s Orchestra was integrated in the year 2000, signaling once again the intention to become a space where

the music, through the regular concerts featuring innovative interpretations, soloists and conductors, would contribute to

cultural development.

The Orchestra was formed as a Chamber ensemble, and has a permanent group of 50 musicians, who offer around 20

concerts a year, open to the general public. It is part of its policy to introduce young conductors and interpreters, and to

include the works of contemporary composers, thus generating an educated public, eager to listen and able to judge new

proposals.

COMMUNICATION MEDIAEach of the stages of the university life has been recorded and transmitted through the EAFIT media. Reviews, digital media,

newsletters and newspapers have contributed to make public EAFIT’s rich life, and at the same time, promoting debate and

analysis on themes related to the academic, social and cultural issues.



MAGAZINESSeven specialized reviews are edited periodically at EAFIT. El Eafitense

(news), The EAFIT Magazine (scientific promotion) Engineering and Sci-

ence (Engineering), Ad-Minister (Business); Co-Herencia (Humanities); Foro

Penal (Law), and Echoes from the economy (Economics).

DIGITAL RADIO AND T VAt the head of technological acquisition, EAFIT offers to the community

the digital television Envivo, which features online programs produced in

the studio, as well as some spaces in Telemedellin, the local TV channel.

Broadcasting is done through Acústica, the digital radio system, which

brings to the air themes prepared by students and teachers.

An important part of preparing integral professionals and citi-

zens is to open spaces where students and staff can take part,

thus going beyond their academic training, to interact with their

surroundings and with society as a whole.

UNIVERSIT Y HEALTH SER VICEEAFIT offers the academic community, their families and the

general public possibilities to keep in good physical and mental

health, through programs lead by the Medical Service, Occupa-

tional Health, Student Development and Artistic Development

departments. Several activities: vaccination, forums, workshops,

and the Health Festival are carried out on campus grounds.

SPOR TSEAFIT considers of vital importance having physical, amusement

and sportive activities, as a complement of everyday life, and

as a good way to employ the free time. This is the reason why

sport facilities to do athletic sports, or yoga, or to play basket-

ball, capoeira, soccer, rugby, karate do, swimming, water polo,

softball, taekwondo, tennis, ping pong, ultimate and volleyball

are provided.

Likewise, the university offers various courses, tournaments and

events in which the academic community can participate. Com-

plementary activities like relaxing treatments, physical mainte-

nance programs, work active pauses, and creative vacations for

children are also programmed.

Since 2004, the international university Ultimate championship

and the National High School Ultimate tournament take place

on campus. EAFIT supports this sport because of its spirit, and

the training characteristics it displays: negotiation, self-control

and solidarity.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBIL IT YThe university is committed to the society that surrounds it and

its reality. In an effort to attain equity, a scholarship program has

been designed, both internally and in cooperation with other

institutions, in order to facilitate entrance of excellent students

who would not be able to pay full tuition. In return, they must

keep an outstanding academic record.

CAMPUS

Activities as the active participation in civil movements, and being

a leader of institutional campaigns oriented to spread values

and ecological awareness, good service, civilian activities, are

fostered.



L IFESTUDENT GROUPSEAFIT promotes student association around various issues.

More than a simple discussion of topics, active participation

in academic, sports and cultural events is widely supported, as

well the involvement in social campaigns.

As an example, the Student Association (OE) gets institutional

resources to carry on their ideas in favor of the students’ aca-

demic and cultural development. Each academic program has a

student committee and several special groups to promote aca-

demic, sportive and cultural activities.

It is also worth mentioning other groups: the Marketing Club,

AIESEC, the Tutor Group, TVU tele-magazine, and the student

newspaper Nexos.

It is then clear that, since its foundation

in 1960, EAFIT is aimed to achieve but

one purpose: Eminence, understood as

superiority in its surroundings, and a

constant effort to be recognized within

the society. Furthermore, the university

confirms its active participation in the

academic, cultural, technological, and

social development of the region and the

country.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

GRADUATE CERTIFICATESArbitrageComputer mechanicsConstruction managementDesign of Bio-technological and chemical processesEarthquake resistant engineeringEconomics (jointly with University of Los Andes)Ethics and entrepreneurial Social responsibility (jointly with the Luis Amigo University)FinanceHospital managementHuman development managementIndustrial maintenanceIndustrial organization and economic regulation (jointly with El Rosario University)Information systemsInformation technologies for educationInternational BusinessLiability and insuranceLiterary HermeneuticsLogic and PhilosophyMarketingMaterial designMechanical DesignNetworksOperations and logistics managementOrganizational controlPenal lawPolitical communicationPolitical studiesPolymer and rubber transformation processesProject managementPublic lawQuality managementRe-design of productsRisk Management and insuranceSmall and median enterprise managementSoftware developmentSoil and foundations mechanics Strategic management of costsSystems auditUrban studies

MASTER ’S DEGREESAdministration (MBA)Administration ScienceApplied MathematicsEarth ScienceEconomicsEngineering (majors in: Informatics, polymer processing, earthquake resistance, mechanics)FinanceFinance AdministrationHumanistic studiesLiterary Hermeneutics Music

PH. D.AdministrationEngineering

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Business ManagementCommunication Studies

Computer ScienceEconomics

Engineering PhysicsGeology

International BusinessLaw

Mathematical EngineeringMechanical Engineering

MusicPolitical Science

Process EngineeringProduct Design Engineering

Production EngineeringPublic Accountancy



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