The Universidad de los Andes, founded in 1989, at Santiago de Chile, by a group of academics, professionals and outstanding businessmen who proposed to found a higher education establishment whose specific purpose was to elaborate an organic and universal synthesis of the human culture, that integrates the dispersion of the specialties in the radical unity of the truth, enlightened and invigorated by the Catholic faith.

Mission

Universidad de los Andes is an institution that seeks to deepen knowledge in all areas and contribute to the integral education of its students. It encourages academic dialog, work well done and the eagerness to serve society. The University strives to radiate a way of life coherent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Vision

Universidad de los Andes aims to be a center of excellence, characterized by its openness to the cultural and moral challenges of society, and its desire to respond to them with innovative solutions. Faculty, alumni and students will be pivotal actors in the engagement of the University with society.

Statement of Principles of Universidad de los Andes.

This brief document sets out the principles that inspire our university and our community. Through the topics included, the “Statement of Principles of the University de los Andes” offers a guide to the work of those who are part of the University and are serving its students and Chilean society.

Search for and commitment to truth

Truth is at the service of mankind and his happiness. The University student seeks to reach the truth through rigorous scientific work and free interdisciplinary dialogue, accepting the principle that a postulate is not imposed, it is proposed. Openness to truth expresses a positive attitude of constant renewal and deepening of knowledge.

Commitment to truth requires intellectual honesty, independence of judgment, and the duty to communicate it to society. It also implies a sense of coherence, a clear consistency between shared ideas and personal testimony.

Harmony between faith and reason

Human science and the Christian faith are complementary areas of knowledge that originate from God. Science and faith never oppose each other, there is a necessary correlation between them for their refinement and reciprocal regeneration. Theological knowledge is fundamental in developing a tailor-made science fit for people and their human dignity.

Appreciation for human dignity

Human dignity is present in every aspect of the university studies, and the decisions of the University. We promote cordial and solicitous treatment for all people, taking care of the way things are done, delicacy to ask, correct and discipline. The spaces and facilities portray a taste for aesthetics, decorum, neatness, and cleanliness as a means for education and improvement of those who study and work at the University.

Freedom and personal responsibility

Human dignity entails respect for personal freedom and awareness of responsibility. We encourage among all members the full respect for personal freedom and their opinions. We also defend the freedom of our scholars to develop an academic project according to a common ethos, shared freely.

Spirit of Service

The University is at the service of society. Our professors, students and administrators seek to serve others through work well done combined with multiple social and welfare initiatives focused on helping the most vulnerable people. Being serviceable implies dedication in working as a team, avoiding any desire for boastfulness.

Work well done

We strive to live according to a culture of work well done as an expression of good service and a way of contributing to the progress of society. Professors should teach and conduct their research with scientific competence and students should study in the same way. The full completion of duty requires consistency and thoroughness, an adequate planning of the growth of the University and a government style based on concrete and measurable results.

Unity

Each member of the University seeks to faithfully live our Philosophy, collaborating effectively and loyally with everyone, beyond the natural differences and problems. There is an atmosphere of confidence at the University, where the unity of common principles and values prevails.

Vocation of permanence

The University expects to transcend for centuries. Therefore, our work is focused on long-term goals. We try to make stable and sustainable academic and architectural decisions over time. Growth is the result of mature decisions and of the availability of people and adequate resources to ensure the identity of the educational project.


UANDES and Opus Dei

UANDES is an Opus Dei corporate apostolate Work and our motivating spirit is inspired by the teachings of Saint Josemaría.

As stated in the agreement signed between the University and the Prelature, the Opus Dei Prelature is the guarantor of the Christian orientation manifested in the School Principles of UANDES, offering spiritual guidance to all members of the educational community who freely wish to receive it.

As a reflection of the spirit of collaboration existing between the two parties, the Prelate of the Opus Dei, who is the highest authority of the institution, is also Honorary Rector of the University, a condition that does not imply any governance or management responsibilities. This is an appointment that transcends the person. Bishop Álvaro del Portillo was the first to be appointed, followed by Monsignor Javier Echevarría and, currently Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz is Honorary Rector.

The Prelate Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz.

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church, whose mission is to help people find Christ at work, in family life and in all the circumstances of ordinary life. It promotes the universal call to holiness and Apostolate, among all kinds of people.

It also encourages laity to improve society, for example through works of corporate apostolate. These are non-profit initiatives of a civil nature, and with an apostolic and service purpose. Opus Dei followers promote them, along with other people, and count with the moral guarantee of prelature.

Campus

The University campus is a geographic space specially designed to support the academic model of this House of Studies. The architectural design seeks to be the material concretion of our mission and vision, reflecting the concept of a complex university, centered on the person and at the service of the country.

The definition of a single campus arises from the need to materially ensure the integration of diverse knowledge and interdisciplinary dialogue. The cultured coexistence promoted by the University among our scholars and students, expressed through the integral training offered, requires a common space to facilitate personal contact and openness to other disciplines. Also, the territorial unit effectively favors the “open-door” policy of authorities and the participation of the university community in general activities keeping the union bond alive.

Located at the foot of the Cordillera de los Andes, large green areas with spaces for teaching and research, academic faculties and university life, sports and recreation, culture and spiritual assistance, coexist in its 52 hectares. The infrastructure and disposition of the campus seeks to promote a serene study environment, a natural environment favoring intellectual creativity and beauty with a pedagogical sense, since the relevance of aesthetics as an engine for imagination has a vital influence on the students’ learning process as they awaken their five senses to allow them to interpret the world. For this, the architecture of our University keeps the horizon’s line clear, evoking for students and scholars, the need for a transcendent formation linked to the city and the country. This impetus to move towards the city is also reflected in the arrow that forms between its main buildings in the direction of the valley and it is where the Plaza Central (Central Square) is located and that represents the “Agora” or meeting point.

The architectural definitions of the University consider interior spaces favoring personalized treatment of students and the use of new teaching methodologies, along with outdoor meeting points open to the city. Proof of this, for example, is the existence of silent reading rooms, neatness and cleanliness of the facilities, landscaped gardens and the sustainable and ecological development of the Master Plan, which also benefits the community.

The campus has eight academic buildings: Central, Humanities, Sciences, Library, El Reloj, Mecano, ESE Business School and the complex formed by the Center for Biomedical Research and the Teaching and Simulation Unit (CIB-UDS), which total more than 69,000 built square meters. Here you can find classrooms, laboratories, the library, offices and meeting rooms, as well as auditoriums, two Aula Magna, a Hall of Honor and an amphitheater. In the latter it is possible to develop the most varied activities of academic and cultural extension. There is also the Espacio VU, where several co-curricular workshops can be developed.

An integral cultivation of young personalities, present in the mission of the University, has orientated the disposition of a sports sector, that includes a covered gym for sports and physical training with fitness equipment, a natural grass regulation field, for soccer, rugby and hockey, two synthetic grass fields for Futbolito, one hard surface tennis court and one climbing wall, in addition to dressing rooms.

Student leisure time can be spent in the Sala Cero, the Los Ciruelos courtyard, the Quincho UANDES, the Plaza Central and the surroundings of the Library, besides cafeterias and coffee shops, among others. The Master Plan considers the future construction of a sports complex, university residences and buildings to be used by academic units, among others.

UANDES also owns two health centers, the Centro de Salud San Bernardo (San Bernando Health Center) was built in 1999, next to the parish Hospital of that same commune, whose purpose is to satisfy educational needs of health-related careers and offer coverage in various medical, dental and mental health specialties to the beneficiaries of the public health system in the area. In 4,555 square meters built, as of 2015 it recorded an average of 100,000 annual attentions, which represents about 30% of the total population of the commune.

The first of three stages of the Clinica Universidad de los Andes, located in the south-east sector of the University campus, began operating in May 2014 with the challenge of providing the country a teaching-assistance center that is at the forefront of scientific advances offering the society comprehensive medical services, with a deep respect for human dignity. In 56,000 square meters it houses more than 100 hospital beds, eight surgical pavilions, four maternity wards and 12 emergency room cubicles, in addition to adult, pediatric and neonatology Intensive Care Units (ICU); Clinical Laboratory; Blood bank and Vaccination center, among other services.

Accesos Directos