Historical Review

Universidad Diego Portales (UDP) was founded in 1982. It was an initiative of the founders of the Professional Institute of Sales and Advertising (IPEVE) which at that time (1963) had already been in existence for almost twenty years.

In 1983, the University embarked on its academic programme with the creation of three faculties: the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, and the Faculty of Psychology. In 1989, two new faculties were created, the Faculty of Information and Communications, and the Faculty of Engineering Sciences.

In 1991, the University voluntarily decided to undergo the process of accreditation with the aim of subsequently attaining the status of Autonomous University. On March 18th 1993, the Superior Council for Education in plenary session ratified Universidad Diego Portales as successfully fulfilling its institutional mission, for which it was designated as having “Full Institutional Autonomy,” authorized to bestow all categories of academic degree and title independently. Since 1993, the University has embarked on a process of consolidation and growth in its academic programme.

In 1994, degree courses in Advertising and Design were transferred from IPEVE to Universidad Diego Portales, and the Bachelor of Arts degree programme was introduced. Five years later in 1999, the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Fine Arts was created and the Faculty of Humanities founded.

In 2002, Universidad Diego Portales took a transcendental step in its growth as an academic institution with the creation of new courses and its incursion into two new fields of knowledge: Health and Education.

Aware of the tremendous challenges in the fields of education and the pursuit of excellence, UDP that same year designed a plan for long-term infrastructural growth, involving the issue of a Security Bond guaranteed by the World Bank for the sum of approximately US$ 25 million, thus becoming the first educational institution to utilize this type of financing.

In 2004 Universidad Diego Portales became one of the first private universities to achieve institutional accreditation as a university from the National Undergraduate Accreditation Commission (CNAP) in three areas: Institutional Management, Undergraduate Teaching, and Equipment and Infrastructure. This recognition confirms the quality standards of our institution and demonstrates once again the ongoing academic, institutional and infrastructural efforts and achievements of UDP since its inception in the realm of private-sector higher education.

Mission and Strategic Orientation

Universidad Diego Portales is a private non-profit foundation whose objective is higher education. Inasmuch, it cultivates and disseminates teaching, research, reasoning and culture. In order to achieve this purpose and to provide adequately for national needs and interests, its specific aims are: to promote the research, creation, conservation and transmission of universal knowledge and the cultivation of science, arts and letters; to contribute to the spiritual and cultural development of the country, in keeping with its traditional historical values; to train competent graduates and professionals equipped with the knowledge and capacity needed to exercise their respective professions; to bestow all levels of academic degree, especially that of Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree and Doctor of Philosophy, and professional degrees in the fields of Juridical Sciences, Health, Economics, Business, Social and Human Resource Administration, the Humanities, Engineering Sciences, Communications, Architecture, Design, Fine Arts and others.

As an institution of advanced learning, Universidad Diego Portales has as its mission statement the vision “To discover the Space-Time of Truth, Goodness and Beauty in the human being, in society and in nature.” In this context, there is a conscious assumption of a public duty to society and an undertaking to train individuals who would serve as role-models and standards of reference, based on the human being as the source of intellectual probing and academic research.

Within this strategic orientation, focus is retained on the academic programme and, more specifically, on three axes of work, namely: Attitude and Behaviour, centred both on academic factors and on increasing the competitiveness of degree courses, in the constant pursuit of quality, excellence and merit; Research for Chile which seeks in-depth commitment and involvement with the country aimed at achieving insertion, integration and participation between the Public- and Private Sectors, in which academic research and findings based upon truth, goodness and the beauty of human beings, society and nature aspire to contribute to the formation of social innovators of vision and realism; and The Development of International Links which, through the differentiation of professors and students from a Latin American perspective, endeavours to work in foreign markets (student and academic staff exchanges).

Academic Activities

At present, Universidad Diego Portales offers 30 degree courses at its various Faculties.

In the Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design, degree courses are offered in; Architecture, Art and Design. In the Faculty of Health Sciences: Medicine, Odontology, Nursing and Medical Technology. In the Faculty of Humanities and Education: Psychology, Pedagogy in General Primary Education and Pedagogy in Infant Education. In the Faculty of History and Social Sciences: Bachelor of Social Sciences, Sociology, Political Science and History. In the Faculty of Communications and Letters: Journalism, Advertising and Creative Literature. In the Faculty of Law, the degree in Law. In the Faculty of Economics and Business: Commercial Engineering, Management Accounting, Public Accounting, Marketing, Finance and Business Administration. In the Faculty of Engineering: Industrial Civil Engineering, Informatics and Telecommunications Civil Engineering, Civil Construction Engineering, Construction Engineering, Informatics and Management Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management; and in the School of Drama, a degree in Drama.

There are a total of 10,621 registered undergraduate students and the total number of graduates in December 2006 was 15,673.

Additionally, the University imparts various postgraduate programmes. The Faculty of Education and Humanities runs Master of Psychology programmes specializing in Social Psychology, Theoretical and Clinical Psychoanalysis, Clinical Psychology specializing in Family and Couples Therapy, and Cognitive Development specializing in Dynamic Learning Propensity Assessment Device; Postgraduate courses in Clinical Psychoanalysis specializing in Adults, Clinical Psychology: Specialist in Transpersonal Humanist Psychotherapy, Psychomotricity, Specialist in Juvenile-Infant Clinical Psychology; Specialist Programmes in Education (Language and Communication, English as a Foreign Language, Artistic Education, Mathematical Education, Nature Study, Social Studies and Physical Education); and Diplomas in Juridical and Forensic Psychology and an International Diploma in Sports Psychology. The Faculty of Health Sciences, in conjunction with the IberoAmerican University Foundation, offers an International Masters Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, and a Postgraduate degree in Nutrition and Applied Dietetics.

The Faculty of Communications and Letters offers a programme leading to an International Masters Degree in Communication and an International Diploma in Management Communication. The Faculty of Law offers Masters Degrees in Infant– Adolescent and Family Law, Constitutional Law and Public Institutions, and Criminal Law and the Penal Process; and postgraduate courses in Family Mediator Training.

The Faculties of Engineering, Economics and Business through their Graduate School have developed an Executive MBA programme in Finance, Human Resources, Strategic Communication, Marketing and Quality Control; Masters programmes in Educational Management, Organizational Development and Behaviour, Information Technology Management, Systems Administration and Business Administration. Finally, the Humanities Institute offers a Masters Degree programme in Contemporary Thought and a Diploma in Contemporary Thought.

In 2005, the total number of registered postgraduate students was 959.

International Agreements

UDP has an extensive network of working alliances and agreements with universities, research centres, foundations and overseas organizations in more than 25 countries around the world. In 2005 alone, 19 academic cooperation and student exchange agreements were signed with universities and other higher education institutions.

Knowledge Production – Research

The growing importance of knowledge in the development of nations has led UDP to implement a programme of research and knowledge production oriented towards the search for solutions to national problems of high public impact.

In consequence, the Centre for Juridical Research of the Faculty of Law has made significant contributions towards the Penal Procedures Reform which is being implemented throughout the country; whilst two other Centres belonging to the Faculty of Humanities and Education (Cognitive Development Centre) and the Faculty of Communication and Letters (Journalism and Advertising Research Centre, CIPP) are implementing programmes of public interest in the areas of cognitive development, community strengthening and the role of the communications media in society.

Added to the above, the Humanities Institute and the Social Sciences Research Institute have embarked on multidisciplinary research programmes oriented towards relevant national issues, contributing to the national debate on a permanent basis from a rigorous new perspective.

At present, the University is implementing 21 programmes with external financing from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT), the Fund for the Development of Art and Culture (FONDART), the Bicentennial Programme of the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (MIDEPLAN), the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), the United Nations Development Programme and the National Council for Narcotics Control (UNDP-CONACE), and the European Commission’s 6th Marco Programme, in the fields of Education, Psychology, Health, Law, Social Sciences, Humanities and Engineering. To these must be added the over 25 research projects that are financed internally.

Moreover, members of our academic staff have published more than 50 articles in ISI-indexed publications from 2005 to June 2006.

Quality Infrastructure

With the implementation of their Infrastructural Plan, UDP has established a solid presence in the centre of Santiago in buildings extending over an area of 94,582 square metres that serve its entire university community.

This colossal project is the result of the work of a team of architects from the academic staff of the Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design of the University. With this project, UDP now possesses the largest student infrastructure in the University District of Santiago, considered and projected around the university life of its students, empowering the development of their academic, sporting and social activities.