Tríada Summit: Tec, Uniandes, and UC Chile analyze common challenges

Tec de Monterreyhas hosted the2024 La Tríada summit,which included topics such as the use of artificial intelligence, cultural heritage, early childhood, sustainability, and climate change, along with internationalization and research.

Six years ago, Tec de Monterrey, the University of Los Andes of Colombia (Uniandes), and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile) joined forces through the collaboration initiative of La Tríada, in which they have collaborated on more than 80 projects and initiatives.

David Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec, welcomed Raquel Bernal, Rector of the University of Los Andes; Ignacio Sánchez, Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and their respective delegations.

"These are fascinating times, full of challenges and opportunities, and one of the points of La Tríada is to identify the opportunities we should focus on," Garza said.

The Tec hosted the summit of this alliance of private Latin American universities, who were welcomed in the Main Hall of the Rector's Building on Monterrey campus.

The Main Hall of the Rector's Building on Monterrey campus was the venue for the 2024 La Tríada summit.

During the last year, the University of Los Andes launched the University of Los Andes declaration on the future.

"Our research and creation are sustainable and connected to the major challenges of the planet and our environment. We've had memorable, collaborative, and global university experiences," said its Rector.

For his part, Ignacio Sánchez spoke about the core areas the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile focuses on.

"With respect to La Tríada, there are important areas such as student exchange, collaborative research, collaborative management, along with democracy and outreach with society," he said.

"These are fascinating times, full of challenges and opportunities, and one of the points of La Tríada is to identify the opportunities we should focus on." - David Garza

Artificial intelligence and its impact on teaching-learning

During the first working session, the members of La Tríada talked about how artificial intelligence impacts the work of the different universities' audiences: students, faculty, and staff.

Participating in this discussion were Joaquín Guerra, Vice Rector of Educational Innovation and Academic Regulations at the Tec; Fernando Purcell, Academic Vice Rector of UC, and Juan David Gutiérrez, from the School of Government at Uniandes.

"We can't understand the implications of AI in our industry if we don't take into account the positive as well as the negative, the desired as well as what we want to avoid," Juan David explained.

The University of Los Andes presented its strategies in relation to generative artificial intelligence:

• Orientation and reflection: guidelines for the use of GenAI by the University of Los Andes community.
• Training and appropriation: capacity building for teachers, students, administrators, and external audiences.
• Experimentation: assistants for teaching, learning, and administrative processes.
• Technology enablement: institutional access to GenAI models and basic infrastructure for the development of institutional GenAI applications.

Joaquín Guerra presented the strategic projects for educational artificial intelligence at the Tec:

• Adaptive learning
• Analytics for personalized learning
• Academic TECbot
• Evaluation and feedback
• Skill studio
• ChatGPT in TECgpt

"Our strategy encompasses the use of AI for the teaching-learning process and how to make life easier for teachers. We've changed the educational model, which is very demanding," he said.

Raquel Bernal, Rector of University of Los Andes.

Fernando Purcell presented the artificial intelligence strategy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

"We address the various opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in a dynamic, flexible, and responsible manner by involving the entire community and putting learning at the center, along with ethical considerations that are inclusive," said the Vice Rector.

During the talk, they presented some of La Tríada's proposals for collaboration:

1. Academic integrity: definition of common elements for the academic integrity framework.
2. Digital competencies (AI): longitudinal study through a biennial survey on use and digital maturity in AI.
3. Training in artificial intelligence: creating spaces for in-depth reflection in the three universities on the professions that will be impacted by AI and holding webinars on a frequent basis for professors and students.

"We address the various opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in a dynamic, flexible, and responsible manner." - Fernando Purcell

Cultural heritage: Conferences and lectures in La Tríada

For La Tríada, preserving cultural heritage is important in university life, which was shared by Rector Ignacio Sánchez; Juan Pablo Siza, Director of the Uniandes Library; and Ana Lucía Macías, Director of Cultural Development at the School of Humanities and Education.

"The effort has been to educate our students around art and beauty. It's impressive to see that when they believe they'll be well cared for and valued, they respect, value, and take care of themselves, and there's a sense of greater university life," said Sánchez.

For its part, the University of Los Andes seeks to make students aware of cultural heritage, regardless of what they're studying.

"We've been working on three guidelines: supporting, connecting, and enhancing creation, preservation, dissemination, and adoption through our scientific and academic areas," Siza explained.

For her part, Macías shared Tec de Monterrey's cultural heritage and said that the institution is even restoring works of art.

"We're researching, disseminating, documenting, exhibiting, and conserving cultural heritage," she said.

La Tríada presented their collaborative work in the field of cultural heritage through an open access content bank, a free platform integrated with academic research and cultural heritage resources from the three institutions.

For the future, La Tríada proposes:

• A UNESCO Chair to foster sustainable societies and protect the environment, promoting science, technology, innovation, and natural heritage.
• An annual academic exchange day on cultural heritage issues for students, professors, researchers, and staff working on cultural heritage issues and the community in general, to be held in 2025.

"We're researching, disseminating, documenting, exhibiting, and conserving cultural heritage." - Ana Lucía Macías

The importance of early childhood

Tec de Monterrey presented the Early Childhood Center.

Manuel Pérez and Adriana Gidi, Director and Associate Director of the Early Childhood Center, respectively, were in charge of presenting the Center's mission and projects.

"The Center's mission is to promote early childhood learning, development, and wellbeing in Mexico and Latin America through four main areas: research, training, science communication, and outreach," said Adriana.

She said that these work areas are reflected in the following projects:

• Environmental influences of metabolic and physiological adaptive and maladaptive response in children experiencing toxic stress: to decrease the prevalence of poor health conditions.
• Workshop on budgeting and planning with a focus on childcare: to raise awareness and train public officials on the importance of early childhood.
• Line of research on early adverse experiences: to determine the prevalence of adverse events in Latin America and establish diagnostic biomarkers.

They also presented the research work carried out jointly by the three universities that make up La Tríada.

1.- Adverse and benevolent experiences, clinical biomarkers, and health impact in Latin American children aged 3 to 5 years.

• This seeks to measure the biological impact of toxic stress on children 3 to 5 years of age and their caregivers, covering neurodevelopment, metabolism, and cardiovascular and mental health.
• Generating local data on early stress in Latin America.
• Designing multidisciplinary strategies for comprehensive interventions.

2.- First prospective study in Latin America on the impact of bioactive compounds present in early life on infant health in the short and medium term.

• To correlate profiles of multiple bioactive compounds relevant to children's development of allergies and asthma in Latin America.

3.- Studies on the impact of neglect during childhood on the development of cardiometabolic disease in adults and later generations.

• To establish ACEs as predisposing and conditioning factors in the development of metabolic and mental diseases (obesity, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, and depression).

4.- Potential correlation between dynamic metrics of early glycemia in pregnancy and pre-pregnancy exposure to heavy metals as a predictive tool for gestational diabetes.

• To determine the potential usefulness of the correlation between patterns of blood glucose dynamics in early pregnancy and heavy metal exposure prior to pregnancy in predicting the occurrence of gestational diabetes or a normal pregnancy.
• To investigate whether glycemic variability during early pregnancy correlates with the incidence of gestational diabetes.

Ignacio Sánchez spoke about the core areas the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile focuses on.

Strategies for sustainability and climate change

Cynthia Villarreal, the Tec's Director of Sustainable Development and Outreach, shared some of the proposals and work they have done during 2024 and will continue for 2025.

"Our goal towards 2030 is to be a collaborative platform for empowering sustainable development and catalyzing climate action in higher education among the internal community of the three universities and society as a whole," she said.

They have focused on two areas to work on:

1. Exchange of best practices: to facilitate meetings of the team responsible for each initiative through virtual sessions.
2. COP Strategies: to aim to position universities as relevant agents in climate discussions, sharing each university's objectives and resources.

For his part, Mauricio Olvera, Administrative and Financial Vice Rector of Uniandes, spoke about the sustainability work program they have had at that university since 2015.

"We focus on five areas: climate change, campus operation, campus ecosystems, culture and learning, and wellbeing and quality of life."

Similarly, Mayron Urbina, Director of Sustainability at UC Chile, shared what is being done at that institution.

"This year, we obtained seals of approval for Reduction and Excellence from Huella Chile (Footprint Chile) and Adhesion to the International Sustainable Campus Network, as well as the signing of the DUOC agreement for the recycling of electrical and electronic items," she said.

Finally, the Tec's Vice President for Inclusion, Social Impact, and Sustainability Inés Sáenz presented the institution's 'Ruta Azul' (Blue Route) initiative, which designs and manages the integrated sustainability strategy.

"One of our first-year goals for Ruta Azul is to eliminate 100 percent of bottled water use in food service at the Tec. It's not only about removing the bottles, but it is a change of culture and mentality so that we all become aware.

"We have guidelines for sustainable events, we've launched the circular system for reusable containers, and by 2025, we will progressively work with our suppliers and concessionaires to share the same sustainability goals," she said.

Members of the three universities took a souvenir photo in front of the mural on the Tec's Rector's Building.

Internationalization and collaborative research with regional impact

Students from the three universities participate in a global leadership training program through 'Transform and Impact.'

"There are 20 students per university and 10 global development projects with a focus on strengthening social engagement skills," said Ana María Sepúlveda, Executive Director of International Affairs at UC Chile.

As regards research, 59 articles have been published in co-authorship between the Tec and UC Chile, 54 articles between the Tec and UNIANDES, and 96 publications between UNIANDES and UC Chile.

Sharing experiences at FIL Monterrey

David Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec, Raquel Bernal, Rector of Uniandes, and Fernando Purcell, Vice Rector of UC Chile, participated in the 2024 Monterrey International Book Fair, where they addressed the topic of critical thinking.

The academics participated in the round table discussion entitled "Challenges of Universities in the 21st Century: Reflections on the Publication 'Does Higher Education Teach Critical Thinking?'"

"When you have the chance to interact with people who have other perspectives, culture, and traditions, you nurture critical thinking, empathy, and the ability to build collaboratively," the Rector of Uniandes explained.

David Garza said: "What we need today is graduates who have the capacity to adapt to this changing environment. Another aspect that ties in with the theme of critical thinking is the ability to learn how to learn and develop tools."

Photo taken during the 2024 Monterrey International Book Fair.

On the other hand, Vice Rector Fernando Purcell said that global impact requires local connections and internationalization from home.

Finally, they shared their favorite book with the attendees at FIL Monterrey 2024.

• Raquel Bernal: What We Owe Each Other by Minouche Shafik
• Fernando Purcell: The Oblivion We Will Be by Héctor Abad Faciolince
• David Garza: Think Again by Adam Grant

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