He is committed to consolidating the work carried out in recent years and introducing new initiatives
Student recruitment, reduction of dropout rates, and expansion of the academic offering. These are the three main lines of action that will shape the governance program of Professor Enrique Costa Montenegro as the new director of the School of Telecommunication Engineering. The school renewed its management team this Monday in an election day in which Costa ran as the head of a single-candidate list, obtaining the majority support of the votes cast at the School Board –50 votes in favor, 2 against, and 2 abstentions–.
He is joined in the new management team by María Cao Paz as Deputy Director for Quality; Pablo Fondo Ferreiro as Deputy Director for Recruitment and International Relations; Borja González Valdés as Deputy Director for Academic Affairs and New Degrees; and Manuel García Sánchez, who will combine the role of Deputy Director for Infrastructure with that of Secretary.
As he emphasized before the members of the School Board, the governance program for the next six years will focus on continuing the work carried out by previous management teams of the school, led by Professors Íñigo Cuiñas, of which he himself was part, and Rebeca P. Díaz, who is stepping down to take up the Vice-Rectorate for Teaching and Research Staff this very week.
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According to the new director, student recruitment is the main challenge in the short and medium term. In this regard, he recalls that declining birth rates are already impacting the generations entering university and considers it necessary to strengthen actions aimed at raising awareness of telecommunication studies.
In addition to the numerous measures implemented in the school in recent years and already consolidated, such as the National Teleco Olympiad, Open Days, and activities like the International Day of Women and Girls in ICT –Elas Fan TIC– and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science –Elas Fan CienTec–, two new initiatives will now be introduced: collaboration with the Polos Creativos program of the Xunta de Galicia and the launch of the Teleco Ambassadors pilot program.
“The Polos Creativos program of the Xunta de Galicia is aimed at primary, secondary, and vocational education centers and seeks to expand students’ knowledge mainly through technological and digital challenges,” explains Costa. It provides equipment, learning kits for different technologies, and the organization of events related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “Our school, with a clearly technological profile, can contribute to this program while also using it to disseminate our knowledge and gain visibility among potential future students.”
In the case of the Teleco Ambassadors program, the idea is to expand the talks that the school already offers in secondary education centers. “Until now, our teaching staff or partner companies visited these centers; now the idea is for our students to return to their former schools and share their experience with our degree programs,” explains Costa, who is convinced that this type of talk provides more relatable information, as it is delivered by former classmates from the same institutions.
The Mentoring Program returns and the commitment to English remains
Regarding the reduction of dropout rates, the plan includes restoring the Mentoring Program and increasing measures to promote student life within the school, including the creation of new student spaces, such as a Fab Lab equipped with technological devices related to the school’s degree programs.
The third major axis of the governance program is the expansion of the educational offering, both through new degree programs and micro-credentials. In terms of internationalization, the English-taught degree will be maintained and new subjects in English will be promoted. Additionally, efforts will continue to expand the ConexiónTeleco network of companies, currently made up of 16 partner entities –11 sponsors and 5 collaborators–, and attention will also be given to various maintenance works within the school.
Launch of a pilot plan for fraud detection
Among the new measures planned for the coming academic year is also the implementation of a pilot project for fraud detection, which will involve testing different methods to prevent or detect cheating in exams. “This type of cheating is now mainly carried out using technology, such as radiofrequency transmission or the use of AI,” explains Costa, noting that this is a hot topic discussed at all conferences of telecommunication school leaders.
Source: DUVI