Br. Manuir Mentges represented University in Columbus Association activities
Daniel Samoilovich, Carlos Augusto Hernández, Carlos Estrada Pinto and Manuir Mentges / Photo: Columbus Association/Release
The Columbus Association, an international network of universities of which PUCRS is part, has promoted international two seminars on Jun 24 – 25 to talk about the actions of higher education institutions in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, considering their actions for the future. The Vice President for Undergraduate Studies and Continuing Education, Br. Manuir Mentges, participated as a panelist on both days, together with academic vice presidents from other countries.
Since March, with the spread of the new coronavirus, universities around the world have had to offer their services and activities remotely. As the conversations shifted towards the academic aspects, Br. Manuir shared the most important measures adopted by PUCRS:
Other topics discussed at the events were the conditions for remote learning. Br. Manuir reported the University’s initiative to map students who did not have the necessary infrastructure to attend classes and shared all the support the University provided. In addition, the reality of each academic area was taken into account in order to think of the most effective way to allow all students to attend classes, even if asynchronously.
“We have adopted strategies towards the better use of technologies and methodologies by our faculty. In this sense, we are grateful to our professors, who, despite this scenario of uncertainty, handled the situation perfectly and reaffirmed their commitment to the common goals of our University. I would also like to make mention of all the support offered to our students, on different fronts, as we sought to get them engaged, motivated and active in the learning process. We have been attentive to them as we continue to improve our teaching and learning practices and processes, through continuing education programs”, Br. Manuir Mentges says.
The Association of Universities in Europe and Latin America aims to promote international cooperation and institutional development for universities, by improving management processes and structures. In an effort to support continuous development, since 2009, Columbus has applied the benchmarking methodology with more than 80 managers from more than 20 universities in different areas.
