Our university has reached a new milestone in its commitment with quality and continuous improvement, thanks to the Theology Ecclesial Faculty becoming the first in America to be validated by the Agency of the Holy See for Evaluation and Promotion of Quality of Universities and Ecclesial Departments (AVEPRO).
This step represents an important recognition to the commitment held by the PUCV to internal quality assurance, in agreement to the principles of catholic identity, and integral and excellence education, entrusted by the Magistery of the Church.
The process began in 2024 with a self-assessment phase, encouraged by the Theology Ecclesial Faculty with the support of the Quality Assurance General Direction. During this stage, the performance of the faculty was analyzed in areas such as management, teaching, research, community relations and university life, with a special emphasis on the fulfillment of the mission and the values that guide their academic work.
In this context, the PUCV welcomed the AVEPRO committee for peer evaluation in April of this year, with the purpose of validating the report and share their vision as an expert entity on the subject.
At this respect, the University’s Grand Chancellor and Bishop of Valparaíso, Monsignor Jorge Vega svd, emphasized that this is the first university in the country and Latin America that has been visited by this Holy See agency. “We voluntarily requested this visit, which causes the whole of America to pay attention to the development of the process, its results and achievements. This situates the PUCV and our Faculty as an example for higher education institutions in the region”, he expressed.
Along the same line, Priest Julián López, president of the AVEPRO Committee, indicated that “this meeting is fundamental because it allows us to see that we are not alone as institutions and that we are part of a greater network and not only a Catholic network, but also an Academic one, that has common challenges and that can share criteria for the development of the different ecclesial faculties.”
A new stage for the faculty
The AVEPRO external validation marks a new phase in the trajectory of the Theology Ecclesial Faculty. In this context, Dean Loreto Moya noted: “we wanted to show to the Holy See that during these 12 years we have worked to consolidate a faculty that is aligned to the Magistery of the Church, in particular to the legacy of Pope Francis and the current Pope Leo XIV, at the service of our university and the Dioceses of Valparaíso”. Likewise, she expressed her hope that this experience will inspire other faculties to walk through this journey of continuous evaluation and improvement.
Verónica Bustamante, General Director of Quality Assurance from the PUCV, valued the results of the process, highlighting the coincidence between the internal diagnosis and the feedback provided by evaluators. “This agreement confirms that we are on the right path, and it encourages us to continue to press on”, she noted.
Among the main conclusions, it was mentioned that the Theology Ecclesial Faculty meets the conditions to initiate the development of post-graduate programs and move forward towards master’s and doctoral degrees and strengthen their research line. All of this anticipates a more complex, consolidated and Interdisciplinary faculty, a challenge that is supported by the rectorate in order to continue its growth.
The AVEPRO agency also underscored the quality of the self-assessment report, that included the perception of students, teachers, academic support personnel and authorities, which showed a good working environment and team leadership. About this, “the most valuable was to listen to the community about what they value and what they think we should improve. This was the basis of this process”, Bustamante added.
For Leonor Pérez, secretary of the Theology deanship, the participation of this process has been deeply meaningful. “This is the first evaluation of the kind in Chile and serves as an example for future accreditations at the Latin American level. This is very relevant, and we are all committed to the successful development of this process”, she commented.
With this evaluation, the PUCV joins a select group of higher education institutions that are validated by AVEPRO in Europe and other regions of the world, reasserting its value seal and the commitment to an integral, quality and lifelong education.
By Daniela Lorca
Strategic Communications Department
