As part of the International Seminar “Educational Leadership: Global Strategies for Effectiveness and Impact“, organized by the Center for Innovation in Educational Leadership (CILED), the academic agreement between Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) and Vanderbilt University (USA) was formalized on Wednesday, October 2nd.

This alliance, whose collaboration began in November 2023 and was formalized in the first half of 2024, aims to establish lines of cooperation among various UDD faculties, such as Engineering, Education, Government, and Psychology.

The agreement, through CILED and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, will allow the design of joint strategies between both institutions, focused on research and academic training, thereby strengthening the exchange of knowledge and resources in key areas of educational development.

The formalization of the agreement was attended by three prominent representatives from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College: Ellen Goldring, Vice Dean and Professor in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations; Xiu Cravens, Academic and Researcher in the same department and Director of the Peabody-Asia Education Consortium; and Jason Grissom, Professor of Public Policy and Education.

From Universidad del Desarrollo, participants included Ernesto Silva, Provost and Vice-Rector of Postgraduate Studies, Continuing Education, and Outreach; Fernando Rojas, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; Mauricio Bravo, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Education; Rodrigo Arellano, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Government; Jorge Varela, Director of the Coexistence Lab at the Socioemotional Well-Being Institute in the Faculty of Psychology; Soledad Ortúzar, Executive Director of CILED; and Christian Lazcano, Director of Training at CILED.

In this regard, Ernesto Silva emphasized that “this agreement symbolizes our great interest in initiating a deep and meaningful collaboration focused on strengthening educational leadership, a fundamental pillar in our commitment to developing leadership and formative capacities in Chile. It is an important step that will undoubtedly allow us to learn from Vanderbilt’s experience and academic excellence”.

Soledad Ortúzar, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of this agreement for CILED, stating that “this alliance with Peabody College at Vanderbilt University will allow us to strengthen our international networks and access new opportunities for the development of our educational leaders. We are committed to generating profound and sustainable changes in the educational field, and this collaboration brings us closer to that goal”.

For her part, Ellen Goldring stated the importance of this collaboration, saying: “We hope this is just the beginning of many collaborations. I think we use words to say we want to learn from each other. But what I’m excited about, in my conversations with Soledad especially, is what does that mean and how we can make that joint research and development visible and impactful”.

About this academic agreement, Xiu Cravens expressed her enthusiasm, adding: “We’re super excited about it. UDD is a young university, but it’s full of energy and full of commitment. It feels very future-oriented and benefiting from lots of innovation and good ideas. I feel like that’s something that Vanderbilt and UDD have in common. We share similar interests, especially in education. It represents the university’s energy and innovation. And a lot of times when you talk about energy or new innovation, it’s very abstract, but the projects Soledad has been leading are very specific and actually important to vocational schools, regular schools, and principals. That’s where I see a lot of potential for collaboration. On top of that, I see some really important expertise. The center, in just a few short years, has built a strong network, bringing together researchers, industry leaders, and practitioners. It’s a very good sign that there is strong leadership, led by Soledad, to connect these groups”.