Institutional Spotlight: CIBERTEC

CIBERTEC, a member of the Laureate network with eight campuses throughout Peru, recently undertook an institution-wide initiative to make community service hours a requirement for all students, connecting them to meaningful service opportunities and allowing them to reflect on the experiences with faculty members and peers. In the second semester of 2016, they launched the initiative as part of their “Personal Development” course, a required course for all second-year students. Every student is required to complete a minimum of 10 hours of service with community organizations, like orphanages, hospitals, and the Red Cross. Reflection on the experience is then build into their Personal Development course where they are able to compare and contrast their observations and questions with peers and faculty advisors.

“For CIBERTEC, it is an institutional priority that students understand they can be agents of change in their society and that they can make a difference through solidarity, empathy, and humanity,”

said Lily Bravo, Director of the School of Management and Business and leader of the student volunteering program. So far, more than 3,000 students and 70 faculty members have been involved, totaling nearly 29,000 hours of volunteering.

CIBERTEC prides itself on providing pre-professional experiences, like internships and practicums, to 90 percent of their students before they graduate, preparing them to go get jobs in their fields. With this effort, Bravo and her team hope that students will also be prepared as citizens and givers in their communities. The institution plans to increase the requirement to 20 hours per student in 2017, and has a final goal of 32 hours per student in 2018, while also building even more strategic partnerships with community leaders, government authorities, and non-profits.

“Here for Good means that we use education to transform lives, educating people who understand they can help others move forward through their actions,” Bravo said. “It inspires us to make the world a better place and is a force that unites all of us in the Laureate network.”