STRATEGIES AND HIGH-TECH TOOLS WHICH CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN THE AZCAPOTZALCO CAMPUS OF THE MEXICAN UAM

There is a lack of good strategic planning in the Basic Science and Engineering Division (DCBI) of the Campus Azcapotzalco of the Mexican Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) [1] as it has been confirmed by the fact that in the last 7 years the number of freshman students increased by 20% in 3 years only to decrease by 40% in the following 4 years [2]. Another good example is that one of the buildings (Building “G”) in the Campus Azcapotzalco in which research and teaching have been carried was not complying with the construction regulations enforced since the 1985 earthquake disaster in Mexico City and the UAM authorities decided until the end of the year of 2014 to fix it. The re-construction was supposed to last the first six months of the year 2015 but it will now take at least until the end of the same year, impacting the good development of teaching and research of the DCBI. One last example is the criticism received by the Mexican accreditation organization CACEI every four years over the high failure rate of the engineering students. In this paper we propose a strategic process which can be useful for the DCBI. We propose a step by step process, different from the current process. We also propose high tech tools which can be used in order to help define the best path for the students in finishing their careers and to propose the teaching modality best suited to successfully pass their courses.

References:
[1] Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana. www.uam.mx
[2] UAM. Anuario Estadístico 2014. http://www.uam.mx/transparencia/index.html