ACCREDITATION OF STUDIES IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION BY THE CLAEP. CASE OF UNIVERSIDAD TECNICA PARTICULAR DE LOJA

The processes of accreditation of higher education in communication in Latin America are present from 15 years ago through the management of the Consejo Latinoamericano de Acreditación de la Educación en Periodismo y Comunicación (CLAEP). The Council is dedicated to fostering and promoting excellence in the vocational education of journalism and communication, considers that the students of the universities that they attend a career in journalism and/or communication may be better prepared in the professional exercise if the institution is governed by international quality standards specific to the professions of journalism and communication. Accreditation is a process by which a group of colleagues from an academic program evaluates and reviews different institutional aspects, academics, curriculum and financial institution to establish the state of its academic quality. The purpose of the investigation is to verify compliance with the standards of accreditation CLAEP by part of the Degree in Social Communication of the la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), in Ecuador, in the year 2016. The standards studied are: Mission, government and administration; Curriculum; teaching body of full time and part time; research, creative activity and professional; services to students; budget, facilities and equipment; and, service to the Community, Extension and graduates. The methodology utilized is qualitative and quantitative from the information provided by the academic unit. The conclusions revolve around the levels of compliance with the standards. There are conditions and frameworks that compromise the work of the Degree in Social Communication of UTPL and help for the implementation of plans of best in constant relationship with their environment and international trends of the profession.