Universidad del Magdalena

Contribute to the socioeconomic development of the Caribbean Region and the country, through the comprehensive training of economists of high professional and ethical quality; recognized by their academic skills, the rigorous foundation in economic theory, the mastery of quantitative techniques and tools; and by their ability to lead the creation and transformation of organizations and society where they interact with a competitive, sustainable vision with social justice .

Through the development of research and social projection activities, the Economics Program contributes to the creation and dissemination of knowledge for the development of the discipline, strengthens the processes of academic formation, and increases the capacity to understand the facts and phenomena of the regional, national and international economy. These skills allow the economist to be actively linked to the solution of the problems of their environment and to contribute in the generation of dynamics of development that allow the improvement of the community’s quality of life.

he Economics Program of University of Magdalena will be recognized in the Caribbean Region and in the national context, for its high academic quality, backed by the professional performance of its graduates and the qualification of its teachers, the leadership and projection of its students, and the relevance of their research that contributes to the solution of the economic and social problems of their environment.

The Economics Program of University of Magdalena is projected as a program accredited by the high academic quality of its professional training processes; with postgraduate training programs and continuing education with high quality inter and transdisciplinary approaches for the development and application of economic knowledge in the regional and national environment.

A program with a highly qualified faculty (masters and doctorates); with qualifications and skills to respond to the demands of academic training, with competitive graduates distinguished by their high academic preparation, leadership skills and technical and human skills that allow them to be involved in the dynamics of regional development; with a research center of wide recognition and consolidation in the regional and national academic communities, which develops research, consultancies and publications of high quality and relevance and will also have a nationally and internationally indexed journal; with links to international and academic networks and research communities of high prestige and excellence, which favor the academic mobility of teachers and students and facilitate the appropriation and transfer of knowledge and technology.

The Agricultural Economics Program is created to train professionals at a higher level to meet the growing demand generated by the massive expansion of the baccalaureate and to provide qualified human resources to the agricultural productive sector, which was beginning to expand in the department of Magdalena.

During the decade of the 70s and 80s, the program began to introduce a series of curricular changes to try to adapt it to regional needs and separate it from the agronomic training with which it maintained a hybrid character (Educational Project, Economics Program, 2004). At that time, the relevant elements to criticize the curriculum revolved around the excessive number of subjects, its encyclopedic character, its rigidity, the repetition of subjects in different subjects and the poor foundation in Economic Sciences, among others (Navarro, 2002).

In 1992, within the framework of the new curricular changes and in response to the crisis in the agricultural sector, the Agricultural Economy program was reformed and two emphases were created: an Agricultural and an International one. With this new curricular proposal, it was sought to offer a greater foundation in economic sciences, as well as to provide greater curricular flexibility to students. Only the Program of International Economy was embraced and began to work in 1994.

The curriculum of the Economics Program with an emphasis in International Economics, although it reduced the number of courses and the encyclopedic character, inherited some weaknesses of the previous plans related to the little curricular flexibility due to the excessive prerequisites and corequisites in the subjects and the poor foundation in economic theory, especially in areas such as macroeconomics and microeconomics.

With the process of Academic Reform carried out by the University of Magdalena in 2001, there is then a change of the curricular model, moving to study plans, organized by academic credits, training by cycles, axes and learning a second language, inclusion of a semester of professional practice, among other reforms.

For 2000-2009, the emphasis placed on the subject of territorial planning and regional development has become tangible in products with a high local impact, such as the Land Management Plan of Santa Marta 2000-2009; The formulation of this plan fell under the direction and design of three economists graduated from the University of Magdalena, as well as the accompaniment of students in the discussion process.

The Program was actively involved in all activities related to the formulation of the Strategic Export Plan of Santa Marta and Magdalena, integrating the panels of the CARCE (Regional Advisory Committee on Foreign Trade), to promote the export culture. In this subject the graduates of the Economics Program with emphasis in international economics, managed to participate in projects such as Expopyme, in which they are linked to the SMEs of the city to support their business management focused on export.

On the other hand, for 2009 the program develops the self-assessment processes for accreditation purposes, obtaining the certification of an accredited program in 2012 for six (6) years through Resolution # 10686. Likewise, the process of renewal of the Accreditation for High Quality has been worked since 2016.

The Economics Program received the High Quality Accreditation from the Ministry of National Education through Resolution # 10686 of September 6, 2012, valid for six (6) years. In March 2018, it filed the application for renewal of the accreditation proceeds from a process of Self-evaluation that began from 2016 with the participation of teachers, students, graduates and administrative and directive board.