After the call made by the Colombian Institute of Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad – ICETEX, to elect the representatives of public and private HEIs to the Monitoring Committee of the Educational Credit Sustainability Fund, the rector of the Foundation Universitaria María Cano was elected to be part of this body on behalf of private higher education institutions in Colombia, for the period 2022-2024. The FSCE is made up of five members: the President of ICETEX or his delegate, who chairs it; the Financial Vice President of ICETEX, the Head of the Risk Office, a representative of the private HEIs and a representative of the public HEIs.

The election process of the rector, Hugo Alberto Valencia Porras, was carried out in accordance with the provisions of chapter II of Agreement No. 10 of ICETEX, of February 25, 2022, which establishes that the call processes for the election of the representatives of public HEIs and private HEIs before the FSCE Monitoring Committee will be carried out according to the schedule of:

1. Call made by ICETEX.
2. Review of requirements to verify compliance with the requirements that include accredited experience in higher education and an administrative act that accredits him as rector of the applicant institution.
3. Publication of applications through the ICETEX website.
4. Voting by the rectors of the country’s HEIs, prior notification by ICETEX.
5. Publication of the results on the ICETEX website.

For the public HEIs, the elected rector was Mr. Alejandro Ceballos Márquez from the University of Caldas.

The Credit Sustainability Fund – FSCE – is a mitigation and coverage instrument of undergraduate educational credit risk caused by student desertion during the of studies, to maintain the sustainability of financing access to higher education, including affirmative actions that must be carried out by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), eligible and interested in developing strategic alliances with ICETEX. The FSCE has the following functions:

• Evaluate and make the corresponding decisions on the use of the resources, yields and/or surpluses of the FSCE, and authorize the transfer of the same in accordance with the decisions made, guaranteeing that said use is related to actions or programs related to the nature and purposes of the same, always supported by the respective technical, financial and other analyzes that must be presented by the competent areas, decisions regarding which the Committee must present a semi-annual report to the Board of Directors to monitor the use of such resources, yields and/or surpluses of the FSCE.
• Evaluate and approve the quarterly and annual reports submitted by the Fund Administrator and that are related to the movement of resources and account status of the FSCE.
• Recommend to the Board of Directors every two years, the percentage of contributions to the FSCE, prior presentation of the corresponding technical study.
• Recommend to the Board of Directors every two years, the percentage of other contributions and exceptions to the FSCE, prior presentation of the corresponding technical study.
• Observe in their analysis and decision making, the investment and risk policies adopted by ICETEX.
•  Evaluate every two years, counted from the month of January 2024, the performance of each institution, according to the evolution registered by the rates of desertion of the credit and delinquency of the desertion of the educational credit, for which it will have the technical support from the ICETEX Credit Risk Committee.
• The others that are considered necessary to meet the objectives of the Monitoring Committee and the FSCE.

For the María Cano University Foundation it is an honor that its Rector is part of such an important Fund that ensures academic permanence, access to higher education and equity.

Hugo Alberto Valencia Porras is a Statistician with studies in Master of Business Administration – MBA from EAFIT University, Master of Marketing Management from Viña del Mar University (Chile), Marketing Specialist at EAFIT University, Specialist in Economics and Business International from the University of Medellin. He has more than three decades of professional experience, more than 20 years dedicated to Higher Education; since May 2016 he has been the Rector of the María Cano University Foundation. He has also worked at the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia as Director of the Montería campus, National Director of Planning, National Director of Self-Assessment and National Director of Research and Development of Postgraduate Programs; He has been Head of the Internal Control Office, Head of the Planning Office, Administrative and Financial Director, Director of University Welfare, Dean of the Academic Extension Center and Head of the Commercial Department at ITM University Institution; as well as a professor at the Research Center of the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Antioquia.

He has been an Academic Par of the Ministry of National Education since 2005 and professor of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in different Higher Education Institutions since 1996. In the business sector he was a Statistician and Information Systems Analyst in the Production and Exports area of ​​EXPOCARIBE S.A. Grupo UNIBAN and Administrative Director of Comercializadora Internacional BANACOL S.A. Apartadó headquarters. He is currently the President of the Colombian Association of Higher Education Institutions – ACIET, belongs to the Board of Directors of the Higher Education Development Fund – FODESEP and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Higher Education Institutions of Antioquia – ASIESDA .

Thanks to the results of his academic and administrative management and the demonstrated leadership, he has been chosen consecutively in the years 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

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