Enablement of Social Integration on the Campus

The two major initiatives in this area of Campus Carlos III have been the design and implementation of the Equality Plan and the Comprehensive Accessibility Plan, approved by the Governing Council at its session on 8th April, 2010.

During the 2012/13 academic year, the implementation of the First Equality Plan advanced, along with the creation of the constitution of the self-regulating body. Four working groups were created: Representation and Promotion; Conciliation; Awareness and Training; Non-Sexist Language. The objectives of these groups are to prioritize measures to be taken and to analyze developments.

The following stand out as good examples of the measures carried out during this academic year:

•  In relation to the use of non-sexist language, documents sent to the Equality Unit were reviewed and a course on the subject was given to all administration and service departments.
• A document outlining procedures to be followed to prevent both sexual and gender harassment at UC3M was drafted. The same document also outlines action to be taken in response to sexual and gender harassment.
• Awareness raising activities, mainly aimed at students, and recognized by the award of a Humanities credit.
  • 4. III Seminar organized to fight gender violence (November 2012).
  • 5. Celebration of the third annual International Women’s Day (March 2012).
  • 6. Participation in the VI Solidarity Week including three activities aimed at dealing with the problem of child malnutrition, (in collaboration with UNICEF), Spiral Theory and the reality of the lives of migrant women (in collaboration with Médecins du Monde).

• Updating and redesigning the Equality Unit’s website (http://portal.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/organizacion/unidad_igualdad_uc3m), which includes a “Gender Observatory”, which in turn contains reports and information on gender which are relevant to UC3M. Facebook and Twitter have also been incorporated.
• Support for the development of Red de Unidades de Igualdad de Género para la Excelencia Universitaria (RUIGEU), (Network of Gender Equality Units for University Excellence) which was recognized by all participating universities on 8th March, International Women’s Day.
• Support for activities carried out by other institutions such as la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Historia de las Mujeres (AEIHM) (The Spanish Association of Research into the History of Women) including the celebration of this institution’s International Seminar (October 2011) and the II International Caribbean Congress on gender cartographies, organized by the Kore group.

Furthermore, the following graph shows the continuing increase in the number of women holding permanent teaching posts at UC3M:

If we break down the data by category, the distribution by gender is much more equal among associate professors than among full professors, but in both categories the presence of women is increasing significantly:

Activities carried out as part of the development of the Comprehensive Accessibility Plan in the 2011/2012 academic year are as follows:

n October 2011, the Committee on Accessibility was set up; it is chaired by the Vice Chancellor of Equality and Cooperation and the Vice Chancellor of Infrastructure and the Environment, and comprises representatives of the maintenance and works services departments, the Espacio

A fifty hour training program on accessibility, divided into ten modules, was developed on the three campuses. A total of 182 people have participated in this program including representatives from all the University’s departments and services.

1. Sectorial Accessibility Projects have been developed and carried out thanks to funding obtained by the International Campus of Excellence, with specific subsidies coming from IMSERSO-Fundación ONCE.

2. Comprehensive accessibility signage has been introduced on the University campus. A study was carried out including analysis, diagnosis, action plans and proposed designs, with the participation of the works and maintenance departments, the communications departments, office logistics departments and PIED (Student Area). Early implementations of the project included design and signage planning for the extension to the Juan Benet building; a “style book" highlighting development of signage, including accessibility parameters proposed in the study, was also developed.

3. Elimination of physical barriers, following prioritization established in the Comprehensive Accessibility Plan.

4.Investment and justification of the total resources assigned by the International Campus of Excellence was completed. These resources have been used to improve accessibility in the following areas.

Accessibility to student information points in the libraries and in student areas on all three campuses has been improved. This has involved the installation of a magnetic induction loop which aids communication for people with impaired hearing and lower, more accessible, sections on counters and information desks. Specific software has also been introduced for self-consultation computers.

A lending service for software which can be installed in computers to help people with impaired vision has also been introduced. The keys to introducing this project were the acquisition of the software and cooperation between the Library and IT departments and PIED student area.
 

The implementation of the Comprehensive Signage Program was started in the 2012/13 academic year on the Getafe, Leganes and Colmenarejo Campuses by means of a subsidy of €24.980 from the Fundación ONCE (Spanish Foundation for the Blind). Orientation plans in line with the requirements of universal accessibility and the improvement of basic resources for people with reduced mobility, such as elevators and adapted restrooms, were also incorporated.

According to a study by Fundación Compromiso y Transparencia (FCyT) (Foundation for Commitment and Transparency), Universidad Carlos III, Madrid and Universidad de Cantabria are the two most transparent universities in Spain. This ranking, which includes fifty public and 25 private universities, relates to 25 transparency indicators examined in each center; these indicators include financial position, strategic plans and the composition and background of the teaching staff.