Reading of the summary report for the 2022/23 academic year

I would like to begin by thanking the Chancellor, the members of the Board of Trustees and the Rector for having placed their trust in me by naming me as General Secretary. It is an honour and a great responsibility.

It is traditional to begin the ceremony for the opening of the academic year with a look to the past, by reviewing what was achieved during the previous academic year. This allows us to celebrate our successes and learn from them; to identify our mistakes and to try not to repeat them; and to think about the future, which is now in our hands.

In the words of Carlos Dómine: "We must look to the past in order to really understand where we are going now and where we want to go in the future."

The length of this summary report demonstrates the huge amount of work carried out and the enthusiasm of those undertaking it. It also makes it impossible for me to mention all of the activities performed, awards received and projects brought to fruition over the last year.

Still, let us take some time to consider our successes and celebrate them. These successes have been achieved through the hard work and dedication of everyone in the university community: the academic staff, the administrative and service staff, and, of course, our students.

Academic staff

In 2022-23, a total of 1051 lecturers were active at the University, with 499 of them holding a doctorate.

I would like to make a special mention of our emeritus professors, who all richly deserve this title in recognition of their long and distinguished careers.

Dª Isabel de Salas Nestares
D. Manuel Martínez Sospedra
D. José Vicente Pedraza Bochons
D. José María de Jaime Loren
D. Gonzalo Rubio Irigoyen

During the past year, more than 50 lecturers have received awards for their work.

For those of us who teach, it is our duty to provide our students with knowledge and values that they can employ at university and beyond. In the words of Anatole France: “The art of teaching is about awakening the curiosity in the young and then satisfying that curiosity."

Continuing to innovate in our approach to teaching and learning is a key part of what providing a university education is all about. In 2022-23, a total of 65 innovative teaching projects were put forward for an Ángel Herrera prize, with two projects ultimately being successful.

The innovative schools project to commemorate the first circumnavigation of the world, “VUELTA AL MUNDO DE ELCANO”, won the “Premio Ángel Herrera a la innovación pedagógica y didáctica en colegios” for the activity entitled “Cuaderno de Bitácora”. CEU teachers and staff from the Ministry of Defence in Valencia launched this project in 2019.

The group of CEU UCH lecturers responsible for the project entitled “SWICEU. Cinco años en busca de ‘NUEVOS FLEMING’”, which focused on the search new antibiotics, also received the “Premio Ángel Herrera a la innovación pedagógica y didáctica en universidades” for their commitment to innovation in teaching.

An essential task for any teacher is to keep on learning new things so that this new knowledge can improve the education of our students. We should never be satisfied with what we already know and never get tired of teaching.

As Pope Francis said on World Youth Day, “unless knowledge is embraced with responsibility, it bears little fruit.”

This desire for new knowledge can also be seen in research.

Research

To gain new knowledge and improve our teaching
To resolve complex problems and make a positive contribution to the improvement of society.

Researching with others to help everyone.

Some of the most notable developments in the research area are:

The creation of a Strategic Research Plan for 2022-25, in close collaboration with CEU Universities and the Director General's Office of the San Pablo CEU University Foundation.
Research collaborations with prestigious institutions:
- The MICOF-CEU UCH Chair on Cognitive Decline and Healthy Aging, in conjunction with the pharmacists' professional association in Valencia, the Muy Ilustre Colegio de Farmacéuticos de Valencia.
- The ESI International Chair@CEU-UCH on real-time control for the simulation of manufacturing processes.
- The collaboration agreements with the Ford Motor Company for industrial research projects, doctoral theses and post-doctoral programmes.

These are strategic alliances which strengthen our research activities and enable us to take on exciting challenges in different fields.

At a more personal level, the University has:

58 research groups
27 young researchers
4 Ramón y Cajal researchers
and 33 new doctors.

Their work can be seen in:

Se han llevado a cabo
- 106 research projects
- 731 research publications
367 six-year research periods (sexenios)
The signing of 36 collaboration agreements.
In financial terms:
- Public funding for current research projects amounts to €2,648,919
- Private funding amounts to €1,235,655.

Non-academic staff

The University has 377 non-academic staff, who undertake technical, financial and administrative tasks. They play an important role in the functioning of the University, providing support to the academic staff, the University's management and our students.

I want to pay tribute to the work they do across the different University services, some of which I will mention more specifically later.

One notable example of such work is the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine's "Business Intelligence for Veterinary Medicine: BIVe" project, which won an Ángel Herrera award for innovation.

Students

There were 11,755 students at the University in 2022-23.

9085 undergraduate students, with 2328 in their first year.
2532 postgraduate students.
138 doctoral students

I would like to thank the Marketing Department for their work in publicising the University's study programmes and recruiting students, and also in raising the university's profile in different arenas, in conjunction with the Corporate Communications Department.

La Universidad garantiza la igualdad de oportunidades, con un sistema propio de becas y ayudas al estudio, gestionado por la Unidad de Becas de Secretaría General:

3799 students received a grant or scholarship.
2635 grants or scholarships were awarded by the CEU San Pablo University Foundation or the CEU Cardenal Herrera University.

The number awarded has increased, and I would like to highlight the launch of the “Becas CEU Humanitas” programme, which is aimed at those who have studied at CEU schools in the Valencia region who wish to study humanities degrees; those for Latin American students, the “Becas para Colegios de Hispanoamérica”; and for those from international schools, the “Becas para Colegios Internacionales”.

The Faculty of Health Sciences also launched the CEU International Placements Scholarships programme for Medicine students, enabling them to undertake clinical placements in the USA. Those participating in this ground-breaking programme undertake clinical rotations at prestigious hospitals and healthcare centres in Chicago and New York.

The Library has provided students with basic and advanced training courses to develop their information management skills.

The University Guidance Service has undertaken activities to support the development of our students’ soft skills, with students being able to gain badges from the CEU Microcredential Ecosystem in recognition of their achievement. 667 students completed this training, compared with 180 the previous year – an increase of 370%.

Students with a disability or specific needs can receive personalized support from our Disability Advice and Support Unit.

We also aim to educate our students with less formal activities.

The week-long 103 Culture Fest was held to celebrate the culture of the 103 nationalities of students on our Alfara del Patriarca Campus in Valencia.
The number of student clubs has increased. There are 35 active student clubs across the three campuses, with some of them active on more than one campus. Two new student clubs this year were the “Military Veterinary Medicine Club” and the “Elche International Entrepreneurship Club”.

Improving our students' employability and career prospects is the main objective of the Careers Service.

The Careers Service has administered the signing of 1471 undergraduate placement agreements.

821 agreements for placements in Spain.
596 international placement agreements.

The signing of these agreements has enabled:

4315 placements to be offered to undergraduate students, of a compulsory and voluntary nature.
6322 students to undertake placements.
- 4933 of these placements were of a compulsory nature.
- 1389 were voluntary.

With regard to international placements:

1128 students have undertaken placements abroad.
- 627 of these placements were of a compulsory nature, and
- 501 were voluntary.

348 job vacancies for graduates have been advertised on our Career Center platform. 117 international job vacancies have also been advertised.

For postgraduate students:

203 new collaboration agreements have been signed: 193 for placements in Spain and 10 for international placements.
484 placements have been offered: 483 of these were in Spain and 1 was international.
685 placements were undertaken.
- Compulsory placements: 545 in Spain and 14 international placements.
- Voluntary placements: 124 in Spain and 2 international placements.
29 job vacancies, in Spain and abroad, have been advertised.

CEU EMPRENDE

The entrepreneurship learning pathway for CEU EMPRENDE has been improved and 180 students have signed up for the programme. 22 students have now earned the entrepreneurship microcredential.
The mentoring system for students undertaking end-of-degree projects of an entrepreneurial nature has been enhanced.
Educational and awareness-raising activities have been undertaken such as the "Teens Emprendedores" and "Thinking Challenge" competitions.

A key skill for graduate employability is knowledge of foreign languages. The University's Languages Service offers students the chance to learn languages and earn certificates at different levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A large number of students – undergraduates, postgraduates, international students and students from Spain – have attended English and Spanish language courses organized by the Languages Service.

Thanks to a collaboration between the student newspaper el Rotativo and Radio CEU and the online newspaper El Debate, our students have had the opportunity to see their work published. The Centro de Producción Audiovisual Bartolomé Serra Marqués has also undertaken activities to promote the Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Communication.

Efforts to promote sport at the University have increased, with participation in internal competitions increasing on the Elche and Castellón Campuses.

We aim to continue supporting our students once they complete their studies. To this end, CEU Alumni assists our graduates when looking for employment, a career change or to launch entrepreneurial projects. Networking events have been organized to facilitate the creation of synergies and some of the most inspiring graduate stories have been collated and published.

The “Mentorización senior junior GPS” mentoring programme took place for the first time in 2023-24.

Now is the time to work together to achieve sustainable development. More than a hundred students of 25 different nationalities took part in a reforesting activity near the Pobla de Vallbona. The initiative was organized by the Office of the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Hidraqua and the town council of La Pobla de Vallbona.

I would like to end this section by congratulating our students for their achievements in 2022-23 because their success is ours too.

We are an INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY because

We have increased the number of students and academic and administrative staff from other countries at the University.
We have increased the number of international study programmes we offer.
And our partnerships with companies and other institutions are growing, enriching the student experience.

The evidence:

We have 2825 international undergraduate students.
In 2022-23, 745 new international students enrolled.
113 students have participated in international study exchange programmes and 73 have undertaken international training.
We have hosted 148 foreign students as part of international exchange programmes.
- 69 Erasmus+ foreign students.
- 79 foreign students arriving via bilateral exchange agreements.
10 academic and administrative staff have also taken part in exchange programmes.
65 collaboration agreements have been signed.
At the institutional level, the University:
- Has taken over the presidency of DUKENET, in the 25th year since it was founded. DUKENET is a prestigious European network of 18 universities from 15 countries teaching business and marketing studies.
- Has hosted the fourth International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC 2022).
- Is now a member of Global Legaltech Hub (GLTH): the largest not-for-profit organization in the world aiming to support initiatives in the legal tech world. We are the first university in the Valencia region to become a member of this international organization.
With regard to teaching activities:
- 37 COIL projects have been undertaken and the initiative has now been extended to the administrative dimension, with a COIL project now taking place between CEU UCH and the Universidad Católica de Manizales in Colombia. Staff from Admissions, International Recruitment, Hospitality, International Marketing, Campus Life, Quality Assurance, the Pastoral Service and the International Relations Office are taking part in this project.
With regard to quality assurance:
- The Strategic Development and Quality Unit has assisted an international quality assurance commission examining the European Master in Customer Relationship Marketing (MERCURI) programme, offered by CEU UCH in conjunction with three other European Universities.
- The Faculty of Health Sciences is the first faculty of its kind to obtain the AUDIT-Internacional certification from ANECA, Spain's agency for quality assurance in higher education, for the systems put in place for its study programmes across its three campuses.
Our students have also taken part in international projects:
- Advertising students took on the difficult task of creating an international campaign for the French and British markets for the Porcelanosa group.
- Education students took part in projects with the University of Stanford (California) regarding artificial intelligence.
- Physiotherapy students on the Elche Campus took part in an inter-university competition organized by Aix-Marseille Université.
- The nineteenth edition of the International Student Congress (CIE) was held this year.

The University is committed to DIGITALIZATION:

36 new processes have been digitized and simplified.
6 working groups have been created to reflect on the impact of technology on teaching. They cover the following areas: education, philosophy, economics, design, law and health. The aim is to consider the possible effect of technology such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse on teaching.
Virtual environments have been explored to do this. Examples of the projects carried out include:
- The creation of 360º virtual tours of the three CEU UCH campuses for student recruitment.
- A digital twin of the University auditorium, the Paraninfo, and the Alfara Campus's central square were created and successfully tested as the virtual venue for an international veterinary conference and a conference on the use of technology in the law, business and political science.
In order to encourage the creation of audiovisual materials for teaching, a short video competition was organized, and almost 50 microvideos were submitted.

The foundation and inspiration for all of this activity is Christian humanism. The activities of the Pastoral Service have three main focuses: action, education and spirituality. To this end, DIES ACADEMICUS lectures were organized regarding interculturalism, military chaplaincy, and the doctrinal notice from Spain Bishops' Conference regarding conscientious objection. The latter lecture was given by the Archbishop of Valencia, Enrique Benavent Vidal.

The University is COMMITTED TO SHOWING SOLIDARITY WITH OTHERS. As Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: "The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service." I would like to highlight the work carried out by the Chair of Solidarity, which often goes unnoticed.

International volunteering missions were reestablished this year:
- Malawi: "Vets for Africa"
- Collaboration continues, if at a distance, with Senegal: "Compartir Sonrisas".
- A trip to the holy Land was undertaken to prepare for a volunteering mission by CEU students in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
- Other collaborations have taken place with organizations in Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Malawi and the Cape Verde Islands.
At a national and local level:
- Training of volunteers led by the Pastoral Service in conjunction with Cáritas Valencia.
- Food drives have been carried out.
- Visits to care homes and activities to support the elderly have been made by Nursing students in conjunction with the SIQUEM- MAIDES Foundation.
- Volunteering to support the elderly in Santa Mónica.
- Provision of support to children admitted to the La Fe Hospital in Valencia.
- Volunteering for walks through the Cabecera Park in Valencia: students from different degrees accompany persons with physical and mental disabilities who are residents at the Residencia La Nostra Casa in Valencia.
- Participation of 40 students at the Congreso de Católicos y Vida Pública conference in Madrid.

In 2022/23 WE CELEBRATED:

The 90th anniversary of the San Pablo CEU University Foundation.
The 50th anniversary of the Bachelor's Degree in Pharmacy, with the reopening of the degree's practical training facilities, the "Aula practica farmacéutica".
The 20th anniversary of the Bachelor's Degree in Dentistry on the Alfara del Patriarca Campus.
The inauguration of the Bachelor's Degree in Dentistry programme on the Elche Campus.
The inauguration of the human anatomy room dedicated to Dr José María Breva on the Castellón Campus.
The 10th anniversary of the first international group on the Bachelor's Degree in Veterinary Medicine.

Further causes for celebration are:

CEU Universities has appeared for the first time in the QS World University Ranking, being ranked 4th amongst the Spanish universities.
The positions achieved in the QS and THE university rankings. In the case of the THE rankings, we are ranked 4th of 32 Spanish Universities in the Young University Rankings 2022. At the international level, CEU Universities was ranked 136 out of 790 eligible universities.

2022-23 saw Dr Vicente Navarro de Luján’s term as Rector come to an end. The University’s Board of Trustees named Dr Higinio Marín Pedreño as the new Rector.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Navarro and his team for their hard work and dedication over the last few years and to wish the new Rector and his team, of which I form part, every success going forward.

Behind all the figures and data, there are real people who have made all this success possible. As I said at the beginning, this report merely summarises all the hard work, day after day, of all the members of the university community. I would like to offer them the University’s warmest and most sincere thanks. We would also like to express our gratitude to all those institutions and organizations, whether public or private, who have worked closely with the University. We wish to strengthen these relationships so that we can contribute to the development and wellbeing of society in general.

As my comments draw to a close, I would also like to take this opportunity to remember those of our colleagues who are no longer with us. May they rest in peace.

Thank you to all those people who have supported and assisted me in drawing up this report, especially Chesca Torres and Alicia López.

I would like to finish by quoting some words from Pope Francis:

A medieval tradition tells us that when pilgrims on the Way of St James crossed paths, one would greet the other with the exclamation "Ultreia", and the other would reply "et Suseia". These are expressions of encouragement to continue the search and the risk of walking, saying to each other: "Come on, keep going, keep going!"

So, I would like to encourage all the members of the university community in the same way: come on and keep going!

Dr Rosa Pascual Serrats
General Secretary