As it has with its scholarship program, EAFIT bolsters its social responsibility efforts by maintaining a presence in places where they are needed. Actions at educational institutions, campaigns to benefit low-income populations and support for government initiatives are all part of a process that involves different departments and divisions.
Scholarship and Student Assistants Program
EAFIT has strived since its founding for pre-eminence, understood as a permanent effort to gain societal recognition for its efforts to promote equality, inclusion and solidarity.
This goal has been achieved thanks to the university’s dedication to providing ongoing access to economically disadvantaged students. These individuals, who commit themselves to maintaining excellent academic performance and proudly representing the university, benefit from Universidad EAFIT’s Scholarship Program, which is led by the Human Development-University Wellbeing Division’s Benefits and Compensation Department.
Almost 1,360 students (close to 15 percent of the student population) benefit from some type of scholarship, proof of the university’s commitment to social responsibility and its goal of becoming an elite academic and intellectual institution.
Likewise, the university’s student assistants program gives students the opportunity to support the different academic and administrative departments. This initiative complements their academic development while providing economic assistance to worthy members of the university community.
Nearly 470 students currently are participating in the program, which is offered to students with outstanding academic performance, an excellent disciplinary record and an aptitude for teaching and research or strong administrative skills.
Legal Counseling Office
Aware of its social responsibility, the university puts its Legal Counseling Office at the disposal of EAFIT students and other community members from the lowest-income sectors (strata 1, 2 and in some cases even 3).
This service, affiliated with the School of Law, provides legal advice to students, employees and members of the general public who are unable to afford an attorney.
Counseling is provided in the areas of civil, family, labor, criminal and administrative law. Law School professors serve in an advisory role but the ones responsible for handling the cases are university students in their 10th semester who have already completed their professional practice.
Mediation Center
All disputes capable of being resolved through mediation can be handled by the Mediation Center, a unit of EAFIT’s Legal Counseling Office. Since October 2010, that center has provided free services to people from strata 1, 2 and 3 and encouraged them to come to an agreement before initiating a legal process.
The service provides support to people who cannot afford the cost of hiring an attorney or submitting their dispute to private mediation.
Other social outreach initiatives
A partnership formed by EAFIT, Colegio Montessori and Grupo Nacional de Chocolates sponsors and helps ensure the future of theInstitución Educativa Benedikta Zür Nieden, which is located in Medellín’s Comuna 13.
EAFIT also participates in humanitarian campaigns and other initiatives that benefit the community, including a project with the Women’s Secretariat of Medellín to support the creation of businesses led by female heads of households and another with artisans in the town of El Carmen de Viboral to help them market their ceramic products and thereby contribute to the development of that sub-region of eastern Antioquia. Different divisions of the university participate in all of these processes.