Uriel Eduardo Torres Castro

I am a last-year PhD candidate in Education at Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. My thesis, titled "Assuring Learning for Continuous Improvement in Colombian Higher Education Institutions: An Approach from Student Engagement," focuses on student engagement as a mechanism for continuous improvement in higher education.

Academic Background

• Bachelor's in Business Administration from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
• Specialist Degree in International Finance from Universidad Externado de Colombia.
• Master's in Public Management from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores in Monterrey, Mexico.

International Experience

• Scholar at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, United States Department of Defense (2004).
• Participant in the Erasmus+ program with an academic internship at the University of Siena, Italy (2019).
• Vocational Training Consultant at the Welding Training and Research Institute – SLV Mannheim, Germany (2014-2017), overseeing international projects in science, technology, and knowledge transfer, focused on strengthening welding competencies in Latin America.

Professional Experience

With over 18 years of experience in higher education, I have held various roles including Dean of the School of Business, professor, researcher, and academic coordinator. I have led impactful social outreach programs, served as an external consultant to Colombian and international higher education institutions, and currently serve as a curricular advisor at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia.

Research Publications

• Torres Castro, U. E., & Pineda-Báez, C. (2023). How has the conceptualisation of student agency in higher education evolved? Mapping the literature from 2000-2022. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47(9), 1182-1195. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2023.2231358.
• Torres Castro, U. E. (2024). Toward a Unified Framework: The Intellectual Lineage of Student Engagement in Higher Education (1999-2024). Cogent Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2369002.

Research Interests

My research interests are deeply rooted in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of higher education through various strategic approaches:

• Higher Education Curriculum Development: Innovating and optimizing curriculum design to meet contemporary educational demands.
• Program Design and Implementation: Creating and executing programs that address the dynamic needs of students and institutions.
• Learning Assurance and Assessment: Developing robust mechanisms for ensuring and measuring learning outcomes.
• Student Engagement and Agency: Investigating how active student participation can drive educational success and institutional improvement.
• Student Success Strategies: Formulating and implementing strategies that support and enhance student achievement.
• Accreditation Processes and Standards: Navigating and setting benchmarks for accreditation to uphold educational excellence.

My career is marked by a sustained commitment to academic excellence and continuous improvement in higher education, with a particular focus on student engagement as a catalyst for academic success and institutional innovation.