UNAM. The reform proposal
OR
ne of the greatest challenges for university institutions is to keep up with the demands of their time and their environment. The case of UNAM is no exception and although the achievements it has achieved over the last decades are compelling, it is also necessary to recognize that its problems have become increasingly complex and intense. The critical issues of the institution are diverse and their attention demands a deep and systematic effort. In this sense, today the need to advance in a process of reflection that addresses the major issues of the institution and that manages to propose a reasonable horizon for the future cannot be postponed.
As is known, UNAM faced a radical transformation in the 1970s. Under the management of Doctors González Casanova and Soberón Acevedo, the foundations were laid not only for that decade, but for practically half a century of institutional life. These were two rectors who, even responding to visions that were distant from each other, showed, over time, an unsuspected confluence in terms of their drive for teaching (College of Sciences and Humanities, Open University System, National Schools of Professional Studies); research (creation of entities and academic places, infrastructure and equipment); the dissemination of culture (physical and organizational infrastructure, as well as encouragement of the arts).
From then on, the National University multiplied its school population, going from just over 63 thousand students in 1970 to 373 thousand in 2025. Likewise, with the creation and transformation of cultural centers, institutes and venues, research and dissemination of culture, they achieved unprecedented quantitative growth in the history of UNAM. However, numbers do not represent the only expression of its challenges: in just over 50 years, the institution was strongly impacted by the growing demands of a society on the move. It could not be ignored that, in this long period, the university community has expressed itself through proposals and demands – not always precise – to achieve institutional transformation. Institutional reform is, for all these reasons, a complex process that could not be reduced to its dimension of form or situation, but demands to be considered in substantive and content terms.
Without ignoring the contributions of previous administrations – nor ignoring the lessons left by failed exercises – the proposal launched by Rector Lomelí at the beginning of his administration consists of updating the historical legacy of the National University, outlining a new institutional model with a prospective approach. Thus, considering a horizon of the year 2050, a proposal for institutional reform has been presented that is assumed to be comprehensive, academic, inclusive, democratizing, plural, progressive, prospective, institutional, transparent and with historical commitment. And this is not a simple aggregation of concepts, but rather aspires to constitute an ideology that reflects the university reformist legacy and, specifically, the aspirations of broad academic, student and worker sectors throughout these decades.
The reform is concentrated in three large dimensions: academic, which is the center of university life; the institutional, which covers the major themes that support university substantive action; and the regulations and management that concentrate the legal and organizational framework of the National University.
The reform operates based on 10 priorities, indicative and not limiting, outlined in the institutional development plan: 1. Strengthening collegiality and governance; 2. Strengthening academic figures – especially subject teaching staff and academic technical staff; 3. Commitment to gender equality and attention to violence; 4. Strengthening the relationship between UNAM, society and government; 5. Commitment to academic integrity; 6. Commitment to sustainability; 7. Strengthening teaching; 8. Strengthening research; 9. Strengthening dissemination; 10. Decentralization, simplification and transparency. Some of these initiatives, such as the review and strengthening of academic figures or the renewal of teaching infrastructure, have already begun to operate and have a considerable degree of progress.
The reform proposal rests on a variety of substantive issues that demand the active participation of students, academics and administrative staff through representative bodies (University Council, Area Academic Councils, Technical Councils and Internal Councils, among others); directly, through the digital channels proposed for this purpose; and through other forms of consultation that strengthen university governance.
Based on all this, specific diagnoses and documents have begun to be prepared. ad hocreferring to the various issues of the reform and in which some work and analysis groups have already been formed. This is a first effort that seeks to add voices to build relevant and timely proposals for the current institution and that seek to contribute to the construction of the UNAM of the future. The country and society demand it.
* Author of UNAM and the State. Autonomy and social commitment. Mexico, UNAM, 2025.
