Higher education in Mexico, Covid-19 and the emerging response: the case of Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco

Abstract

Adapting all activities of one of Mexico’s largest universities to fit a virtual format is not an easy task, since it requires deep knowledge of the entire organizational structure, its dynamics and its legislation. This paper analyzes the response of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Unidad Xochi- milco, where the Emergency Program for Remote Education (PEER) was used (in combination to other measures) to warrantee continuity in the academic tasks during the COVID-19 outbreak. Basing on a graduate student’s life story, we reconstruct the implementation of PEER to analyze it from three perspectives: program implementation, organizational communication, and decision-making associated vulnerability. Our analysis reveals a series of tensions between the contents of the university legislation and the way in which window actors, such as students and workers, experienced the process of bringing the activities into an online and distance format. Our results suggest that certain deficiencies in organizational communication are affecting the capacity of the UAM to respond efficiently to emerging situations while maintaining its structure as a participative and decentered university. Likewise, we point out the relevance of generating protocols that help guarantee the protection of vulnerable groups in the university community as part of the decision-making processes. Finally, we discuss further research lines to deepen this educational-organizational phenomenon.