Spain

A leader in online education, PROEDUCA is considered one of the most important educational groups in Spain. It fulfills its educational promises to Spanish society through the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and the International University Center of Madrid (CUNIMAD).

UNIR is a 100% online university that offers degrees which are verified by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). As such, they are completely valid in both Spain and the European Higher Education Area (EEES). This guarantees academic excellence in all disciplines and at all education levels: Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate. Additionally, UNIR also offers a wide variety of continuing education courses.

On the other hand, CUNIMAD is a university center attached to the University of Alcalá (UAH) and integrated into the PROEDUCA Group. They teach official undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the branch of Health Sciences that are 100% online in virtual classrooms.

Both UNIR and CUNIMAD use a unique pedagogical model that is based on online classes, a personal tutor, continuous evaluation, and educational resources always within students’ reach. The technological advancements and online methodology let both institutions offer education governed by the standards of academic excellence to students in more than 90 countries, across 5 continents: mainly in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and the United States.

UNIR

The International University of La Rioja offers a wide variety of studies, constantly evolving and growing so that students have the most in-demand educational opportunities and can study any of them online. All of the degrees pertain to one of seven schools:

• School of Education
• School of Social Sciences and Humanities
• School of Law
• School of Business and Communication
• School of Engineering and Technology
• School of Health Sciences
• Doctoral School

Thousands of students have already studied via UNIR’s Virtual Campus, which offers 1,600 hours of live classes every week. The different disciplines are dedicated to innovation and new qualifications to satisfy the professional needs that society demands and help students with job placement. In addition, the content of the classic courses is adjusted to respond to the new social and working reality, and to emerging professions.

GOVERNING BODIES

José María Vázquez García-Peñuela is the Chancellor of UNIR and has been since 2009. He is the Department Head of Canon Law and Ecclesiastical State Law at the University of Almería (on leave of absence), Doctor of Law in Canon Law, and was awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) from the National Open Remote University (UNAD) in Colombia.

During his university career, he has been the Vice Chancellor of the University of Almería, Dean of the School of Law, and Director of the Public Law Department. He has also been an alternate judge for the Provincial Court of Almería. Among his lines of research, the following should be highlighted: Church-State Relations, Canonical Law, Religious Freedom, Canon Law, and Marriage Law. Vázquez García-Peñuela is also a member of the Cultures, Religions, and Human Rights Research Group at the International University of La Rioja.

The faculty is the highest representative body of the university community. It is made up of ex officio and elected members. The Chancellor is accompanied by Vice Chancellors, the General Secretary, Administrator, Deans, Associate Deans, Directors and Assistant Directors. They represent the teachers, students, faculty boards, and administrative and managerial staff.

Chancellors

Jose María Vázquez García-Peñuela

Chancellor

Javier Tourón Figueroa

Vice Chancellor of Innovation and Educational Development

Daniel Burgos Solans

Vice Chancellor of International Projects

José Antonio Ibáñez-Martín

Vice Chancellor of Doctorates

Julio Montero Díaz

Vice Chancellor of Research

Rubén González Crespo

Vice Chancellor of Academic Management and Faculty

Ádela López Martínez

Vice Chancellor of Students

Deans

Elena Martínez Carro

Dean of the School of Education

Víctor Padilla Martín-Carro

Associate Dean of Juridical and Social Sciences and Humanities

Pablo Moreno Ger

Director of the Advanced School of Engineering and Technology (ESIT)

Octavio Corral Pazos de Provens

Dean of the School of Health Sciences

Pablo Cardona

Dean of the School of Business and Communication

José Manuel Sala Arquer

Dean of the School of Law

Six-year Research Periods

To offer a comprehensive education to all its students, the International University of La Rioja possesses a high-level faculty of teachers and researchers. The instruction that UNIR offers meets the European quality requirements, in addition to being personalized and adapted to the lifestyle of each and every member. The teaching staff of UNIR is comprised of more than 1,000 professors, 85% of which are doctors and 40% are accredited.

Observatorio IUNE, an organization that analyzes the relevant indicators of research in Spain’s university community every year, ranks UNIR above the rest of private Spanish universities in the number of six-year research periods obtained. UNIR has an average of 42.82 for every 100 permanent professors between 2014 and 2015.

These six-year research periods are the key to measuring the research results of professors and staff in the Spanish university system according to the scientific scales of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). The name comes from the fact that the length of each time period that is submitted for evaluation is 6 years long; each professor selects their five best published scientific contributions every six years. If the commission approves them, the teacher is recognized for that six-year period, and at the same time, receives a salary increase and sees their academic prestige improve.

In addition to teachers, UNIR works with a team of professionals to make sure that everything works properly in the different departments that uphold the university. It is a constantly growing workforce, committed to and focused on UNIR’s educational projects.

Research Projects

UNIR promotes research, innovation, and transmission to achieve constant improvement of the teaching staff and keep them up to date. This effort towards academic and investigative excellence is achieved thanks to a coordinated effort between the three Vice Rectorates:

• Vice Rectorate of Research: Channels and facilitates research activity of professors that develop national and personal projects focused on technology, psychology, education, law, and communication.
• Vice Rectorate of International Projects: Serves all Schools and General Business Management in design, approval, follow-up, justification, audit, and operation of international research projects.
• Vice Rectorate of Innovation and Educational Development: Promotes educational innovation and research at the university and at non-university levels in an effort to contribute to improving the educational system as a whole.

UNIR, THE BEST ONLINE UNIVERSITY SINCE 2018

UNIR was chosen as the best online university in Spain in 2018 by the Foundation for Knowledge and Development (CYD), confirming their leading position for another year. Specifically, UNIR received the best score in eight of the analyzed areas, such as the number of students from other communities (in undergraduate and graduate programs), artistic production based on creative and scenic arts per volume of teachers, most cited publications and their impact, etc.

The International University of La Rioja is also highlighted for transmission of knowledge, measured in terms of licensing and continuing education revenue, as well as in the volume of foreign teaching staff who employ their international point of view. Additionally, the university achieved very positive scores in three other areas. As such, UNIR managed to increase the number of indicators of higher and medium performance and reduce those of lower performance compared to 2017.

More than 30 International Agreements and Erasmus with 90 Universities

Conscious of their importance in the academic world, UNIR promotes international mobility of students, administrators, teachers, and investigators via Erasmus+, the EU program to boost training and employment opportunities through different activities related to education, training, youth, and sports.

As a European Institution of Higher Education, the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) is part of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education under the Erasmus+ Program for 2014-2020. The program offers more that 4 million Europeans the opportunity to study, train, gain professional experience, and volunteer abroad at more than 90 universities that collaborate with UNIR.

In addition, UNIR has agreements with more than 30 international universities in Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, and many more American countries. Among them, some of the notable universities are SEK International University in Ecuador, Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico, Congress University in Argentina, and Western Autonomous University in Colombia.

UNIR Manifesto

UNIR’s 10 Promises to Students

Our Group in Spain

UNIR Ediciones, S.L. carries out PROEDUCA’s editorial activity and is mainly in charge of publishing Revista Española de Pedagogía, Nueva Revista, and the International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence (IJIMAI).

UNIR Universitas, S.L.U. is a business with activity in the theatre and scenic arts sector. Its main function within the educational group PROEDUCA is to be the cultural extension of UNIR, the International University of La Rioja.