Universidad Santo Tomas

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The Universidad Santo Tomas (“USTA” or the “University”) is a leading private university in Colombia. USTA has been established as a university since 1965, with operations in Bogota, Villavicencio, Tunja, Bucaramanga, Medellin and other smaller cities around the country.  Specifically, In Bogota , it has four separate installations, (i) Sede Central; (ii) Sede Norte conformed by the “Doctor Angelico” building, the “Aquinato” building, and a location for the law offices where the students offer legal support to low income communities; (iii) Sede Campus San Alberto Magno; and (iv) the VUAD (Virtual and Distance Learning) building. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs including law, economics, political sciences, engineering, social sciences (psychology, communication), theology and philosophy. It has a combined total of over 12,300 students and a total area of approximately 110,000 m 2 .  In Bogota, its operations are located in urban areas with the exception of the Sede Campus San Alberto Magno which is located in rural area to the north of the city.  However, there is an ongoing land use rezoning in the area where the Sede Campus San Alberto Magno is located; it is anticipated it will eventually be reclassified as commercial but the Campus will maintain its green areas as present.In Villavicencio , it has two separate installations, Aguas Claras, and Loma Linda. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs including engineering, psychology, political sciences, and agribusiness management. It has 3,600 students and total area of approximately 3,000 m 2 .  Both operations are located in rural areas.In Tunja , it has two separate installations, Sede Campus, and Sede Central. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs including engineering, architecture, accounting, law, and business administration. It has a total of 4,500 students and total area of approximately 105,000 m 2 .  Both operations are located in urban areas.In Bucaramanga , it has four separate installations, Floridablanca, Piedecuesta, El Limonal and Bucaramanga as well as a building designated for the social outreach programs. It offers undergraduate, and graduate programs including engineering, architecture, social sciences, dental health. It has a combined total of over 6,300 students and total area of approximately 209,000 m 2 .  The four operations are located in urban areas.In Medellin ,   it has one campus building in the city. It offers undergraduate programs in architecture, law, business and telecommunications engineering. It has 700 students and total area of approximately 12,000 m 2 . The Centros de Atencion Universitaria (University Atencion Centers) (CAUs) , which provide distance and open education, offering undergraduate programs including business administration, environmental management, construction, logistics, social sciences. The CAUs are distributed in 18 States and 29 smaller towns across the north, south, west, and central parts of the country. They have above 7,000 students. The CAUs in general are located in urban areas of these small cities.  Most of the operations are not located near or on preserved or environmental sensitive areas, except for Villavicencio and Tunja. The Villavicencio Aguas Claras campus is located next to (a) “El Charco” a protected mangrove area, designated as an ecological park; and (b) the ecological designated protected basin area for the creek “Cano Codavas.” In Tunja, at the Sede Campus next to the expansion site, there is a protected ecological area. However, university activities will not pose negative impacts to either of these protected areas. Rather with the existing programs in place it is helping with their preservation.  For instance, USTA in Villavicencio, is part of the Mangroves Interinstitutional Committee which focuses on environmental planning, conservation and preservation, and the University supports a Botanical Garden in care of Cormacarena, the local environmental authority agency.The proposed project includes an up to US$25M corporate A-loan to finance the expansion and modernization of the University. As part of its expansion and modernization, USTA developed its Strategic Development Master Plan to be implemented between 2016 and 2035.  This plan includes the Multicampus Integration Plan (Plan de Integration Multicampus-PIM in Spanish), to be developed in three phases, aimed to establish a coordinated operations structure among all its campuses in the country.  The PIM includes the Conservation and Restauration Plan, the Environmental Plan, the Standardization Plan, and the Maintenance Plan, among others.  As part of the Strategic Development Master Plan, it also developed the Development Master Plan- Physical Structures; under which, it anticipates completing the following projects during Phase I of the PIM, between 2017 and 2022:In Bogota, (a) at the Sede Central, (i) construct the “Calle 54” building, and the “Manzana 20” building which will host the languages institute and students welfare, and (ii) reinforce the structures of the  “F” building, which will house all laboratories; (b) build the “VUAD - Calle 73” building which will house all related virtual education activities in support of the CAUs; and (c) at the Campus San Alberto Magno, it will wait for the rezoning to be completed before it can consider building new structures.  In Villavicencio, at the Aguas Claras Campus, (a) build three additional floors to completed the construction of the eight-floors building where the university operations take place, (b) build new laboratories.In Tunja, at the Sede Campus, it (a) will complete the construction of the “Santo Domingo” building, (b) build the “Bicentenario” building, a culture and sports center, and (c) improve the existing sport facilities. In Bucaramanga, (a) construct and equip the Health Services Building and (b) install 564 solar panels to reduce the generation of 87.5 tons of CO2 In Medellin, it will renovate a nun monastery to convert into an undergraduate academic teaching building. For the CAUs, it will improve the technological conditions of the current centers, and possibly expand to in two additional sites to Yopal and Monteria .   It is anticipated that USTA will not need to acquire land for the above proposed projects.