Cristina Fernández Aretxabala

Secretary General

Leads the Office of the Secretary General.

Duties

The secretary general is the official that bears witness to the University’s acts and procedures, approving and certifying administrative processes. Some of the position’s duties are:

• Proposing and interpreting the internal regulations and ensuring their effective compliance.
• Calling and tracking Leadership Council and University Forum sessions and certifying their agreements.
• Chairing the Diplomas and Degrees, Appeals and UC Centers committees.
• Authorizing the use of the University's physical space.
• Initiating the academic and disciplinary accountability processes of community members.

To learn more about these responsibilities, please review the University's General Statutes.

Career

Cristina Fernández Aretxabala is a lawyer from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with vast experience at the university and the Office of the Secretary General, a unit she joined 18 years ago as counsel before becoming Pro-Secretary General in 2017.

In that role, she was responsible for serving as Secretary of the Leadership Council (HCS) and certifying the University's official acts, among other responsibilities. In 2018, she was appointed Deputy Secretary General.

After graduating in 1992, she practiced law for five years, specializing in civil and commercial matters. Upon joining UC, she carried out different functions at the Office of the Secretary General, contributing to the drafting of important internal regulations, the processing of accountability processes and integrating different committees, such as that of Diplomas and Degrees.

Until April 2020, she served as Legal Director of the University.