The members of the Sectorial Committe of Cultural and Social Projection of the Group 9 of Universities (G-9), meeting this week at the University of the Balearic Isles, in Palma de Mallorca, under the presidency of its Rector and President, Llorenç Huguet i Rotger, has established the details of a series of activities, pertaining the field of University Extension, that the Group will promote during the next months.

On-line Summer Courses

The offer of on-line summer courses of the G-9, which will continue the one from last summer, will feature the establishment of the first joint course taught by teachers from the universities of the Group and coordinated by the University of Cantabria. The joint course, "Herramientas para el desarrollo de Entornos Virtuales de Aprendizaje (EVA)", will delve in the diverse platforms for distance learning availabe now, the use of social networks, and a revision of the tools hosted on the cloud.

The on-line offer of the G-9 this summer will be completed with other courses by some of the universities of the Group, which will be available at the Shared Virtual Campus platform, among them: "Natación, una actividad para todos y para toda la vida", by the University of Castilla-La Mancha; "Todavía voy por la primera temporada. Las series de televisión y sus circunstancias", by the University of Oviedo; "Lengua materna y ELE: estrategias, materiales y circunstancias profesionales en el ámbito internacional" by the University of Extremadura; "Trastornos del espectro autista", by the Public University of Navarra, or "Nuevas Tecnologías y Derechos de Autor", offered by the University of Cantabria.

The information about the on-line summer courses, including its contents and registration in them, will be available starting June 9 at the website of the G-9: www.uni-g9.net

According to the current agreement, the universities of the G-9 commit themselves to recognize as free elective credits the summer courses taken by their students in any of the other universities of the Group.

Music Contest

The G-9 aspires to continue supporting the members of the university community who are interested in musical creation. To do so, it will host, in Pamplona, the 3rd Inter-university Music Contest of the G-9 on September 26, as part of the celebrations of San Fermín Txikito of the capital of Navarra. The Contest, organized by the Public University of Navarra, will be open to one group representing each of the universities of the G-9, which will have to be pre-selected according to the procedures established by each institution.

At the end of the Contest, the Jury will give an award to the best music band, of €2,500. Furthermore, there will be a second and third prize, valued at €1,500 and €500, respectively.

Drama exhibitions and Choirs

The University of Ovied will host during the next academic year a non-competitive exhibition of university drama, which will feature the drama groups of the rest of universities of the G-9. The activity will take place during May and will bear the torch of previous exhibitions that took place in Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, as part of the G-9.

Furthermore, during the meeting of the Sectorial Committee that took place in Palma de Mallorca, the members discussed the possibility that the Choirs of the Universities of Extramadura and the Balearic Isles may tour the rest of universities that are part of the Group.

Award for Research in Equality

The G-9 has approved the call next year for the Award for Research in Equality, which may be entered by any PhD Theses, Undergraduate Theses and Master's Theses related to the thematic of the award. The award aims at promoting the research on Equality in the university. This way, throughout the 2014-2015 academic year, the G-9 will keep open two periods to enter calls of a social nature: the Award for PhD Theses on Cooperation for Development, in its third edition, and the first edition of the Award for Research in Equality.

University Extension

The members of the Sectorial Committee have discussed, lastly, the convenience of creating, as part of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), a place for reflection, critical debate and common actions where there can be a discussion on matters pertaining University Extension, which would bring visibility to the work developed in a field that is, in a way, unknown and misunderstood by some sectors of the university community.

The Group 9 of Universities, an association constituted in 1997, is formed by the Spanish universities that are the only public universities of their respective Autonomous Communities: the Universities of Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Balearic Isles, La Rioja, Oviedo, Basque Country, Zaragoza and the Public University of Navarra.