Seventy years after the establishment of the Faculty of Natural Sciences

On April 30th, seventy years have passed since the day that Governor Carlos Khamena established the Graduate School of Natural Sciences, a home that a year later became affiliated with the National University of Tucuman with a college degree. Although it was not the first university home in Salta, it became over time the drafting as the design of the future national university began.

On April 30, 1951, Governor Carlos Khamena, by general agreement of the ministers, signed the landmark Decree No. 6466 by which the Higher School of Natural Sciences was established. By reading this instrument it is interesting to save some concepts from her recitations. It serves to get an idea of ​​what the educational reality of our county was like in the middle of the twentieth century. Through the document, it was learned that in the twentieth century, the Argentine northwest, including Tucuman, did not have a higher education institute specializing in the natural sciences. Later, he spoke of Salta’s need at that time for an institution of higher education because many students, for economic reasons, “cannot enroll in university studies. He maintains many professional desires to know those disciplines (geology and biology) have witnessed and felt frustrated, Most of the time, because the student is not allowed to obtain a degree in geology or biology, by arranging financial means, or those of a social and emotional nature, due to the student’s withdrawal from home, away from parental control.

Then the document emphasizes that it is important for the inhabitants of our region to know and study their soil. “For the sake of higher education values ​​itself, it is essential that geologists, botanists, zoologists, paleontologists and anthropologists of Salta who have graduated from a specialized school know their soil because nowhere else in the country or in the world, will the student be awarded, as in the Our boycott, to connect with the potential of nature, which is very unusual in Salta, because it is clear – without harming anyone – that students and holders of a PhD in Natural Sciences, upon reaching their training titles in our environment, must start studying again, because they are far away From the Argentine northwest, they could not learn the properties of these soils, except in theory, which are very different when they are observed experimentally on the same land.

He concludes, “In Salta, the enlightenment of the people must be served, and the possibilities of education should not be closed to those who wish to study, learn, or enter knowledge of university majors, especially since it is an obligation for the government to promote them.”

Free tuition fee

In the operative part of the decree, Governor Carlos Khamena established the Higher School of Natural Sciences and stipulated that its work would be “under the direct subordination of the government ministry and as an attachment to the provincial museum of natural sciences”. It states that she will study for free, according to University Law No. 13.031 of 1947, which provides for free university education in Argentina.

In Article Two, the rule expects the Salta government to manage the incorporation of the High School into the new university system established by the aforementioned University Law of 1947. That is, from the start, it was believed that the new institution should be incorporated into the National University of Tucuman, as it falls within its jurisdiction Judicial.

Later, the document provides details about biology and geology job orientations, admission requirements, study modalities, programs, degrees to be awarded and budget issues.

Likewise, he was appointed as director of the foundation, Mister Rodolfo Amadeo Ciroli, who until that point had been president of the Provincial Museum of Natural Sciences. Finally, the Ministry of Government stipulates that the headquarters of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences be in the so-called “Centennial Pavilion” in San Martin Park, a property which until then had been occupied by the Sports Club.

University recognition procedures

Once the founding stage of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences ended, the Salta government immediately began efforts to obtain a postgraduate home recognized by the National University of Tucuman in accordance with current regulations. The proceedings took a year of work, and when they were completed, the new governor of the province was Dr. Ricardo Durand, while Mr. Carlos Zamena was a national senator.

Thus it was as a result of efforts that began in 1951, on December 16, 1952, Tucuman University established the College of Natural Sciences, headquartered in Salta, and proved that it should commence work on April 1, 1953. The Institute of Geology and Mining (Jujuy) and the School of Mines (Jujuy) And the Technical School of Vespucio (Salta) have ceased to depend on the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (UNT), and have become part of the completely new College of Natural Sciences in Salta.

the transfer

Days after the establishment of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, on December 23, the graduate school is transferred to the University of Tucuman. The event was held in the White Room of Government House, MITRI 23, headed by the Governor of Salta, Dr. Ricardo J. Durand and the President of the National University of Tucuman, Dr. Carlos Aguilar.

The agreement consists of nine articles and, among other things, states that with the High School, the Natural Science Museum with all its movable and immovable property, including the Centennial Pavilion in San Martin Park, has been transferred into the hands of Tucuman University.

For its part, the University assured the students of Salta the continuity of studies conducted during the year 1951 and recognized the approved subjects.

From a budget point of view, the University of Tucuman was responsible for the operating expenses of the natural sciences, as well as the future appointment of faculty and non-teachers, according to the standards of the national universities.

Early years

Since 1953, the Faculty of Natural Sciences has developed its academic functions at Mendoza 2, the seat of the museum. He remained there until 1960, when the Governor of Salta, Sir Bernardino Biella, moved the Buenos Aires Building 177 to the University of Tucuman, as the seat of the college. While at the San Martin Park Museum, the laboratories remained.

In the Palace of Buenos Aires 177 (present-day Zorella Palace), which had been the seat of government since 1940, the natural sciences shared a space with the Department of Humanities until a very close date to the establishment of the University of Salta, in May 1973. It is added that in 1969, the construction of a university complex began Castanares, which will eventually become the headquarters of UNSa.

Finally, let’s say the building is in Buenos Aires 177 and has housed the College of Natural Sciences for years, and after this house moved to Castañares, it became the residence of the Rector of the University until it also moved to campus. Then, at the end of the last century, on the initiative of Professor Eduardo Ashur, the house was the headquarters of the City University Museum, and it is still under training.