To make known the different types of users working in the UOC environment, going from the academic sphere (students, teaching staff, support points and management staff), to the external user who browses through the University portal, to the companies linked to the UOC.
		To show the basic characteristics which your computer should have in order to be able to work in the University environment.
		To give information about the software with which the UOC works.

Support Centres
The support centres are the UOC's own resource in the territory. They represent the University and have the capacity to give the highest level of service, both to students and to the general public and territorial institutions. Beyond the services based on space and devices, the support centres promote dynamic activities and extra-academic services concerted on the territory. At the same time, they facilitate the collection and observation of the demands and needs of students and of the public interested in such matters.

The UOC has twelve support centres or points.

Student
The profile of the people formed at the UOC is ideal for them to become active participants in the new society of knowledge. Students acquire the necessary talent to manage the information and knowledge of the Web, and thus they learn how to learn. The pedagogical model revolves around them. Of the students at the UOC, 60% are already in possession of a university degree, 97% are professionals, and 80% are aged between 25 and 45.

Counsellors and tutors
These offer the necessary assessment and guidance for the attainment of the objectives set. Students have a tutor for each subject, and a counsellor guiding them throughout their studies.
The counsellor carries out the monitoring of the students assigned to him or her, gives them general counsel and advises them individually in all that refers to progress in their studies and the entirety of their degrees.
The tutor specialises in a particular subject. His or her main functions are to guide and stimulate, and to help to evaluate the progress made in the learning process of students in a specific subject.

Lecturers
The UOC has in-house teaching staff that is in charge of co-ordinating the work of the various tutors, and which takes part in the design of the syllabus. It further contributes to the elaboration of teaching materials. At the same time, each lecturer is a specialist in a specific area of knowledge.

Management
These are the personnel working at the University. They constitute the permanent UOC team, and guarantee the working of the institution in all its spheres.

Internet
The Internet profile involves people visiting the portal because of their interest in the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, its pedagogical model and its training offer (recognised degrees, studies of its own, continuing education...).

UOC Companies

EDIUOC (Edicions de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
This company is devoted to publishing, and runs its own collections and co-publishes with other entities too. It also manages the University's didactic materials and, in addition, carries out activities such as:

		Consultancy and assessment services for business in the process of being created and for businesses which are expanding within the economy of the digital era.
		Pre-university courses and courses of university extension.
		Treatment of training or reference materials for organisations.

GEC (Gestió del Coneixement)
This entity offers a wide range of services within the following spheres:

		Non-formal learning of a virtual nature aimed at business and organisations.
		Design and creation of virtual communities.
		Communication and knowledge-management systems for organisations.

CMT (Catalana de Màrqueting Telefònic)
CMT provides solutions and services in the sphere of telemarketing and cybermarketing.

GMMD (Graduat Multimèdia a Distància)
GMMD manages the offer of the UOC's own degree in Multimedia Studies.

Planeta UOC
This company manages and organises the offer of recognised degrees of a virtual character in Spanish for Spain and Latin America.

The basic characteristics that your computer should possess in the coming years.

Work at the UOC requires the use of computing. The various collectives at the University (students, teaching staff, and management and services staff) keep in contact by means of computing.

The hardware
The growing speed of innovation characterising the computer market makes it very difficult to foresee what the future will be like, and therefore what the life span is of a specific configuration of a piece of computer equipment. Obviously, the UOC cannot hope that its members will constantly keep up with technological innovation, but it is also true that the effectiveness of the same personal equipment cannot be guaranteed for a whole lifetime, and that at some stage or another it will be necessary to adapt, extend or even replace your computer equipment.

In this diagram you will find detailed the basic characteristics which your hardware should possess, accompanied by a commitment on the part of the UOC for the forthcoming semesters, and an estimate for the following four: