Universidad Rafael Urdaneta (URU) is a private nonprofit institution, officially authorized by the Executive Decree No. 101 dated May 21, 1974, issued by the Presidency of the Republic, following a favorable opinion of the National Council of Universities. It was created "in order to form the necessary human resources and qualified to meet the scientific and technological progress" in the areas of strategic development. Rafael Urdaneta University since its foundation took an anthropocentric conception based on applied research especially given its location in a developing country, and permanently attached to teaching, hence curriculum research axis starts early in the undergraduate. It is an autonomous institution under the terms defined in the Constitution and the Law on Universities.Rafael Urdaneta University is based in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, with extensive influence throughout the west. Until 2002 he held his first office on campus retreat, in the northwest of Maracaibo.