IPN Announces Historic Leadership Consultation While Final Decision Rests with Sheinbaum

For the first time in its 90-year history, the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico will submit the profiles of candidates for its General Directorate to a community consultation, while the ultimate decision remains with President Claudia Sheinbaum. The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) released the official call for students, academic personnel, and workers to express their preferences for the institution's leadership over the next four years.

The resulting preferences will be organized into two separate lists—one featuring three women and another featuring three men—which will then be delivered to the federal executive for the official designation. Secretary of Education Mario Delgado Carrillo explained that this process follows the directive issued by President Sheinbaum on May 6 to establish a participatory mechanism for the institute's succession.

"Today we take a historic step, the presidential decision will be preceded, for first time, by a democratic exercise and of listening to the polytechnic community," Delgado stated during an address to the IPN General Consultative Council.

The electronic consultation is scheduled to take place from November 25 to November 27. The methodology establishes that three distinct sectors—academic personnel, students, and support and assistance workers—will each carry an equal weight of 33.33 percent in the final tally, regardless of the total number of individuals participating from each group.

Participants will select three female and three male profiles from those candidates who successfully meet all legal and documentary requirements. The final results are slated for publication on December 1, after which they will be forwarded to President Sheinbaum alongside the comprehensive applicant files. Officials noted that while the mechanism identifies candidates with the strongest community backing, it does not create a binding legal right to the position.

Registration for interested candidates takes place in person from November 3 to November 6 at the SEP Legal Affairs and Regulation Unit in Mexico City. Applicants must fulfill several criteria, including being Mexican by birth, being over 30 years old, holding an undergraduate degree from the IPN obtained at least five years prior, and possessing acknowledged professional and academic prestige.

Founded in 1936 during the administration of President Lázaro Cárdenas, the IPN reaches its nine-decade milestone with a succession process that incorporates direct community input for the first time. However, this advisory framework leaves the constitutional authority of the president to appoint the next general director entirely unchanged.