Just as it is happening in different parts of the world, the University of Talca (Chile) is implementing a curricular model targeted at the development of competences that involves all the careers offered by the institution. This has naturally implied in redesigning all the careers' curricular plans in accordance with the new paradigm. Along those lines, the current work proposes a model for university schools whose curricular plans are aimed at the development of competences. For these institutions, the model is pertinent in as much as it implies both technology and management aspects. Thus, after reviewing the literature on the concept of competence and on the philosophy that inspired the curricular orientation treated here, the paper concludes that the central aspect of the developed model is the fact that it "witnesses" what goes on in the environment where the school and the labor and social markets perform. Such attribute is attained by referring the school's mission, vision and central goal to the labor market that it wishes to supply, and to the educational market it intends to attract.