Os desafios na construção da gestão democrática em uma Universidade pública: a experiência da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais

Abstract

The research presented here aims to understand the management construction processes of the University of the State of Minas Gerais from the analysis of the processes that occur in its University Council. For that, it identifies the superior collegiate bodies that constitute the management structure of this University; analyzes the configuration and operating dynamics of its University Council and learns about the perception of the members of this Council regarding their role in the University's management process. Higher collegiate bodies are recognized as management instruments and their deliberations and ways of functioning are factors that intervene in the organizational structure of the public superior education institution. Considering that these higher collegiate bodies constitute spaces for the construction of democratic processes, being locus of participation and decision on pedagogical, administrative and financial demands, it is assumed that the management of a public institution of superior education is configured as democratic from the relationship established between the democratic principles present in the legal regulations, the existence of representative instances of debate and decision and the effective performance of these instances. Based on this understanding and in order to deepen the knowledge on the subject, this study presents as a focal point the University Council of the University of the State of Minas Gerais, its highest decision-making body, prioritizing its operating dynamics and its role in the management process institutional. A presente pesquisa classifica-se como qualitativa e os procedimentos metodológicos que a norteiam são a pesquisa bibliográfica, o estudo de caso, a análise documental e a entrevista semiestruturada. The bibliographical research contemplates the themes of democratic management in public education and management in superior education; document analysis includes consulting the regulations that govern the functioning of the aforementioned Council, such as the Institution's Bylaws and General Regulations, as well as minutes of meetings and other institutional documents related to it; in turn, the semi-structured interview has the participation of nine members with the longest position in the respective Collegiate. Some elements brought by the research demonstrate the importance of the democratic principles ensured by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education of 1996, as a guarantee of the existence of collegiate spaces for dialogue, which allow the confrontation of ideas. Specifically in relation to the University Council of the University of the State of Minas Gerais, it is worth mentioning that its functioning dynamics, attentive to the rites of meeting conduction, is perceived by the interviewees as a guarantee of maintaining a democratic space for speech; that councilors understand as relevant the exercise of democratic representation of the institutional segment to which they belong, achieved through voting; they consider that the Council is a space for the defense of institutional autonomy, an instance of resistance to external interference, especially arising from government actions, due, among other aspects, to the lack of knowledge about the University; and that, above all, they express the perception that participating in the Council means, ultimately, participating in the construction of the management of the University.