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UFRGS
Administration Graduate Course
The
CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento do Pessoal de Ensino Superior –
Coordination for the Improvement of Personnel in Higher Education), an education
agency of the Ministry of Education, released yesterday (4th October 2004) the
new official evaluation report on active graduate
courses in Brazil, concerning the three-year period from 2001 to 2003. 1,819 graduate programmes were
evaluated, comprehending 1,020 doctorate courses, 1,728 master’s courses, and
115 job market-aimed master’s courses. Grades range from 1 to 7, and the lower
ones are given to courses that do not meet the requirements to function, whereas
the higher ones (6 and 7) are given for courses with world-class quality. In the
recently-released report, only 61 courses (3.4%) reached 7, whereas 136 (7.5%)
were given grade 6.
In
the new three-year period evaluated, two graduate administration courses had
their grade increased from 5 to 6, which is the maximum grade in the field: the
graduate course (master’s and doctorate) of the School
of Administration of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS),
and the graduate course of the School of Business Administration (EAESP) of the
Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo (FGV-SP).
According to the CAPES, taking dozens of criteria into account, especially
scientific production, these two graduate courses are the best ones in Brazil,
in the field of Administration.
There
are yet no graduate administration courses with grade 7, because they are
relatively recent in Brazil, and even in the world. Undergraduate administration
courses appeared in the 50´s, 60´s and 70´s; graduate ones did not start
until the 70´s. Courses at the level of doctorate are even more recent: in the
80´s, they existed only at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo
(FGV-SP), São Paulo University (USP), and Rio de Janeiro Federal University
(UFRJ). UFRGS started its administration doctorate course in 1994.
The School
of Administration is one of the biggest and most dynamic academic units
within the UFRGS; it
has 66 professors and 2,167 students (1,385 undergraduate students, 569
specialisation students, 151 master’s students, and 62 doctorate students). It
originated from the Faculty of Economic Sciences (FCE), which initially hosted
the creation of the Institute of Administration, in 1951, from which the Centre
of Studies and Research on Administration (CEPA)
originated in 1959, as well as other organisms, such as the Department of
Administrative Sciences (DCA);
and the Administration Graduate Programme (PPGA),
in 1972. The field of Administration has grown so much within the Faculty of
Economic Sciences that it was approved as an autonomous unit within UFRGS
structure. This decision was made by UFRGS University Board on 6th
September 1996, under No. 58/96. Formally, the School of Administration’s
structure is made up of the following internal organisms:
DCA
– Department of Administrative Sciences
CEPA
– Centre of Studies and Research on Administration (Extension and specialised
services such as applied research and consultancy)
PPGA
– Administration Graduate Programme (master’s and doctorate)
CEAD
– Centre of Business Administration Studies (specialisations and in-company
courses)
Ever since 1998, the
School of Administration has been located at Rua Washington Luiz, 855, in the
centre of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, in a building that used to belong to
the Ministry of Education. It is also based in a building at Avenida João
Pessoa, 155, near UFRGS Central Campus, where specialisation and master's
courses are provided to executives.
The School of
Administration’s mission is to promote administration-oriented human knowledge
by means of education, research and extension, developing organisations, aiming
at improving society's quality of life. Its prevalent education method is
constructivism, in which students are given the opportunity to work with
concepts, interact with peers and participate in the companies’ activities.
The School of
Administration provides several services to the community, in education,
research, and extension.
In education, it has
the following courses:
- Graduation
in Administration;
- Master's
in Administration (academic
and job-oriented);
- Doctorate
in Administration;
- Specialisation
in Business Management, Marketing, Financial Management, HR Management,
Education of Consultants, Health Management, and Public Administration;
- Distance Education (EAD)
Research activities are
split into basic and applied research. The latter are promoted in partnership
with companies. Academic research projects are related to 14 research
groups in the School, all of whose projects are financed by development
agencies such as Capes, CNPq, Finep, and Fapergs.
Extension activities
are split into Consulting (Strategic Planning, Marketing, Finance, Human
Resources, Production, and Information Management), Extension Courses (programmes
tailored to the organisations’ needs), and Applied Research (Market, Customer
Satisfaction, Organisational Climate, Quality of Live at the Work Place etc). In
addition, the School of Administration has several extension courses (both
presential and distance courses), as well as specialisations, in partnership
with institutions such as SEBRAE, TELET, Banco do Brasil, and others.
The Administration
Graduate Programme (PPGA), which
has recently been distinguished by the CAPES as the best one in Brazil, has been
receiving maximum grades in the field since 1987. It has master’s and academic
doctorate courses based in Porto Alegre-RS, as well as an inter-institutional
master’s course in Lajeado-RS, and one master’s course for executives in
Porto Alegre, also highlighted in the business industry as one of the best in
the country (third place in a vote by Você magazine in 2001).
The PPGA
was founded in 1972, after the creation of the Master’s Course in Business and
Public Administration.
Following a path that
features growth and concern about the needs evidenced by the community within
and without the university, specialisation courses were implemented in 1985, and
the doctorate course was started in 1994. In 1996, the PPGA
implemented the inter-institutional master’s course, in partnership with other
universities (in Novo Hamburgo-RS, Caxias do Sul-RS, Bagé-RS, Santo Ângelo-RS,
Curitiba-PR, Campo Grande-MS, Jaraguá do Sul-SC, Lajeado-RS). Finally, in 1998,
the job market-oriented master's course for executives was created.
The PPGA
aims at providing in-depth studies in the field of Administration, educating
high-level personnel for education and research activities and for executive
roles in organisations.
Comparing with other
master’s and doctorate programmes in the country, it has been standing out due
to its scientific production, maintaining ever since 1986 the highest
participation among all national programmes in the Annual Meetings of the
National Association of Administration Graduate Programmes - ENANPAD,
the country’s greatest scientific event in the area of administration. It also
participates on a regular basis in Latin American meetings such as the Annual
Meeting of the Latin American Council of Administration Schools - CLADEA and the
Business Association of Latin American Studies - BALAS, as well as other
national and international meetings.
The PPGA
has over 40 professors who hold doctorate degrees from the world’s best
universities. It maintains cooperation partnerships with universities from
several countries, as well as an intense scientific production. It receives
visiting professors from all over the world, as well students from several
Brazilian states and from abroad. The School of Administration’s support to
its undergraduate and graduate education activities strongly contributes to
reaching such a level of excellence, especially with regards to the quality of
the library (with
over 16,000 books and magazines, as well as specialised scientific periodicals),
high-speed Internet network on all its premises (with more than 300 points),
support to presential and distance education by NAVI,
the innovative Web TV, two
qualified academic journals (READ,
electronic; and Milênio), over a dozen research
groups, qualified IT laboratories for students, work rooms for research
groups, committees and professors, chat areas, management software, own IT
support services, a modern and up-to-date web site (http://www.ea.ufrgs.br),
centres for practical theory application (such as CEPA and PsJunior), as well as
several other internal support organisms.
This is why the School
of Administration takes huge pride in receiving this recognition for its
graduate administration course, which, along with EAESP/FGV-SP, is the best one
in Brazil, ahead of dozens of other courses based in all Brazilian states.
Such recognition makes
us proud and, at the same time, makes us take every step to improve further,
making this school into an island of excellence, producing knowledge and
contributing to the betterment of the management of public, private and
third-sector organisations in Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil and
even on the planet, especially in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Other pictures of the School of Administration:
Located near Porto Alegre city centre:
Presentation of an overview of the activities performed by the School of
Administration, during the visit of former university president Wrana Panizzi:
EATw studio:
Cabinet for a super VCR for Navi and EATw activities (during the former president´s visit):
Navi work area:
Support room for undergraduate students:
Support room for graduate students (during the former president’s visit):
Library (during the former president’s visit):
Library study room:
CEPA
work room (during the former president’s visit):
Secretariat Room of the Undergraduate and Graduate courses of the School
(during the former president’s visit):
Room of the School’s director, prof. João Luiz Becker; with vice
director prof. Paulo C. D. Motta; coordinator of the Graduate Administration
Programme, prof. Paulo Zawislak; and CEPA director, prof. Fernando Bins Luce (during
the former president’s visit):
The School has its own and good management, which reflects in the
organisation, tidiness, good attitude and commitment of all employees,
professors, and collaborators (during the former president’s visit)
*
Luis
Roque Klering is a professor at the School of Administration of the
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, doctor in administration, research
orientator in public administration, including the standards of living of
municipalities. He has carried out studies on the development of municipalities
in Rio Grande do Sul since 1984.
** Data on the School of Administration were obtained from their web site. Pictures were taken by the text author