Name: VALDIR DA SILVA CORRÊA
Publication date: 28/09/2017
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| SUSANE PETINELLI SOUZA | Internal Examiner * |
| ZENÓLIA CHRISTINA CAMPOS FIGUEIREDO | External Examiner * |
Summary: Dedicated to characterizing the nature of managerial work of undergraduate course coordinators within a Federal Public Institution of Higher Education, the study presented in this Dissertation sought to know the constitution of this managerial function taking as guiding
elements the categorization of this activity as an activity of the public sector, clothed with high responsibility towards society and carried out by the teaching staff of the University. From the manifestations of the collegiate coordinators and secretaries, it was identified the context in which the function of coordination of graduation course occurs, demonstrating the different types of conflicts, their origins, as well as the ambiguous aspects present in the meanders of the dynamics of this ' academic managerial activity '. This study is configured as a qualitative research with descriptive approach, in which it was used, as a form of data collection, the resource of interviews subsidized by scripts, prepared for coordinators of undergraduate courses and secretaries of collegiate. Data processing and analysis were based on the content analysis method in which the themes formed thematic categories and
subcategories that emerged from the data. The results show that the managerial work of undergraduate course coordinators does not find integral support in any specific theory about 'what management is', differing significantly from managerial functions of other types of
organizations. Relational difficulties are particularly prominent in the university environment, preventing coordinators from obtaining collaboration from other academic agents in order to meet the objectives of coordination and, consequently, institutional purposes. The lack of
policies that establish criteria for occupation of the coordinator function, the absence of adequate training to act in academic management, and the emergence of relational conflicts, especially among peers, make it difficult to reach the objectives of course coordination, which, among many other reasons, make this function undesirable by professors. The absence of control over teaching activity and the ambiguities present in the university environment, not only prevent the effectiveness of the academic managerial work developed by the coordinators, but also reflect in bad evaluation of undergraduate courses by the metrics of the
control organs of Education and, therefore restrict the scope of benefits for society from providing good professional and citizen training to students. The typology of the physical spaces defined for coordination may interfere with the work dynamics regarding task execution time, quality of communication among coordinators and other academic agents and, when coordination occurs in collective spaces, interaction among people can provide learning on the academic management work and minimize impacts resulting from inexperience or lack of knowledge about the activities inherent to the course coordination.
