Idealização, criação e implementação do Centro de Tecnologia e Desenvolvimento Regional da Universidade Federal da Paraíba : avaliação de um percurso histórico

Abstract

The expansion of access to higher education became evident in Brazil with the creation of programs and initiatives such as the University for All Program (ProUni) and the Program to Support the Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (REUNI), the latter focused on Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES). For the purposes of this study, our focus will be on policies aimed at IFES. This paper will delve into REUNI, one of the policies created by President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva in 2007, which had the primary goal of meeting the target of expanding the provision of higher education, as outlined in the National Education Plan. UFPB developed its project and submitted it to the University Council, aiming at the consolidation of the institution in its academic and administrative dimensions. For the present work, we will discuss in-depth the complementary innovative action proposed in UFPB’s REUNI Project: the creation of the Center for Technology and Regional Development (CTDR). In this regard, our general objective is to analyze how the creation and implementation of the goals proposed by the REUNI/UFPB Project for the Center for Technology and Regional Development occurred, during the period from 2008 to 2019. To achieve this objective, methodologically, we initially conducted a survey and analysis of the state of knowledge, public documents, and the legal framework for the creation and implementation of the goals proposed by REUNI/UFPB, as well as the responses provided by strategic managers, verifying the fulfillment (or not) of the proposed goals, with the aim of producing a technical management report, demonstrating the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats of the CTDR through the application of the SWOT analysis. The data were analyzed qualitatively, using descriptive statistics (with presentation in the form of tables, charts, and graphs) and the Content Analysis technique (Bardin, 1977). The results confirm that the CTDR partially achieved its goals; however, the mission envisioned to contribute to regional and local development has been fulfilled, as evidenced by some important research findings, pointing to the need for studies on social and economic impact to further deepen our results.