Este trabalho tem como objetivo geral desenvolver um painel de indicadores de desempenho para auxiliar no processo de gestão em instituições comunitárias de ensino superior. Para isso o trabalho se propõe a: (I) definir constructo para definição de um painel de indicadores de desempenho em IES; (II) Definir indicadores qualitativos e quantitativos associados a cada constructo; (III) avaliar o grau de importância de indicadores de avaliação de desempenho em IES comunitárias. Esta tese está baseada numa abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa, utilizando grupo focal com gestores de uma IES comunitária, no sentido de propor um conjunto de indicadores, elencados dentro de 4 (quatro) constructos: (I) Ensino; (II) Pesquisa; (III) Extensão e (IV) Gestão. A avaliação do grau de importância dos indicadores propostos no painel, ocorreu por meio de aplicação de questionário a 9 (nove) gestores de IES comunitárias, sendo 3 (três) pertencentes ao Sistema ACAFE; 2 (duas) associadas ao COMUNG, e, 4 (quatro) confessionais. Estabeleceu-se como ponto de corte, indicadores que atingiram uma média inferior a 3,5, estabelecida como ponto de corte, excluindo-se do painel 4 indicadores. A principal contribuição desta tese, é um painel de indicadores de desempenho com 118 indicadores associados a 4 (quatro) constructos e 14 (quatorze) sub-constructos, podendo ser aplicado em Instituições de Ensino Superior comunitárias, alinhando ao planejamento estratégico de longo prazo. / This work has as the main goal to develop a performance indicators panel to assist the higher education community institutions in their management process. For this reason, the study aims to: (I) define dimensions for the definition of a performance indicators panel in IES (higher education institutions); (II) define qualitative and quantitative indicators associated with each dimension; (III) assess the degree of importance of evaluation indicators of performance in higher education community institutions. This thesis is based on a qualitative as well as quantitative approach, using the managers of a higher education community institution as the focus group, in the sense of proposing a set of indicators, listed within the 4 (four) dimensions: (I) Teaching; (II) Research; (III) University Extension, and (IV) Management. The evaluation of the degree of importance of the indicators proposed in the panel, occurred through the application of a questionnaire to nine (9 ) managers of community universities, three (3 ) belonging to the ACAFE System ; Two (2 ) associated with COMUNG , and four (4 ) catholic. The indicators which reached an average of less than 3.5, were established as the cutting point, excluding 4 indicators from the panel. The main contribution of this thesis, is a panel of performance indicators with 118 indicators associated with four (4) dimensions and fourteen (14) sub - dimensions, which can be applied to higher education community institutions, aligning them to the strategic planning long term.

As grandes transformações que afetam o Ensino Superior Brasileiro desafiam as IES a adotarem princípios modernos de gestão, que valorizem o planejamento, a definição de metas, a orçamentação e a gestão de projetos, direcionando a organização para atingir seus objetivos estratégicos. Diante desse contexto, este trabalho busca contribuir a partir da proposta de um modelo de gestão estratégica com foco no Balanced Scorecard para a Escola de Administração da UFRGS. Para tanto, buscou-se relatar: o campo de atuação das Escolas de Administração; identificar os métodos de Planejamento e Gestão com foco nas Instituições de Ensino Superior; analisar o Balanced Scorecard como método de gestão para a EA-UFRGS e propor um modelo de Gestão Estratégica com foco no BSC à Escola de Administração da UFRGS. O método de pesquisa utilizado é o estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa e delineamento exploratório, com pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e entrevistas. A técnica de análise de dados adotada foi a de conteúdo uma vez que ela auxilia a compreender melhor um discurso, de aprofundar suas características e extrair os momentos mais importantes. As entrevistas foram realizadas com nove membros da equipe que está desenvolvendo o plano estratégico da Instituição. Os resultados demonstram que a EA-UFRGS conta com as diretrizes preliminares para aplicação do BSC, sendo elas a visão, a missão, princípios e informações sobre o ambiente organizacional. A maioria dos entrevistados considera importante e viável a aplicação de um modelo de gestão apoiado nas questões estratégicas que defina os processos-chave e respectivos indicadores de desempenho para auxiliar no processo de gestão da instituição, com as devidas adequações decorrentes das características peculiares da organização. A análise das entrevistas também indica que a EA-UFRGS dispõe de um excelente e qualificado quadro de professores e funcionários, um ótimo banco de dados e estrutura organizacional adequada, o que contribui significativamente para a utilização do BSC. / The great changes that affect Brazilian Higher Education defy HEIs to adopt modern management principles, value planning, goal setting, and budgeting and project management, directing the organization to achieve its strategic objectives. Given this context, this study aims at contributing from the proposal of a model of strategic management with a focus on the Balanced Scorecard for UFRGS Management School. To do so, it has searched to report: the playing field of Business Schools; identify methods of Planning and Management with a focus on Higher Education Institutions; analyze the Balanced Scorecard as a management method to EA-UFRGS and propose a model of Strategic Management with a focus on BSC at UFRGS Management School. The research method is the case study approach with qualitative and exploratory design, with bibliographical, documentary research and interviews. The analysis technique adopted has been the content data because it helps to better understand speech, deepen its characteristics and to further extract the most important moments. Interviews have been conducted with nine members of the team that is developing the strategic plan of the institution. The results show that EA-UFRGS has preliminary guidelines for implementing the BSC; they are the vision, mission, principles and information about the organizational environment. Most respondents consider important and viable implementation of a management model supported on strategic issues that define the key processes and their performance indicators to assist in the management of the institution, with the necessary adjustments arising from the peculiar characteristics of the organization. The data analysis also indicates that EA-UFRGS has an excellent frame and qualified Professors and staff, a great database and appropriate organizational structure, which significantly contributes to the use of the BSC.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:49:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO_Arquivo Combinado 2_PUBLICAR.pdf: 14078803 bytes, checksum: 946d56c7d573af1aed4d9038b7996605 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-29 / The aim of autonomy is part of the university since its creation in the Middle Ages, and due to interventions made by the Church and the State, great changes were brought about. Such a concept is a complex one and has generated various discussions, different interpretations and trends of thought. For some scholars, the autonomy is the dismissal of any limit or link with the State, the university is entitled to self-government; for others, such autonomy is viewed as relative and is emphasized as to specific issues to the extent that the university presents an improvement in the quality of its teaching. This research was carried out to ponder on the creation of the University in Brazil and the importance of Private Higher Education Institutions, their development into corporations and the search for autonomy by means of Educational Reforms proposed by the State, and changes brought about along history. For that analysis, one investigated the environments of Universidade do Oeste Paulista (Unoeste) teaching, research and services extended to the community in order to verify which of those higher education functions is allowed greater freedom to achieve self-government and whether the application of the University Autonomy (granted by art. 207 of the 1988 Federal Constitution) is being put into practice or whether the new Laws, Decrees and Administrative Rules enacted by the State interfere, directly or indirectly, within the university jurisdiction. To carry out this research and achieve its aims, one adopted a qualitative approach, a descriptive historical course, with a critical-dialectical epistemological axis in a case study. One used in the research documents concerning Unoeste, acts such as Bylaws, Internal Rules, minutes of the University Research and Graduate Board and those laws dealing with the issue of research. It points to the conclusion that the university autonomy should not be mistaken as a constitutional device, but rather as a process in progress. / A ideia de autonomia acompanha a universidade desde sua criação, na Idade Média, e devido às intervenções da Igreja e do Estado houve grandes transformações. Esse conceito é complexo e vem promovendo várias discussões, interpretações e linhas de pensamentos diferentes. Para alguns, a autonomia é a negação de qualquer limite ou vínculo com o Estado, a universidade tem o poder de se autogovernar; para outros, essa autonomia é relativa e se acentua em pontos específicos à medida que a universidade apresenta um crescimento na qualidade do ensino. O desenvolvimento desta pesquisa objetivou descrever a criação da Universidade no Brasil e a importância das Instituições Privadas de Ensino, sua evolução como corporação e a busca pela autonomia por meio das Reformas Educacionais propostas pelo Estado, e suas transformações no decorrer da história. Para esta análise, foram investigados os ambientes da Universidade do Oeste Paulista (Unoeste) a fim de verificar quais dessas funções da educação superior têm maior liberdade para se autogovernar e se a aplicação da Autonomia Universitária (concedida pelo art. 207 da Constituição Federal de 1988) está sendo exercida ou se as novas Leis, Decretos e Portarias Normativas expedidas pelo Estado interferem, direta ou indiretamente, na esfera de competência das universidades. Para a realização desta pesquisa e alcance dos objetivos traçados, adotou-se a metodologia histórica descritiva, num estudo de caso. Na pesquisa, foram utilizados documentos da Unoeste, tais como: Estatuto, Regimento Interno, atas dos Conselhos Universitário de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação, fotos e as legislações que tratam do referido assunto da pesquisa. A conclusão reporta que a autonomia universitária não pode apenas ser confundia como um dispositivo constitucional, mais sim como um processo em plena construção.

A sustentabilidade tem assumido importância nos últimos anos. Entretanto, na prática, as abordagens das organizações sobre o tema são fragmentadas. Um exemplo são a Instituições de Ensino Superior (IESs), as quais possuem dificuldades de apresentar a sustentabilidade de forma efetiva em suas unidades. Uma forma de efetivar a sustentabilidade é por meio da gestão por processos ou Business Process Management (BPM). Porém, para uma organização gerenciar seus processos, é necessário atender aos chamados Fatores Críticos de Sucesso, dos quais a elaboração da Arquitetura de Processos (AP) faz parte. Existem diversos métodos de elaboração de AP, porém, sem indícios de qual é o mais adequado para elaborar a AP no contexto da sustentabilidade. A partir desse postulado, surgiram o problema da pesquisa e o seu objetivo principal: selecionar o método de elaboração de Arquitetura de Processos mais adequado para auxiliar a promoçãoda sustentabilidade na perspectiva de processos no contexto de uma IES. Para realizar esse objetivo, a pesquisa fez uso da revisão da literatura para elaborar critérios de avaliação com foco em sustentabilidade para selecionar o método de elaboração de AP mais. Verificou-se que o método desenvolvido por Burlton (2010) é o mais adequado ao problema de pesquisa. Em seguida, o método selecionado para elaborar a AP foi aplicado em um processo priorizado de uma IES pública. O método de Burlton (2010) se mostrou o mais adequado, pois demonstra preocupação com a integração ao dar ao processo uma visão ampla sem deixar de lado a mensuraçãodo desempenho e o relacionamento com os stakeholders. Como implicações da pesquisa há a contribuição para a literatura com um novo estudo que relaciona sustentabilidade e BPM e, como contribuição empírica, o estudo pode servir como base para IES que queiram vincular a sustentabilidade em seus processos. / Sustainability has assumed importance in recent years. However, in practice, the approaches of the organizations on the topic are fragmented. One example is the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which have difficulties to present the sustainability effectively in their units. One way to accomplish sustainability is through Business Process Management (BPM). However, for an organization to manage its processes, you must meet the so-called Critical Factors Successes, including the development of the Process Architecture. There are several development of Process Architecture methods, but without evidence of which is best suited to prepare the Process Architecture in the context of sustainability. From that premise, emerged the research problem and its main goal: select the Process Architecture development method best suited to help the promotion of sustainability from the perspective of processes in the context of HEI. To accomplish this goal, the research made use of literature review to develop evaluation criteria focusing on sustainability to select the Process Architecture preparation method more. It was found that the method developed by Burlton (2010) is more suitable for research problem. Then, the selected method to prepare the Process Architecture was applied on a prioritized process of a public HEI. The method of Burlton (2010) proved to be the most appropriate, because it shows concern with the integration process to give a broad view without ignoring the measurement of performance and relationships with stakeholders. As implications of research for the contribution to the literature to a new study that links sustainability and BPM and as empirical contribution, the study can serve as a basis for HEI who want to link sustainability in their processes.

Scholarly communication of all types is changing dramatically with the introduction of electronic technologies. This new environment means that standalone print publishing risks being left behind, and as many STM journals acquired or launched by commercial publishers have been subject to dramatic price rises in the last few years, there has been much talk of ways to by-pass commercial publishers. The scholarly publishing market is fertile ground for innovation and there has been a lack of objective research regarding the UK university press. Despite the many changes that have occurred in the scholarly publishing industry in recent years, university presses in the UK that have not been in the forefront of innovation have remained minor players. The research focused on the university press, it's current situation and it's role in the electronic future. The research included: case studies that were conducted at both UK and USA university presses, along with the corresponding libraries, a questionnaire which was sent to academic authors that had published with both a university press and a commercial publishing house, and both qualitative and quantitative questionnaires sent to all operating UK university press directors. The thesis argues that university presses (in particular the smaller presses), as not for-profit organisations, are in a prime position to increase their power in the scholarly publishing system and can make changes to provide valued services to the Higher Education Community. Findings show that university presses, both in the USA as well as the UK, have faced, and continue to face change. Lack of funding and HEI support continues to make the traditional publishing role of the university presses difficult, and, in many cases, has caused the closure and sale of university presses in the UK. The university press continues to play an important role, and will continue to do so in the near future. However, in order for smaller university presses in the UK to remain sustainable, they must continue to adapt to, and take advantage of, change, recognise the value they add to the scholarly communication system and not rely on others to improve their situation. They cannot remain static in a changing environment. Through the work with university presses three potential business plans are proposed for a UK organisation of university presses, along with two business models to help the presses adapt to the changing environment and continue to play a role that is required by the HEI. Based on the results and conclusions of the research recommendations are made to stakeholders and ideas for further research are identified.

Doctor Educationis / Theoretically, the role of higher education in national development has become clearer than before, while empirically the evidence is overwhelming. Elsewhere in the world, countries that have made tremendous strides in both social and economic development invested heavily and strategically in higher education. In Malawi, the role of higher education in national development has always been recognised by development policies since independence in 1964 However, with the exception of the first 15 years of independence, Malawi’s development path has registered abysmal results both on the social and the economic fronts despite undergoing significant socio-economic and political reforms. Malawi remains one of the most underdeveloped countries whether judged by Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) or the Human Poverty Index (HPI). One of the factors that is considered as having contributed to low levels of development is the performance of education systems (primary, secondary and higher education) (World Bank, 2009). It is against this background that this study sought to examine how Malawi’s higher education institutions (HEIs) have responded to their roles as prescribed by the national development policies with a focus on the period between 2000 and 2010. Four questions guided the study: i) what specific roles do national development policies define for HEIs to ensure that higher education contributes to national development? ii) To what extent are these roles performed by HEIs in Malawi? iii) What factors determine the performance of HEIs in their expected roles? iv) What pattern of response to their (HEIs’) expected roles can be identified? Theoretically and analytically, the study was informed by the two perspectives of the open systems theory, namely the resource-dependency approach and neo-institutional approach. These two approaches contend that actions by organisations are limited and influenced bym various pressures and demands emanating from their internal and external environments and that organisations often respond accordingly in order to survive. Methodologically, the study employed a mixed-method design (of qualitative and quantitative) with a dominant usage of qualitative methods. A multiple case study approach was used in which data were collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. For qualitative data, the analysis was done using a text method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to provide simple descriptive analysis through charts, tables and graphs. xx Overall, the study found that Malawi development policies expect HEIs to enhance access, equity, relevance, efficiency and quality of higher education as a way of ensuring that higher education contributes to the national development project. However, the study identified several patterns of response by HEIs (towards these expected roles) that tentatively explain the suboptimal contribution of higher education in national development. These patterns of response include: inclination towards responding to the politically sensitive crises in the higher education system (for public HEIs) and profit-compatible roles (for private HEI); use of sub-standard resources and methods antithetical to genuine teaching and learning; duplication by private HEIs of the “soft” roles being undertaken by public HEI; the abandonment of some of the HEIs’ original ideals and founding pledges, which are compatible with national development roles; and substitution of long-term coherent academic planning by short-term survival strategies. The study presents a number of implications, lessons and recommendations in the area of higher education and development. These include: the need for the government to recognise the importance and impact of intra-sectoral linkages in the entire education system on the performance of HEIs; the need to enforce the effective participation of private and public HEIs in national developmental project by establishing a proper regulatory framework; the need to enhance regional and internal collaboration among universities if they are to effectively respond to national roles; the need to reduce marginalisation of HEIs by maximising efforts that create linkages with the productive sector; the need to devise a robust public financing mechanism that broadly deals with issues of equity, relevance, quality and access of higher education; and the need to match education investment priorities and sequencing with development policies.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study is an investigation into the scope, role, and function of student development and support (SDS) within higher education in South Africa. The underpinnings and frameworks of SDS were explored during the research, as well as its integration into the institution and into organisational structures, the relationship between SDS and the policies of the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the influences from the national and international context of SDS. Policies emerging from the Department of Higher Education and Training heralded dramatic changes after the first democratically elected government in South Africa. The changes were amplified by the shifts in the international context of global explosion of knowledge production and neo-liberal influences on higher education in general and SDS in particular. The higher education system in South Africa has changed from an elite system to broad “massification”, which addresses issues of equity, access, participation and relevant skills development at medium and high level (DoE, 1997, p. 4). Changes have not only been in terms of governance and institutional mergers but also in terms of notions and discourses in education, teaching and learning, student development, and student support. The higher education system has become open, responsive, and relevant, and knowledge is understood to be relative and context-bound, co-created within the relationship to a heterogeneous group of students who have a range of capabilities and challenge traditional notions of inclusivity and diversity. The findings are extensive and liberal use of quotations from the participants substantiates the emerging themes. The key themes that emerged are clustered under the headings of: scope, role and function; theoretical framework; professionalisation; paradigms and alignments; SDS integration into the organisational structure; SDS in relation to the Department of Higher Education and Training; and SDS within the national and international context of globalisation. The discussion synthesises the findings and reveals that SDS is facing many challenges which require attention. Some challenges concern the lack of clarity around scope, role, and function, as well as issues around the lack of theoretical grounding and the paucity in local theory development. Challenges also surfaced regarding the integration of SDS into the academic life of the institution. Similar concerns appeared around the exclusion of SDS from governance issues. Tensions emerged from discussions on the need for a guiding framework for SDS, while preserving autonomy and acknowledging the heterogeneous character of institutions. The findings also suggest that non-elective operational standards and some kind of monitoring and evaluation systems for SDS are required. Despite these challenges, it appears that SDS is perceived as a key contributor to the shared goal of student success and that an expressed commitment to and alignment with national and institutional goals exists. This utilisation-oriented study, it is hoped, will make significant contributions to the understanding of the scope, role and function of student development and support within higher education. It may help illuminate the challenges and provide suggestions to enable more articulated contributions to the shared goals of higher education in South Africa. Recommendations include the development of an epistemic community which can generate contextual and constructivist paradigms for SDS in South Africa. This research study reveals the pressing need for a normative framework for SDS and identifies areas which need to be given serious consideration when developing such a framework.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Background: In South Africa, many students are not able to register at higher education institutions after receiving their high school diploma. The majority of those who do register do not even complete their tertiary studies. The purpose of this research project is to investigate and analyse higher education institutions’ enrolment and dropout within the Gauteng province, South Africa. Data and Methods: Large-scale secondary data from the General Household Survey (GHS, 2012), obtained from Statistics South Africa were used. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and the Statistical Analyst System (SAS) software package were utilised for quantitative analysis. The numerous local and international pedagogical studies synthesised in this research show that finance, unplanned pregnancies, orphanhood and transport to the higher education institutions are some of the main concerns that affect the enrolment rate of students. Further variables such as gender, race, ethnicities and the type of institution have also negatively affected the enrolment rate of students, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Results: According to the ICEF Monitor 2015, current higher education enrolment in Sub-Saharan Africa is 8%. The UIS Fact Sheet 2010 revealed that the enrolment ratio is 4.8% for women compared to 7.3% for men. The present study focuses on the Gauteng province's students who have completed their high school education, as well as those who are either registered or not registered within the province’s higher education institutions, and are between the ages of 17 and 35 years. Conclusion: This study hopes to be useful to policy-makers, research managers and other decision makers within education.

Transformation of post-apartheid higher education institutions has shown itself to be deeply complex and contentious. Exploring transformation at a former whites-only Afrikaans university, this study leans on Michel Foucault’s archaeological methodology and uses a qualitative case study approach. In accordance with this methodological approach the study excavates, de-layers and probes at an inter-departmental conflict which ensued over how racial identity is being re-imagined within the curriculum. The study further seeks to explore what this conflict says about institutional ideologies and commitments to change. Ostensibly, the conflict was over the contents of a module, the Ubuntu Module, presented at both the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Humanities. Contested views on the nature of knowledge presented in the module, which deals overtly and explicitly with racial and cultural identity, emerged between the two faculties. The Faculty of Education removed the module from its curriculum, asserting that its’ contents were antithetical to the faculty’s ideological tenets with regards to curriculum transformation. Amid attempts by the Faculty of Education to have the module removed from the university’s curriculum, the Faculty of Humanities took the decision to continue offering the module. What this study suggests is that the debate went beyond a mere inter-faculty contention over curriculum contents, and can offer a lens into broader institutional transformation ideologies, and commitments to the decommissioning of apartheid identities. The study was explored and analysed through the lens of critical theory, and in so doing it offers a critical look at the intellectual and ideological foundations of the university, and how the university navigates transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. The literature review uses eclectic literatures to historicise and contextualise the study. It underscores how the focus of literature on curriculum transformation on post-apartheid higher educational institutions has essentially skimmed over the links between the inherent dynamics of knowledge and power as is reflected in curriculum contents. As the findings of the study point to, pressures exerted on the university from both government, and grassroots level at the university, that being students and staff, are having an unequivocal impact on how the university thinks about and implements transformation. The findings of the study suggest that although rhetorically committed to transformation, the university is struggling to emerge from its own politically instrumentalist past. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T17:54:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO_Arquivo Combinado 2_PUBLICAR.pdf: 14078803 bytes, checksum: 946d56c7d573af1aed4d9038b7996605 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-29 / The aim of autonomy is part of the university since its creation in the Middle Ages, and due to interventions made by the Church and the State, great changes were brought about. Such a concept is a complex one and has generated various discussions, different interpretations and trends of thought. For some scholars, the autonomy is the dismissal of any limit or link with the State, the university is entitled to self-government; for others, such autonomy is viewed as relative and is emphasized as to specific issues to the extent that the university presents an improvement in the quality of its teaching. This research was carried out to ponder on the creation of the University in Brazil and the importance of Private Higher Education Institutions, their development into corporations and the search for autonomy by means of Educational Reforms proposed by the State, and changes brought about along history. For that analysis, one investigated the environments of Universidade do Oeste Paulista (Unoeste) teaching, research and services extended to the community in order to verify which of those higher education functions is allowed greater freedom to achieve self-government and whether the application of the University Autonomy (granted by art. 207 of the 1988 Federal Constitution) is being put into practice or whether the new Laws, Decrees and Administrative Rules enacted by the State interfere, directly or indirectly, within the university jurisdiction. To carry out this research and achieve its aims, one adopted a qualitative approach, a descriptive historical course, with a critical-dialectical epistemological axis in a case study. One used in the research documents concerning Unoeste, acts such as Bylaws, Internal Rules, minutes of the University Research and Graduate Board and those laws dealing with the issue of research. It points to the conclusion that the university autonomy should not be mistaken as a constitutional device, but rather as a process in progress. / A ideia de autonomia acompanha a universidade desde sua criação, na Idade Média, e devido às intervenções da Igreja e do Estado houve grandes transformações. Esse conceito é complexo e vem promovendo várias discussões, interpretações e linhas de pensamentos diferentes. Para alguns, a autonomia é a negação de qualquer limite ou vínculo com o Estado, a universidade tem o poder de se autogovernar; para outros, essa autonomia é relativa e se acentua em pontos específicos à medida que a universidade apresenta um crescimento na qualidade do ensino. O desenvolvimento desta pesquisa objetivou descrever a criação da Universidade no Brasil e a importância das Instituições Privadas de Ensino, sua evolução como corporação e a busca pela autonomia por meio das Reformas Educacionais propostas pelo Estado, e suas transformações no decorrer da história. Para esta análise, foram investigados os ambientes da Universidade do Oeste Paulista (Unoeste) a fim de verificar quais dessas funções da educação superior têm maior liberdade para se autogovernar e se a aplicação da Autonomia Universitária (concedida pelo art. 207 da Constituição Federal de 1988) está sendo exercida ou se as novas Leis, Decretos e Portarias Normativas expedidas pelo Estado interferem, direta ou indiretamente, na esfera de competência das universidades. Para a realização desta pesquisa e alcance dos objetivos traçados, adotou-se a metodologia histórica descritiva, num estudo de caso. Na pesquisa, foram utilizados documentos da Unoeste, tais como: Estatuto, Regimento Interno, atas dos Conselhos Universitário de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação, fotos e as legislações que tratam do referido assunto da pesquisa. A conclusão reporta que a autonomia universitária não pode apenas ser confundia como um dispositivo constitucional, mais sim como um processo em plena construção.