The Program to Support Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (REUNI): articulations with the new public management

Abstract

The article analyzes the institutional policies of the UFSCar and their repercussions in the evaluation and management practices based on the current processes of reconfiguration of the evaluation and regulation policies and procedures of Brazilian higher education, in the context of the Program of Support for Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (Reuni). From a documental study and semi-structured interviews with institutional agents, it takes as object of study the control mechanisms, having as categories and subcategories: contractualization procedures (definition of goals); institutional policies (actors: roles and responsibilities; management actions); and performativity (regulatory processes; distance control; evaluation processes; and accountability). The results indicate that, despite the convenience of UFSCar’s adherence to Reuni, due to the compatibility of the objectives of expansion and the managerial model adopted, the program ended up intensifying mechanisms of the New Public Management that were already present in the management of the university. This had a direct impact on the management of the institution: the internal bureaucracy incorporated external control mechanisms, meeting the demand for distance control, generated new demands and emphases, creating new administrative problems, and making explicit some of the university’s deficiencies from its expansion process through Reuni.