Unaerp has just been evaluated with Grade 5, the highest score, in the re-accreditation process carried out on May 24, 25 and 26 by a Commission of Specialists appointed by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep) linked to the Ministry of Education in Brazil (MEC). With Grade 5, the Institution consolidates itself in the select group of Brazilian universities ranked among the best in the country.
The dean of Unaerp, Professor Suzelei de Castro França, thanks the academic community for the work carried out at the Institution and points out ways to continue this trajectory of excellence.
“The University starts the new century of its history tomorrow, June 1st, and starts it driven by Grade 5 and supported by an institutional development plan that leads it towards the continuous realization of its mission, with excellence in teaching, innovation and impact on national and international research, visibility and concept. We continue to build a transparent and ethical dialogue with society, connected to the productive sector to transform knowledge into processes and products of socioeconomic interest and making a significant contribution to the society development and well-being.
Therefore, I would like to thank each member of the academic community for the effort and dedication they put in daily in carrying out the hard and extensive work of Unaerp re-accreditation process. I am sure that only a team like ours, made up of unique people united in a common cause, each one bringing a bit of their background, their knowledge and their skills, could achieve, with their work, such significant and long-awaited results for all of us. Congratulations for the excellent work and for the spirit of union that is peculiar to us. That is how we conquered the maximum score awarded by MEC. WE ARE GRADE 5.”
The assessment is part of the National Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes) and is coordinated by the body of INEP - National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira, responsible for statistics, research and assessments implemented by MEC. The National High School Examination (ENEM) and the National Student Performance Examination (ENADE), for example, are two evaluation processes coordinated by INEP.
Grade 5 obtained by Unaerp crowns a sequence of rankings of excellence attributed by MEC to the University of Ribeirão Preto. Since 2012, in the evaluation carried out by SINAES - National System for the Evaluation of Higher Education, the IGC (General Course Index) grade has been 4. There are nine consecutive years of grade 4, considering that in 2020 there was no such evaluation due to the pandemic, and in 2022 the grade has not been released yet, due to be released at the end of this year. With these grades, the Institution is the 7th best private university in the state of São Paulo and 12th among public and private institutions in the IGC 2021. In Brazil, among 92 private institutions evaluated, it is the 20th best university (Source: INEP/MEC – March 2023).
According to the president of AERP – Associação de Ensino de Ribeirão Preto, sponsor of Unaerp, Alicia Bonini Ribeiro, achieving the maximum score in the MEC is to consolidate the recognition of excellence in teaching, extension and research that we carry out at the University. “This is only possible because throughout the centenary history of AERP we have been building, ‘brick by brick’, the quality of our academic policies and practices. It is a collective construction of the entire academic community and of all who walked and still walk side by side with AERP and Unaerp throughout the 99 years of our history. Grade 5 is the maximum hallmark that certifies the excellence of the work we do. We inaugurate the next 100 years of the Institution in possession of this unquestionable hallmarkof quality”, says the president.
LONG AND COMPLEX PROCESS
The re-accreditation process for a university as big as Unaerp is long, complex and requires a deep dive into the institution. In the presentation of the MEC evaluation document, it can be read that educational public policies in higher education are guided by the constitutional principle of guaranteeing the quality standard to be maintained by the HEIs (Higher Education Institution). This means that MEC decisions consider the Institution's grades to establish scholarships, financing, among other policies always aimed at favoring the students’ inclusion in higher education.
In the re-accreditation process, the five axes established by INEP/MEC are evaluated: 1 – Institutional Planning and Evaluation; 2 – Institutional Development; 3 – Academic Policies; 4 – Management Policies; 5 – Infrastructure. Within these axes, ten dimensions are grouped by affinity, which receive grades from 1 to 5, according to analysis criteria also established in the evaluation document. Briefly, the dimensions encompass teaching, research, graduate and extension policies; the PDI - Institutional Development Plan and, within this, the institutional pedagogical project; the institution's social and financial responsibility policies; personnel and student service policies; communication practices with society; among other indicators.
At Unaerp, the re-accreditation process was led by Professor Edilson Carlos Caritá, accredited by MEC as an Institutional Attorney, being responsible for surveying, organizing and providing all information and documents to the Commission of Specialists appointed by MEC. Composed of three professors from universities based in different Brazilian regions, the Commission accesses the documentation, the University communication channels – especially the portal – and, on a pre-scheduled date, visits the educational institution.
Currently, this visit has been virtual, through online meetings with professors, technical-administrative staff and students, in addition to visits to laboratories, clinics, hospital, maternity, theater, classrooms, sports center, in short, to the campus infrastructure made online by means of video cameras ride.
“It is a unique moment for the University. The academic community has worked intensely in recent months for this achievement and the maximum grade is recognition by the Ministry of Education of the teaching, research and extension quality provided by the Institution. We are all very happy with this score, which is the result of everyone's dedication and commitment, says Professor Edilson Caritá, institutional attorney and coordinator of the Software Engineering program.
Another re-accreditation process will be applied to Unaerp in 2033, if MEC maintains the ten-year interval. Until then, undergraduate and stricto sensu graduate programs (masters and doctorates) continue to be evaluated within the evaluation cycles and, with them, the pedagogical projects, infrastructure, faculty and organization and management policies. For this purpose and, above all, to train high-level professionals and researchers, the University of Ribeirão Preto continues to invest in teaching, research and extension quality. This institutional policy of investment in quality, throughout the almost centenary history of AERP / Unaerp, took the University to Grade 5, to the top of the best evaluated private institutions in Brazil.
