Planning of the Administration Undergraduate Course: Case Study at the Federal University of Sao Carlos – UFSCar/NSC-LS

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the critical perception of PCP's UFSCar Management Course at the Natural Sciences Center, from the perspective of the actors most directly involved with this instrument. Based on the assumptions of the interpretative paradigm, we used a qualitative and exploratory research model. As a data collection instrument, we employed document analysis, questionnaires and participant observation. The main results show that, in general, Educational Program Planning (PPE) translates into an important tool for academic management. However, they revealed the need for greater emphasis on the dissemination of this instrument in the academic community. Nevertheless, the functionality and consolidation of the EPP's proposed methodology requires from all stakeholders an academic management effort with clear objectives, guided by a practical agenda built and practiced by many hands. Nevertheless, it is necessary to update this instrument frequently, especially with regard to nomenclatures -an emblematic fact that the case of "Strategic Planning" changes to "Business Strategy" or "Company Strategy" -and the respective disciplines, always considering the demands and profiles of the market for which the student is being prepared. In short, academic management, seen in this light, needs a redesign of its implementation processes, especially with regard to the control and construction of formal channels to measure the results of the implemented model, thus generating conditions that feed the system and constantly improve it.