Auto evaluation is a process of self-evaluation, also called internal or institutional evaluation. Its main objective is the development and consolidation, a learning process from experience. Once planned and implemented, it allows reflection upon past experiences and used politics, and a systematization of data which will lead to decision making towards the success.
The Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) understands that it is necessary to broaden auto evaluation of Graduate Programs. CAPES understands that auto evaluation can provide guidance for the improvement of the quality of Graduate studies. In this context, the mechanisms for auto evaluation within PPGCTA were discussed in several meetings, to build the identity of the Program and to warrant excellence towards its educational and research goals and in the recognition by external evaluation. It is interesting that PPGCTA has adopted, since its creation, mechanisms of auto evaluation. For example, the classes offered have been evaluated through questionnaires which are given to students at the end of each semester, prior to registration for the next one. Auto evaluation strategies for PPGCTA were established with the objective of identifying its main strengths and weakness to be worked at for excellence achievement.
The UFRPE Graduate Studies Office (PRPG) established a model (questionnaire) for the auto evaluation and strategic planning for all the University’s Graduate Programs. In order to enhance and broaden discussion on auto evaluation and strategic planning, PRPG and the UFRPE Self Evaluation Commission (Comissão Própria de Avaliação - CPA) organized the II Symposium of Institutional Evaluation with the topic: Auto evaluation at the agenda: undergraduate and graduate studies. It happened on the 21st of November of 2019 with the objective of providing a forum for discussion about experiences on auto evaluation and strategic planning within the undergraduate and graduate programs. The latter, as an answer to CAPES’ new demand. For the graduate studies, there was a round table entitled ‘Auto evaluation and planning in graduate programs’ with the participation of the Professor Maria Madalena Pessoa Guerra (the Pro-Rector of Research and Graduate Studies - PRPPG), Professor José Wilton Pinheiro Junior (Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Tropical Animal Science, the Economist Manuela Medeiros Gonçalves, (president of the Strategic planning Commission, Pro-Rectory of Institutional Planning and Development - PROPLAN), and Professor Isabel Oliveira (Self Evaluation Commission). As an outcome from the symposium, suggested by the participants, there was a meeting of representatives of CPA, PRPPG and PROPLAN, with the mission of setting strategies towards the establishment of actions to trigger an auto evaluation and strategic planning process within the UFRPE graduate programs. After careful revision by a PRPPG Commission, the questionaries, were turned into an electronic format and made available to the graduate programs for distribution within professors and students (execution stage). Afterwards, the compiled results from each Graduate program were provided to the respective coordination, so they could work on the data and report results. The auto evaluation of PPGCTA is available at the PPGCTA home page regarding professors (Professors) and students (Students) In a similar way, PRPPG analyzed the overall data and published a report encompassing all of the graduate programs from UFRPE (Graduate programs). The results from the electronic questionaries were stratified according to the segment: professor, students and laboratory and administrative technicians (Technical support). The results came from hedonic from 1 to 5: (1) very bad; bad (2), average (3), Good (4), and very good (5). For each question, an average was calculated, and the results were discussed.
In 2019, a Commission was established by the PRPPG from UFRPE, composed of professor, graduate students, and CPA representatives, to trigger the Institutional auto evaluation process, as recommended by CAPES. The topics and items evaluated are described in the I Relatório de Autoavaliação dos Programas de Pós-Graduação (http://www.prppg.ufrpe.br/sites/www.prppg.ufrpe.br/files/legislacao/relatorio_de_autoavaliacao_ppg_ufrpe.pdf).
Besides taking care of the general auto evaluation process, the PRPPG, UFRPE created a commission (Portaria PRPPG, No. 30/2019, December 13th, 2019) with the objective of elaborating tools to evaluate the Graduate programs at UFRPE. This Commission worked on the questionnaires for all the segments involved with graduate programs: professors, students, and laboratory and administrative technicians. These questionaries were applied in March and April of 2020 and the general results were published in two distinct documents – one regarding professors and students (Guerra et al., 2020) and the second one for laboratory and administrative technicians (Guerra et al.,2021). The auto evaluation data from specific graduate programs were provided to each program for specific analysis regarding professor and students.
In this context, the PPGCTA evaluated and analyzed the auto evaluation results from 11 professors (out of 12 professors, 92%) and 11 students from 2018 and 2019 (from a total of 19, 58%) and two documents were published (Gloria, 2021 a,b – please see in RELATÓRIOS DE DISCENTES E EGRESSOS).