University presidents want to end the triple list – 07/17/2023 – Education

Deans of federal universities presented a proposal to the Lula government (PT) to end the triple list for the appointment of the next directors of the institutions. The change came to be defended after the Bolsonaro government (PL) adopted an open policy of nominating ideologically aligned people.

The amendment to the law needs to be approved by Congress and signed into law by the president. The proposal has government support. A few days after taking office, Lula stated that he will not be the one to choose the rectors. “It’s the university community that has to know who can run the university,” he said at the time.

Since 1968, legislation determines that presidents of federal universities are chosen by the President of the Republic from among names indicated by the institutions themselves. As of 1995, in a law sanctioned by Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), it was defined that these names would be included in a triple list.

By law, the president has the prerogative to choose any of the names on the list. In 2021, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) established the understanding that there is no obligation to indicate the name most voted by university collegiate bodies.

Respect for the majority will of federal universities prevailed for more than two decades. The last time the 1st place had been disregarded was in 1998, during the FHC government.

Bolsonaro, however, broke this tradition in his administration. The former president disregarded the most voted in at least 40% of nominations for dean, according to a balance made up to 2021.

“The discussion of changes in legislation is quite old, but you can’t deny that the previous government’s stance reinforced the need for changes”, says dean Ricardo Fonseca, of UFPR and president of Andifes (association of deans of higher education institutions ).

“For four years, the order of the triple list was very disrespected, the most voted were passed over to the detriment of people who were politically aligned with the government and this brought problems, including management problems for the universities”, he says.

In 2021, for example, at UFRGS (Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) the choice of Carlos Bulhões, the 3rd place, was announced in advance by Bolsonarist deputy Bibo Nunes (PSL-RS), explaining political interference.

Bulhões passed over the University Council to make an administrative change that merged pro-rectors and reduced teams from areas such as distance learning and internationalization to create a pro-rector called Innovation.

The amendment proposal was created by a commission from Andifes and is being discussed with deputy Patrus Ananias (PT-MG), rapporteur of a bill that governs, among other points, the choice of deans.

The new proposal extinguishes the need to send a triple list to the president, as already occurs in the law that governs the choice of deans in federal institutes, the IFs.

The text proposes that universities should carry out direct election by slates for dean and vice dean before the academic community. The institution’s collegiate body must ratify the election, attesting to its regularity, and forward to the President of the Republic only the names of the rector and vice-elect.

The new proposal also intends to put an end to another legal uncertainty experienced by universities, which is the questioning about the legality of internal consultations for the choice of rector.

In the last days of the Michel Temer (MDB) administration, a technical note from the MEC defined as illegal consultations in which the voting weight of teachers is less than 70%. The proportion goes against the practice of many federal universities that adopt selection processes in which the vote of each category (students, professors and employees) has the same weight, one third of the total.

To avoid legal challenges, the universities treat the vote as an informal consultation, which is then endorsed by a collegiate that follows the weight of 70% for professors, as provided for by law.

The text of the new proposal defines that universities will have autonomy to regulate their election process and the definition of the weight of each vote.

“These changes ensure universities what is already foreseen in the Constitution and in the LDB [Lei de Diretrizes e Bases]university autonomy and teaching with democratic management”, defends Fonseca.