Autonomia universitária em xeque? Notas para uma análise do processo de escolha dos dirigentes universitários da Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul no ano de 2019 e dos limites do artigo 207 da Constituição Federal de 1988

Abstract

The present work consists of a first approximation to the probable heteronomic nature of the process of selection and appointment of the least approved managers in the prior and informal consultation with the university community at the Federal University of Southern Frontier (UFFS) in the year 2019. It aims to investigate with greater attention the possibilities of fully realizing the autonomy as provided for in the constitutional provisions, understanding the limits of article 207 of the Federal Constitution (CF) of 1988, in view of Law nº 9.192/95, in the context of prior consultation and appointment of rectors to federal universities in the country. The research was articulated under the approach of historical-dialectical materialism and the conception of relative autonomy formulated by Gyorgy Lukács. The methodology used consists of bibliographic review and documentary analysis. As it covers a brief moment in the recent history of Brazilian education, the problem lies in a section that has not yet been much researched, and for this reason the aim of the research is to collect a base of preliminary information that can be investigated in more depth later. The episode investigated was marked by the appointment and inauguration of the former rector appointed in 2019 by the former President of the Republic (2019-2022), since the candidate for rector was part of one of the slates that constituted the triple list, as provided for in the Law nº 9.192/95. The case resonated with great dissatisfaction among students, teachers and other employees of the institution, who mobilized actions aimed to resist the inauguration of the former rector, alleging his illegitimacy and the nature of intervention. The study addresses the issue of university autonomy going back to its origins in the first universities in Europe in the 11th century, moment from which the phenomenon began to be conceived as a fundamental principle for the full development of higher education institutions, and how it resonated on different contexts and temporalities. Throughout the two chapters, the research demonstrates how, despite the constitutionalizat ion of university autonomy by article 207 of CF/88, infraconstitutional laws have been able to find loopholes that open the possibility of regulating issues that involve universities in heteronomic processes, such as external interventions in their management, undermining their autonomy and subverting the democratic principles that should guide such institutions.