In February 1989, an unprecedented model of university autonomy was created in the State of São Paulo through a decree by governor Orestes Quércia. Since then, USP, Unicamp and Unesp would be authorized to create their own standards for didactic-scientific, administrative and financial management, human resources and property management. The measure opened up many possibilities for improvement for higher education institutions in São Paulo while expanding their responsibilities and raising new obstacles. Physicists Paulo Muzy and José Roberto Drugowich, who closely followed this process, focused on the topic to write the book The Challenges of University Autonomy: Recent History of USP (Paco Editorial), launched on October 4th with a debate at the “Gleb Wataghin” Physics Institute (IFGW) at Unicamp.
The event was attended by the rector of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel, the former rector Carlos Vogt (1990-1994), president of the Scientific and Cultural Council of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IdEA) at Unicamp, and the sociologist Geraldo di Giovanni, retired professor from the Institute of Economics (IE) at Unicamp. Thirty years after being instituted, university autonomy has generated debates in academic circles due to the threat that a tax reform could put at risk the rule for transferring 9,57% of the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) to the three universities paulistas. In a scenario where the budget is compromised, this perspective would present itself as aggravating the current financial crisis.
Di Giovanni declared that the book is the most complete work on the history of São Paulo universities, with important historical details and abundant theoretical foundations in sociology, anthropology and administration. Presenting a vision that he classified as “pessimistic”, the sociologist argued that the external institutionality of universities is very fragile. “The danger we are in is real, even if there is no change in the tax system”, stated the IE professor. “If there is, this fight that we will launch from now on would necessarily have to have support, a sounding board, from public opinion, which we do not have.”
For Di Giovanni, this distrust of public opinion is related to the need to discuss the internal institutionality of universities. “In this aspect, the book is perfect, showing the great opportunities we missed to build autonomy with constant budgetary surveillance, which we have not practiced all these years.” He also highlighted that the work of Muzy and Drugowich warns against the “temptations of autonomy”, such as considering that resources are eternally secured and can be used in whatever way suits them. In this context, the IE professor pointed to corporatism as the biggest “villain”, which he identifies as defending the legitimate interests of a certain group or organization without considering the interests of the community.
For the rector of Unicamp, the moment is one of “imminent danger”, requiring a debate organized by the defense of the public university. Going through the history of this process of constitution of autonomy, in Knobel's point of view, is essential to understand the mechanisms that led to the current situation. “We need to know what led to our autonomy, considered one of the best models in the world, but which also has its problems, as we ended up seeing and are still suffering at Unicamp, USP and Unesp.”
Paulo Muzy explained that the work was conceived with a central issue arising from the crisis that has faced universities since 2014. “From the point of view of the crisis, it was necessary to verify whether the São Paulo university system had taken advantage of the decree. Our question was: was there a change in management?” According to him, who was deputy secretary of Science and Technology of the State of São Paulo (1991-1994), the three São Paulo universities were at different stages of development in 1989: while USP had almost six decades of history, Unicamp was experiencing a institutionalization process and Unesp, still organizing. For this reason, the book was designed with a focus on the case of the University of São Paulo, whose management structure was already “qualified” and “organized”.
The author agreed with the other speakers that one of the challenges is the emergence of a tax reform that could modify the ICMS nomenclature, putting at risk the maintenance of the current transfer percentages for the university system in São Paulo. “These resources are in the sights of politicians, and I would ask myself: what arguments would the university use today to face the legislative debate? This seems to me to be the most pressing challenge.”
To write the work, the authors interviewed people who followed the process of creating the decree, analyzed reports and articles published in the press, and pored over the bibliography. Drugowich recalled that the first risk to university autonomy was posed in 1991, when the increase in the tax transfer percentage and a redistribution between the three institutions were discussed. The second moment of threat, he states, occurred in 2007, when the State Secretariat for Higher Education was created and its possible influence on the Council of Rectors (Cruesp).
Linguist Carlos Vogt, who closely followed the implementation process of the 1989 decree – first as vice-rector (1986-1990) and then rector of Unicamp (1990-1994) – is the author of the preface to “The Challenges of University Autonomy ”. In his text, he states that having lived through both periods of management allowed him to clearly assess the improvement of governance in the São Paulo university environment. For the linguist, the publication of the book is timely, as it highlights the urgency of renewing and innovating practical actions in defense of the concept of autonomy. “Autonomy is in the culture of state public universities and Fapesp. That’s why it’s difficult for governments to put an end to this and return to the ‘hat in hand’ situation.”
According to the former dean, “autonomy allowed the State of São Paulo to have the structural conditions for the scientific, technological and cultural development that we know”. Vogt recalled that autonomy has been thought of since 1947, in the State Constitution, and enshrined in the creation of Fapesp, in 1962.
The seminar and book launch was organized by Unicamp's Institute of Advanced Studies (IdEA), with support from Editora da Unicamp and Paco Editorial.
