O Strategic Planning (Planes) is an appropriate and efficient tool for managing institutions such as Unicamp, characterized by the diversity of ideas and high scientific production. This is the main conclusion of the professional master's thesis developed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM) by systems analyst Maurício Calixto de Andrade, the first on the subject. The next challenge will be to establish standards not only for budgetary qualification, but also for operational attitudes and decisions based on institutional planning guidelines and standards.

Planes is a suitable tool for Unicamp, says study

“We believe that Planes was the procedure implemented that provided the most visible result in terms of the proposal to think about the university in a global way”, says Calixto. For two years, under the guidance of professor José Tadeu Jorge, current rector of Unicamp, the analyst reconstructed all the steps of Planes, whose discussion and implementation took place in the period 2003-2004. According to the study, one of the fundamental factors for success was community involvement. For Calixto, this made each sector think about itself and how it could contribute to the whole. “This reflection in units and bodies is something new for many of them, who have never had the opportunity to think about how they fit into the university project”, he observes.

Started during the management of former rector Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, Planes da Unicamp had three basic objectives in mind: ensuring administrative continuity regardless of changes in command; establish short, medium and long-term perspectives; and establish a process of continuous performance improvement through periodic review of the project and the institutional evaluation process. The work has so far resulted in a list of 16 programs divided into 54 lines of action, which will guide Unicamp's steps in pursuit of its institutional objectives in the coming years. “Planes makes it possible to think about the University in a collective and systemic way, in addition to seeing the institution as a great process”, explains Maurício Calixto.

When analyzing the internal environment of the University, based on data collected by the units and bodies themselves in the process of consolidating Planes, Calixto concluded that the aspects of management, labor and physical environment constitute the main weak points and need to be improved. This scenario was observed on a larger scale in units and institutes. The study also found that the 16 programs established by Planes are consistent with the institution's needs, both in the short, medium and long term.

Another important aspect, according to Calixto, refers to the fact that, only after the planning was constructed in conceptual terms, was its relationship with the budget proposal established. “This marks the institutional decision to link the university’s direction to strategic planning,” he notes. “When the Planes lines begin to operate with budget resources, the definitive link will be made between the conceptual project and its concrete operationalization”.

In April, the Strategic Planning Commission (Copei) approved the allocation of resources for Planes da Unicamp in 2006. A total of R$ 1,3 million was allocated to the development of 20 projects, selected among the 71 presented in 2005. With approval, the phase started in 2004 came to an end, when the programs and lines to be implemented in the coming years were defined. From then on, a new phase began, which involves the execution of projects, accompanied by their analysis and review.

According to the research, not everything established in the 16 programs and 54 lines of action requires financial resources. “There are many things that are linked to changes in concept or attitude and adjustments that do not necessarily require financial investment”, says the author of the work. However, many of these lines will require resources. “And this will mark the next phase, with the launch of notices so that units and bodies can present their projects and compete for these resources”. The objective is for the units to compose their projects, establishing a harmony with the University’s mission.

Models - According to Calixto, the method adopted by Unicamp results from the adaptation of several other models. In total, 23 alternatives were studied until arriving at our own model, taking into account the institution's peculiarities. One of the factors that characterize the methodological model adopted by Planes da Unicamp, and which differentiates it from other higher education institutions, is the understanding that institutional evaluation must be seen as an administration tool and, therefore, as an indispensable tool for support planning.

“Planning and evaluation must always go together”, says Calixto. “The evaluation of just one moment is sterile, a static photo, while the evaluation of the project is dynamic and systemic”, he explains. From a behavioral point of view, according to the author, planning creates objective conditions so that investments in human resources are preserved and valued according to objective standards. “Planes is gradually valuing functional competence, whether in teachers or technicians, who as managers put the objectives into practice to build the desired vision of the future”, he adds.