The Federal Rural University of Pernambuco began the institutional self-assessment process for its Graduate Programs (PPG) in 2020, reflecting the activities developed in 2019. Thus, the strategic points for analyzing UFRPE's Graduate Programs were established and periodically monitored by a committee comprised of faculty, students, and technical-administrative staff, coordinated by the Office of the Provost for Graduate Studies. This committee conducted a systematic evaluation of the data obtained from the programs, concluding a cycle of six self-assessments (2019-2024) of UFRPE's programs (https://www.prpg.ufrpe.br/pt-br/relatorios-autoavaliacao).
The comparative results between the years showed clear progress in several academic activities evaluated and were also important for correcting any identified weaknesses. The prior experience gained from the first four self-assessment reports enabled significant progress in identifying the Programs' strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, as well as in implementing strategic planning and actions aimed at improving the Programs' academic and administrative conditions. The previous self-assessments provided a foundation for reinforcing the Programs' identity and mission, highlighting the need to focus on innovative solutions with social, economic, environmental, and cultural impact to solve problems in the State of Pernambuco and the Northeast Region. An example of the progress made in the indicators evaluated was UFRPE's internationalization process, which was reinforced by the CAPES/PrInt/UFRPE Program, approved in 2018, with important initiatives that enabled the inflow and outflow of foreign faculty (PVnE), students (PDSE), and researchers (PVE). These initiatives provided significant institutional progress, placing UFRPE on the international stage of quality research. The publication of the sixth edition of the UFRPE Graduate Program Self-Assessment Report, covering academic and administrative activities, demonstrated the progress of the Programs' consolidation process and identified the need for collective action to strengthen their actions in different areas.
At PPGBEA, the self-assessment process, conducted between 2020 and 2024, was highly adhered to by faculty and students, with an average of 51 students and 10 faculty participating each year, resulting in a meaningful self-assessment process. Each question can be answered with the attributes Very Poor (1), Poor (2), Fair (3), Good (4), or Excellent (5). The questions were classified into seven categories: Self-Assessment, Internationalization, Research and Innovation, Advisory/Thesis, Teaching, Strategic Planning, and Infrastructure. For each category, we calculated the average of the attribute values received in their respective questions.
Between 2020 and 2024, the PPGBEA obtained averages across the seven categories, ranging from 3.86 for Infrastructure in 2022 to 4.65 for Supervision/Thesis in 2021, according to students, and 3.69 for Research/Innovation in 2022 to 4.51 for Strategic Planning in 2024, according to faculty. Overall, the average student evaluation for the period was 4.27, and for faculty, it was 4.21. In other words, the PPGBEA received good evaluations in virtually all categories throughout the period. Furthermore, the lower period (2022) was a post-pandemic year, when construction work at DEINFO began, significantly impacting the PPGBEA's daily operations.
It is worth noting that, for students, the highest-rated categories across all years were "Supervision/Thesis" (overall average of 4.58) and "Teaching" (overall average of 4.45), both with slight fluctuations between years. The first category is related to the quality of supervision, the supervisor/supervisee relationship, and the encouragement of production. The second category is related to the quality of teaching in the courses taught by the faculty, from the teaching methodology, through the content covered and bibliography used, to the commitment and attendance of the faculty. This result suggests that our faculty has been doing an excellent job in student education, also reflecting the excellent employability of our graduates.
From the faculty's perspective, the category with the highest average was Self-Assessment, which demonstrates a high level of satisfaction with their activities, reflecting effective supervision and teaching. In second place, Strategic Planning stands out, with an overall average score of 4.39 over the period and reaching its highest value in 2024 (4.51). This category refers to the issues related to the structure and management of the PPGBEA (e.g., research lines, curriculum matrix, course updating, coordination and secretariat performance, transparency in the application of resources, etc.).
Another category worth highlighting is Infrastructure. The 2021-2024 four-year period was quite significant in this regard, beginning with a pandemic period, in which the program's infrastructure was irrelevant for the period of remote activities (2021 - student average of 4.10 and faculty of 3.83). This followed a post-pandemic period, but with the Department's physical structure severely compromised as a result of its renovation (2022 - student average of 3.86 and faculty of 3.98). It culminated in the restructuring of the PPGBEA's physical spaces, both in terms of its well-equipped classrooms and auditorium, as well as the research laboratories equipped with high-performance computers and servers/workstations (2024 - student average of 4.15 and faculty of 4.18). We believe a significant increase in these values will be observed in the following four-year period.
Overall, based on this evaluation process, we can conclude that faculty and students are generally satisfied with all aspects assessed, and that this process is a fundamental tool for the development of the Graduate Program. From this, we can determine that the main focus for the next four years should be strengthening research groups, particularly in relation to the development of technological and innovative products, faculty and student participation in outreach activities, continuous improvement of student output, and international recognition of our research and faculty.