LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS USING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS

Abstract

Corresponding to the smallest structure in a University for educational-academic, administrative and personnel allocation purposes, the academic department is currently a sui generis entity. The research proposes a temporal analysis of the relative efficiency of 93 academic departments at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) over the period of 1998 through 2007, using the mathematical modeling technique called data envelopment analysis, as well as indicators equally related to education, research and extension. Among other conclusions, it can be observed that adding a professor to the faculty does not proportionally impact productivity; actually, the synergy may bring even better results. Likewise, removing a professor may not proportionally decrease department output. Furthermore, the research traces a relationship between the results obtained in the replicated model and the model practiced to establish a criteria of faculty position distribution: the department index. The authors present their findings by means of a mixed method technique. The homogeneity of those departments more dedicated to research and the increasing investment on the part of UFRGS in extension evidence the contrast between models, even considering that reorganizations in the system employed for this analysis may leave room for questioning.