Rector’s speech – March 2013
Speech of Ceremony of Peace Commendation of Chico Xavier
Good evening to all the presents,
Greetings to the Governor Antônio Anastasia, to the Uberaba’s mayor Paulo Piau, mastermind and author of the Law-Project which has created the Peace Commendation of Chico Xavier, to Dr. Joaquim Cabral Netto, president of the Commendation Council, to the other table components and colleagues blessed with the Peace Commendation of Chico Xavier.
Today is a very special day for me and I believe that for all the other presents blessed with the Medal of the Peace of Chico Xavier, singular distinction between the commendations which bring the Minas Gerais Government seal.
The Peace Commendation of Chico Xavier, as it is in the homonym book of Dr. Cabral, “Has the fundament of a large vision: important contribution in favor of the comprehension and the social, politic and religious tolerance between the men; of the fraternity between people, their social groups or nations. And, in this meaning, it contains all the conduct that comes back to this goal at the field of pacifism, literary, artistic and cultural, on the realization of scientific and technologic researches; on the fight against starving and misery; on the humanity spiritual fortification or development, in general lines, for all the actions that aim the promotion of human dignity.”
It seems timely to me to say that this commendation allies two important elements: the topic itself, which sustain and legitimate that the peace, maybe one of the biggest desires that permeates, and had always permeated, the history of humanity, and the image of our biggest protagonist, Chico Xavier, who lends the name.
The peace can be seen from different perspectives, since the inner peace, also known as Spirit’s Peace, which is the one that we bring intrinsically with us, which distinguish us as human beings in different evolutionary, emotional and spiritual levels.
The inner peace is a property we do not acquire from anyone but ourselves, even less acquire it in treaties, achievements or negotiations at the political scope. On the contrary, our historical course has always revealed us as monarchs, emperors, important generals and public men, which did not have the inner peace, despite being famous, rich and powerful.
Curiously, the inner peace does not choose rich or poor, black or white, cult or ignorant, civilized or barbaric, young or elder, scholarly or illiterate. Chico Xavier himself, in one of his emblematic sentences, said: “I know people so poor, that the only thing they have is money”. The inner peace also does not choose catholic or spiritualist, evangelic or orthodox, atheist, Buddhist or even the afro religion practitioners, which all of different nuances and tints.
The only barrier or limit to the inner peace is ourselves, with our drama, perspectives, life ambitions and unreasonable values, with our weaknesses and limitations, with questions we do not find answers, with our dreams which do not become true, with our way many times unknown, which create anxiety, stress and sadness, all together translated by João Guimarães Rosa as “unrest”.
“The more I seek people, the more I find myself alone... I did not even know the amount I wanted, not even where I was going... But maybe what I felt, the loneliness (…).
The walk of life wrap everything up, this is the life: it gets hot then turns cold, it gets though then turns loose, it gets quiet then turns unquiet. What it wants from us is the courage”.
Now I get to the other surface of the prism, which is the important fate of this commendation to bring the name of Chico Xavier. This important Brazilian pacifist and humanist, who brought the highest level of inner peace with himself, which is the extreme kindness. Chico Xavier accomplished himself dedicating to the next and putting his mission above his personal life. His sadness was that he could not help everyone from every place, frustrating him with his ambition of helping everyone out.
Chico Xavier found answers to several questions, lighted many obscured ways, took care of lost ambitions and illusions of many brothers and sisters from different faiths and beliefs, helping bringing back the quietness and the inner peace to millions of Brazilians and foreigners who were trying to find them.
As we witnessed on the Dr. Cabral’s manuscript, “ Chico Xavier is a kind of underprivileged leader of the out of favor, poor, sufferer, not omnipotent, unpretentious, willing to lose and modest people (…). Francisco Cândido Xavier emerges with the strength of the forgiveness, tolerance, real fraternity, strong weakness of the faith, humility, bereavement erected as rule of life, as effective charity work; as not violence in any of its manifestations, even the disguised in power, glory, syncretism, hermeticism, initiation, time power or eternal life promise (…). To all that were seeking with their anguish, suffering, necessities and pain, he brought, sometimes, more than the material help: he drought tears, renewed hopes and lighted consciences up.
I tried to make this described passages a rich and fertile humus to bring light to the theme of Collective Peace, the most desired between the people from yesterday and from today, the most difficult because it involves human beings, with their differences, faiths and own idiosyncrasies. The most difficult, because it involves regions, territories, states and nations with ambitions, pretentions and different lifestyles.
The Collective Peace requires effort and cost from many and it takes time and dedication. In unison. The search of the Collective Peace can occur by war, invasion and dominion reasons, by the effect of catastrophes, natural disasters and big social emotions. But always, in these and other situations, as a social good and unique value.
Feizi Milani in his book “Peace Culture” says: “Think about a peace culture requires the necessity of transformation, indispensable that the peace be the governor of all human and social relationships, from the value dimension, attitudes and lifestyles to the juridical and economic structure and citizenship participation”.
The Collective Peace brings balance, harmony and development. It was the object of tribes, kingdom, past empires and the current ones it is of the countries and continents. The European Union has just received the Peace Nobel Prize, granted in 2012 in recognition to its search for the harmony in acquaintanceship, by the mutual help and the collective fight of overcoming of ordinary obstacles. The committee has justified the prize quoting the role that the European block exercises, since long time ago, to promote the union of European continent.
Befor concluding, I had to refer myself to the other blessed, each one with its own faiths, each one with its own history and personal way of life, each one with its own poetic, each one with its own distinct occupation, but I have no doubt that all promoting the peace inside its own action scope, whether in the field of arts, educations, medicine, army, human rights, politics or religion.
Me and my companions thank Minas Gerais Government, egregious Medal Council and to the city of Uberaba for having encouraged the peace through this commendation that honors Chico Xavier and, timer after time, solidifies, between the people from Minas Gerais, an expensive theme to the good men of yesterday, today and always.
I choose some verses from the composer and singer Dolores Duran to conclude my speak, very emblematic of the inner peace that invades the human hearts with the simplest things in life:
“I want the first star that comes
I want the peace of a sleeping child
I want the abandonment of flowers opening up
I want the happiness of a returning ship
I want the tenderness of hands meeting themselves”.
Peace to all and thank you very much.
Uberaba, 8th of march, 2013
Dijon Moraes Júnior
Rector – UEMG
*Official speaker of the Ceremony of Peace Commendation of Chico Xavier 2013.
Rector’s speech – March 2013
Human education and formation: challenges of the present time, historical route and post graduating data from UEMG*
Created by the Constituent Assembly of 1989, from the absorption of high education institutes and foundations in Minas Gerais, like Faculdade de Educação do Instituto de Educação de Minas Gerais - IEMG; Fundação Guignard; Fundação Mineira de Arte – FUMA (ESAP e ESMU) and more than 06 foundations on the countryside, which have not seen its absorptions become true yet, like Campanha, Carangola, Divinópolis, Diamantina, Passos and Ituiutaba.
With the multicampi vocation, it is found nowadays in 07 cities of Minas Gerais state: Belo Horizonte, João Monlevade, Barbacena, Ubá, Leopoldina, Poços de Caldas and Frutal.
Having circa of seven thousand students and nine hundred professors, UEMG shows the following portrait:
UEMG 2013 data
- 32 graduations;
- 23 post graduations in specialization level lato sensu;
- 01 master’s degree in the partnership net Uemg/Ufop/Cetec;
- 01 doctorade in the partnership net Uemg/Ufop/Cetec.
UEMG’s Dilemma
The traditional units, like FaE (1929), School of Arts Guignard (1943), Design School (1955) and Music School (1954), although having a known historical course, do not bring on their origin the tradition of the universities with their post graduation programs.
On the other side, the new faculties were established from the year 2000, like FaEnge (2004), FAPP (2006) and the Leopoldina Campus (2010). It means that the new campis and the new institutes still do not have enough time to become mature and consolidate theirselves in order to establish their own strict sensu programs.
There were already some isolated iniciatives in UEMG, especially on FaE and Design School, that aimed at the direction of the institution of post graduation programs on the strict sensu level, also master’s degree, but not articulated with the other faculties of the university in a coherent format with institutional objective.
Curiously until the year of 2008 there was not a Research and Post-Graduation Pro-Rectory, which came at the appendix as Research and Extension Pro-Rectory.
Begin of Post-Graduation as UEMG’s institutional objective
In 2007, an ordinance was signed by Prof. Janete Gomes Barreto Paiva, creating at the University’s scope, the Research and Post-Graduation Central Committee chaired by the vice rector, which is now the rector, who had many attributions, like to advise the Post-Graduation Local Committees, also established on the same year at the Education Faculty (FaE), Design School, School of Arts Guignard and Music School.
In 2009 was established the Research and Post-Graduation Pro-Rectory, as we know it nowadays, which had in a partnership with the Central Committee the role of support and organize the APCNs proposals in development at the University.
Ad hoc consultants were hired by the rectory to each Master’s Degree project, Education and Design, and external consultants in order to follow the actions of the Central Committee and of the new Pro-Rectory, aiming the fulfillment of the rules and deadlines to approve the APCNs with CAPES.
Yet another role of the Post-Graduation Central Committee, established in 2007, was to determine the deadlines and ascertain the results of the Local Committees with respect to the institutions of the Post-Graduation Stricto Sensu programs, also to follow its accreditation to the capable organs and the resulting renewals.
State of Art
UEMG had several problems related to its instructor’s academic title. In 2008, the institution had 704 professors, which 477 were permanent. From those, 74 (15,5%) had only graduation, 190 (39,8%) had only specialization, 191 (40%) had the Master’s Degree and only 22 (4,6%) had the Doctorate.
If together, the effective and designated professors, in a amount of 704 professors, UEMG would have 105 graduated (14,9%), 282 specialists (14,9%), 268 Masters (38%) and only 49 Doctors (7%). Masters and Doctors, overall, were in 2008 only 45% of all the professors in UEMG. This percentage fulfilled minimally the percentage of 33,33% required at LDB, but did not attend the necessities to assure the creation of post-graduation strict sensu courses.
In order to overcome this situation, the Institution would have to adopt different strategies, which would make the academic title profile better and would include:
- Implant an ambitious program of instructor qualification at UEMG;
- Create Post-Graduation programs, in which new instructors also are part of the clientele;
- Attract new Doctors at the courses;
- Develop initiatives together with the Government aiming the improvement of the instructors’ career, in order to assure the permanence of those;
- Hire Masters or Doctors through designations.
In relation with the creation of the strict sensu program, all effort started in 2007 has revealed us that the program’ proposals by CAPES had initially some fragilities, like: lack of clarity at the definition of the research lines, body of instructors with the academic title at the limit stipulated by CAPES and the incipient scientific production to legitimate those programs.
The proposals were adequate and remade and the Master’s Degree program at Education Faculty and Design School, approved by the Scientific CAPES Committee in 2008, which creation was object of the approbation in 06/05/2009 by CNE, started on the first and second semester of 2009.
In relation with the instructor body’s academic title, an instructor’s qualification program was approved by CONUN, in December 2008, aiming to qualify 60% of the professors as effective Masters who did not have this qualification, and 30% as Doctors who are already Masters.
Institutional Commitment
Since 2010, the current management has put the Post-Graduation Stricto Sensu between the priorities of the Management Plan 2010-2014 and established goals in order to change the Scenario and State of Arts.
It was requested to the Minas Gerais government, in an emergency feature, 22 spots for professor-doctors to establish the strict sensu programs, so divided: 5 spots to Guignard School, 4 spots to the Music School, 3 spots to the Education Master’s Degree, 1 spot to the Design Master’s Degree and 8 spots to the Doctorates in order to improve the program of Environment Master’s Degree (hydrous resources) of the Frutal UEMG Campus. All the contests were done or are being finished in March. Those who were not provided will be reallocated on another contest.
We operate in another very fragile front at our institution, which was the Career Plan, that did not attract and could not achieve the enough number of professor-doctors to our Post-Graduation Stricto Sensu programs.
As a result of negotiations with the State’s Government, we achieved an improvement at the instructors’ remuneration. In 2010, the salary of a professor-doctor with DE and working already for 1 year at the institution, was R$6.297,47. In 2012, it increased and was R$9.153,84, to the same job and workload. It has raised the level of admission at the professor-doctor career from the Level V to the Level VI, being known that the last career level at UEMG is Level VII.
Beyond, the instructors’ promotion by qualification (academic title), which used to take 5 years, now are immediate and without interstices.
This effort has showed us there are successful hits, yet far from the ideal, we have already pointed positive results. We have migrated from a number of 87 doctors in 2010 to 130 doctors in 2012. Another positive reality we have is that 112 professors are taking part of Doctorate programs in Brazil and abroad, which will totalize 242 professor-doctors.
It is relevant to mention that nowadays in UEMG the professors who have moved away because of the qualification on Master’s Degree, Doctorate and Post-Doc level do not have a decrease of their salary, like it used to happen before, beyond the scholarships programs to state Universities in Minas Gerais called Programa Mineiro de Capacitação Docente (PMCD), which had already two editions, and the Plano de Capacitação de Recursos Humanos (PCRH), granted annually by Fapemig.
UEMG has currently 146 international partnerships, where professors and students can take Master’s Degree and Doctorate courses abroad, together with the Fapemig’s institution Minas Gerais Net of Cooperation in Post-Graduation, where the public federal universities, with many programs in Minas Gerais, will act as partners, either providing Doctorate spots on their programs or providing programs of cooperation post-graduation, in order to qualify the professors of the emergent universities, federal and state, in Minas Gerais.
Another possibility of cooperation at the Minas Gerais Net of Cooperation in Post-Graduation will be the realization of Minters and Dinters on the search of the professors’ qualification, beyond the promotion in partnership researches.
It is important to say, that the partnership between Politécnico di Torino in Italy and UEMG, in Post-Graduation level, where the professors of Design School, FAENGE and Arts School Guignard can apply themselves to three annual spots to take the Doctorate in Design at that institute, with scholarships sponsored by Fapemig. It is also important to mention that Fapemig gave learning scholarships to Doctorate abroad.
The future of Post-Graduation in UEMG
As we know, according to the resolution CNE of 5th October 2010, the current federal universities which do not accord the requirement about offering Master’s Degree and Doctorate courses can be accredited one more time, if they offer, at least, 3 courses of Master’s Degree and 1 Doctorate until 2013. To those universities it is required to arrive in 2016 with 4 Master’s Degree courses and 2 Doctorates. Similar requirements will be extended to the State Universities, as already showed by CEE on our accreditation process.
The percentage of 1/3 masters and doctors can be enlarged at the universities’ reform, which could also be over the percentage of 50%, being kept the requirement of 1/3 of the instructors in the integral time regime.
In the search of trying to attend the challenges imposed by CNE/LDB/CEE/CAPES and other High Education organs in Minas Gerais and Brazil, especially the ones which rule the Post-Graduation Stricto Sensu, UEMG at the biennium 2010-2012 presents the following data:
- 427 research projects made;
- 504 publications of professors from the capital and countryside’s units;
- 77,41% of update of its bibliographic collection;
- Priority at the concession, total or partial, of assistance in involvement at events (conferences, seminars, forums and symposiums) by professors of post-graduation strict sensu program, aiming the enlargement of access to fomentation organs and complementation with resources from the university;
- Priority at the concession of Exclusive Dedication to the members of post-graduation strict sensu programs;
- Authorization by the Minas Gerais Government of 590 spots at the contest to the UEMG units from the capital and countryside, when needed, and also can divide this number in free quota between specialists, masters and doctors, according to the regional reality and university’s strategy;
- Resubmission of Master’s Degree proposals to CAPES at Guignard School, Music School and Frutal Campus. The achievement of the concept in at least 4 Education and Design Master’s Degree, then consequently, the sending of the Doctorate proposals to CAPES;
- Fortification of the interaction between UEMG/UFOP/Cetec at Master’s Degree and Doctorate in Material Engineer together with REDEMAT.
Lastly, we know that our biggest challenges are inside us and the resolution depend on our own, because we have to overcome barriers and obstacles, either they are technical, historical or situational, to the reality of terms to build a public university with quality to the citizens of Minas Gerais and Brazil.
Thank you very much.
Belo Horizonte, 5th of March, 2013
Dijon Moraes Júnior
Rector
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