Avaliação de rankings internacionais de qualidade entre universidades e Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the position of the Federal University of the Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), a public university, in world rankings with special attention to the Pharmacy course. To compare the indicators and ranking methods with the curricular guidelines, the UFRGS Pharmacy curriculum and the Pharmacy course Pedagogical Project (PP). Methods. Initially, a theoretical evaluation of the global university ranking systems was made, with special attention being given to analyzing the 13 rankings indicated on the UFRGS website alongside the Ranking Universitário Folha (RUF), a national ranking system that compares the courses in all the Brazilian universities. The various indicators were compared and the position of the University and the Faculty of Pharmacy verified. Finally, the information obtained was compared with the curricular guidelines, the UFRGS Pharmacy curriculum and the PP of the Pharmacy Course and conclusions drawn. Results. Consideration of the 13 ranking systems and their indicators provided an ample overview of what is considered important in educational quality analysis. Only 4 of these 13 rankings had the specific Faculty of Pharmacy’s position, which was considered important for this study, therefore, these were chosen and the RUF added for comparison. A categorization was proposed after the analyses of the 13 ranking’s indicators, producing 3 groups which were then used to organize the RUF indicators. After comparing national guidelines with the Pharmacy Course PP and the present UFRGS Pharmacy course, it became clear that the curriculum and the PP are perfectly in line with these guidelines, indicating that the international position does not necessarily correspond with the function expected by the country in which the university is located. Conclusion. This ranking, Brazilian national guidelines, Pharmacy PP and UFRGS Pharmacy curriculum analysis allows for a more extensive comprehension relative to the value of the world- wide ranking systems, and the position of the UFRGS and Faculty of pharmacy, the ‘founders’ of higher education in the South of Brazil. Also bringing a greater awareness that what is most important in a university setting, is the fulfilment of the student’s expectations as well as the national function of the course in question.