This article presents, briefly, the master thesis that gave rise and that analyzes the institutional self-evaluation and the decision-making process at SENAC-SC and the relationship between them. By using an intentional sample of six technology universities belonging to the regional administration of SENAC-SC, this research, carried out in June and July 2010 (cross-sectional basis, i.e., during the current year), had the main purpose of analyzing the institutional self-evaluation and its influence over the decision-making process, supplemented by its specific purposes that were: describe these two processes; identify the appropriation of the results from the institutional self-evaluation in the SENAC-SC universities; and list and discuss those elements that either make it easier or difficult to appropriate such results in the decision-making process within the institution. The study was characterized as a qualitative/quantitative-type descriptive-exploratory study upon the application of a bibliographic-documentary research configured as a multi-case study. Interviews were carried out at each investigated university with: The director of the unit and the area coordinators (market relationship core, administrative/financial core and basic and superior education core), who are understood as the managers of these institutions. A structured questionnaire was applied, containing open and closed-type questions, in the mentioned period, in order to evaluate not only objective and aspects, but also subjective-discursive aspects. The main results have confirmed the existence of the above-assumed relationship, including the importance of the institutional self-evaluation process. In addition and in attention to the specific goals, they indicate that notwithstanding such importance, its structure needs to be revised in order to improve such relationship and improve the appropriation of the surveyed data by the self-evaluation and apply them as an auxiliary means for the decision-making process of the universities in the analyzed universe. The research hypothesis, which was predicting that the institutional self-evaluation, when established in an institution, influences with the provision of subsidies, the decision-making process, was validated by the results.
Institutional self-evaluation; Decision making; Quality; Technological education
