The process of democratizing of the access to higher education brings up the issue of student protagonism at the university. What is the role reserved for academics? Do they have space and possibility to contribute to the design of institutional policies, or are they seen as mere customer? In a context of commodification of higher education, how to think about the political and critical role of students in the university? Taking as a reference the experience of building a document called Student Policy at a community university located in southern Brazil (Universidade de Passo Fundo), the article reflects on student protagonism in higher education, especially in the community institutional model. Methodologically, it is a qualitative research, whose data consist of narratives of the students who participated in the construction of the document. Data analysis was based on the analysis of discursive practices and is anchored in two axes of analysis: a) The role of students: from individual to collective protagonism and b) Turning to the community as a mark of student protagonism. The study reveals that students want to be part of the university beyond the classroom, collectively participating in the construction of the institution. It also shows that student protagonism is done by enhancing the relationship with the community, having the strength to bring the community university closer and closer to its public nature, principles and mission.
Keywords:
student policy; community university; student protagonism