The internationalization process in the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) - Brazil

Abstract

In the 1980s, the internationalization of higher education was intensified, especially in European and North American countries, through a series of initiatives that sought to consolidate university institutions internationally. This process was expanded to the rest of the countries during the 1990s, through various actions: joint research projects; teaching, student and technical staff mobility; events; extension of campus in other countries and interculturality  in the curriculum. In the 2000s internationalization was intensified and reached a large part of Brazilian institutions, becoming a constitutive aspect of the social mission of universities, together with research, teaching and extension. The article analyzes the process of implementation and consolidation of internationalization  at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), highlighting how it is understood and expressed in its institutional guidelines, as well as the strategies and procedures adopted to consolidate and expand the process of internationalization. For this, we analyzed documents and legal norms such as the Institutional Development Plan (PDI) 2015-2019; Institutional Management Plan and Management Reports (2000-2017) and the Institutional Plan for Internationalization (2018-2022). As a result, it was verified that, initially, internationalization was not an institutional policy, but slowly it can be identified interest to stablish actions to this aim, culminating to the establishment of the UFMS Internationalization Plan, approved in 2018. It is also noted that the design and foundation of internationalization actions are based on the classical and traditional understanding of knowledge transfer through scientific and technological innovation.