SYSTEM OF INDICATORS FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF EXTENSION WORK: THE CASE OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARAIBA

Abstract

Based on experience at the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB), this paper presents the development of a system of indicators to support the management and dissemination of extension work carried out by universities in collaboration with external agencies and organizations. The selection of monitoring frameworks and indicators was guided by the principles of result-based management and the recommendations of the Forum of the Pro-Vice Chancellors for Extension of Brazilian Public Universities (FORPROEX) and the Anísio Teixeira Institute of Educational Research of the Ministry of Education (INEP-MEC). Indicators were defined in four areas: academic plan, management policy, academic production, and relationship between university and society. The database of indicators was built according to the DevInfo technology used by the United Nations (UNDG-UN) to monitor the Millennium development goals (MDGs). This technology allows the inclusion of several monitoring frameworks, and the storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of information (in the form of maps, graphs, and tables, both on-line and stand-alone) in a very user-friendly and flexible way, with indicators for different grouping levels (geographic and sub-populations) and time periods. The database, the development of which is still on-going, contains 80 indicators for three grouping levels (campus, center, and department) and four time periods (2008-2011), and consists of 3083 observational data.