A cooperação nas universidades do consórcio das universidades comunitárias gaúchas visando a internacionalização institucional.

Abstract

The present study aims to understand the approach used in interuniversity cooperation for institutional internationalization. A holistic understanding about this topic assumes that cooperation is a key element to increase internationalization, as well as the development of the community in which the communitarian institutions of higher education are inserted. On this perspective, it was adopted a theoretical model that allows the understanding and evaluation of cooperation in the educational environment. Therefore, the present research adopted as the object of this study four communitarian institutions which are members of the Consórcio das Universidades Comunitárias Gaúchas (COMUNG) and were created in the 1960s. The four institutions are the Universidade Feevale, Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Centro Universitário Univates and Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. Thus, the contextualization from this theme shows the presentation of the four institutions and the analysis from the perspective of international cooperation with the prior understanding of the current structure of higher education in Brazil. It was found that the participation of the consortium (COMUNG) has not privileged the promotion of its international insertion.