University

The humanism embraces a set of conceptions and values common to human beings, in other words, everything that makes them different from the others living beings. At UNISC, humanism means a continuous search for the integral development of the human potential, respect for all people and differences among them, commitment with the human rights, construction of a sense of personal autonomy, development of the capacity humans have to live in society and creatively interact with others, transforming the social environment, as well as, a need for matching human necessities to the environmental sustainability and the challenge of building an environment of peace, solidarity and social justice.

At UNISC, democracy is closely related to the participation on decision making, decentralization, administrative transparency, education and citizenship values, being respectful with rules which were decided collectively, respect to different opinions, capacity of solving problems through dialogue, responsible and transparent management, pursuit of a balance firmly based on merit, technical competence and corporate deliberation. Furthermore, the Institution is committed to the general directions taken by society, respectful relationship with the State authorities and organizations of the civil society, and international and inter-institutional cooperation.

Citizenship is a term that complements the idea of democracy when it is associated to the involvement in politics, fighting for rights, effective experiences of rights and liabilities, construction of new ways of common life and decision-making. Critical awareness is an assumption for citizenship values. At UNISC, citizenship and technical competence have the same applicability in educational activities.

Participation is straightforwardly linked to the democratic ideal and citizenship. Participation implicates on the right of taking part on decisions and the responsibilities that come from it. At a personal level, the participation relies on self-confidence and effectiveness which are built along one’s life. One of the important challenges UNISC assumed is encouraging the daily participation of each and every segment of the academic community on the decisions made in support of the Institution and development of guidelines which would turn the Education practiced at the University a process that benefits the creation of a participatory culture.

As a Communitarian University, UNISC keeps an important interaction with the local community at the different locations it is inserted. The commitment with the local community is expressed through an active participation on the social, cultural and economical development processes and it is translated through institutional actions coming from the community’s needs and demands. The use of the term Communitarian means, to UNISC, to encompass ideas about local identity, cooperation, participation and collective responsibility with the local development.

Quality is related to developing activities efficiently and it aims to be in a pair with the “state-of-the-art” inside the context in which one operates. It requires improving, methods, techniques and procedures constantly, stimulating permanent professional training and the use of proper technologies. For UNISC, quality is not limited to technical expertise (know how) nor the rational dimension, but encompassing the ethical-political and psycho-affective dimension (the purpose of making something consistent with institutional goals). The quality of education is shown by the training of people who are competent and innovative professionals, participative citizens and balanced individuals.

Creativity is the capacity people have to discover new ways and means of finding solutions for problems, giving a meaning to their existence and building the right conditions to their happiness. During the academic activities, creativity is related to the capacity of finding innovative solutions in the different fields of knowledge. The strengthening of the creativity culture is expressed through research, teaching/learning, extension and management and it is an important requirement for producing our own solutions, linked to our reality and relevant to our potentialities.

Criticality speaks up through critical attitudes, in other words, it represents an autonomous position based on a credible judgment of what is presented as true or fact. Critical awareness is responsible for analyzing and evaluating events from the criteria and reason related to them, making it possible to make suitable judgments. For UNISC, criticality in one of the education’s main elements and has to belong the profile of those who work with it. It is one of the assumptions for innovation and creativity. Not the critic itself, but having it so the propositions that are easily accepted can be reconsidered and the innovations has enough space to emerge.

The University defines its logical action autonomously on teaching, research and extension, based on the mission, vision, goals, and institutional values and pursuant to prerogatives established in law for the universities. Partnership with other universities, public bodies and entities are made under the belief that the autonomy of a university must be respected.