Análisis del proceso comunicativo de la Agencia aseguradora de la calidad del sistema de educación superior ecuatoriano: propuesta de un proyecto de reforma a la Ley Orgánica de Educación Superior

Abstract

El proceso histórico-normativa de la calidad de la educación superior en el Ecuador, su aseguramiento y su evaluación, a cargo de un organismo público, técnico, denominado Consejo de Aseguramiento de la calidad de la Educación Superior, CACES, la comunicación de sus planes, objetivos y principios es la preocupación central de la Tesis. Los objetivos de los Planes de comunicación del CACES son confrontados, a partir de sus páginas web, con los objetivos comunicaciones de las Instituciones de Educación Superior ecuatorianas, IES. Se presentan conclusiones y recomendaciones relacionados con los objetivos analizados y se proponen nuevas líneas de investigación.

The main axis of the Thesis is the communication between the Quality Regulatory Agency and the Higher Education Institutions of Ecuador. The theoretical framework that supports its results and conclusions contains a historical journey of quality from the second half of the last century to the second decade of the 21st century; it complements a description of the communication processes that the current Quality Regulatory Agency implements to connect with the Ecuadorian university system. It inquires on the websites of the fifty-nine (59) Ecuadorian Universities and Polytechnic Schools for evidence of alignment and compliance of the communicational objectives of the quality regulatory entity. It analyzes whether the quality assessment processes of the communication policies, which aim at the internal and external public, have a strategic role in the quality evaluation processes or if, on the contrary, they lack interest. The pedagogical and guiding role that communication has in quality assurance processes stands out, a process that in the Ecuadorian case addresses: teaching, research, connection with the community and institutional conditions. It uses the method of historical analysis to deepen in the results obtained in the quality evaluations and accreditations; controlled observation and empirical - analytical analysis to examine communication through websites; structured interviews with qualified actors: members of regulatory agencies and Rectors of Universities of the higher education system. The conclusions highlight that Ecuadorian universities mostly lack interest in internationalization, they are comfortable privileging the local without addressing the global. A minority makes efforts to adapt the academic offer to the requirements of international accreditations and thus expand opportunities for institutional strengthening and evolution. A culture of quality has not taken root and that makes the system fragile, more eager to coverage than to compliance with basic quality standards. The communication of the insurance agency does not correspond directly to the quality indicators of the models it applies to evaluate and assure quality and it avoids supervising the compliance of the mandates contained in the current regulations.