CONTEXTUAL, LEGAL AND REGULATORY CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CAREER OF OFFICIALS OF VENEZUELAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Every university institution encompasses a diverse group of people possessing a wide 
range of talents, translated into abilities, skills, knowledge, competencies, and 
experiences. These capabilities, integrated and focused on collective work, are essential 
to achieving institutional objectives. Therefore, it is essential to have a management 
system that values, fosters, and perfects human qualities, enhancing their development. 
In this sense, this research, in its first phase, focused on characterizing the context, as well 
as the legal and regulatory aspects that impact administrative career management. This 
characterization constitutes a preamble to the development of a management model 
focused on the administrative careers of civil servants at Venezuelan national public 
universities, from the perspective of evaluative management. Epistemologically, the 
research was framed within the phenomenological paradigm, using a design based on 
grounded theory and a qualitative approach. This approach allowed for the generation of 
a theoretical approximation to the context, understood as one of the four fundamental 
elements of Stufflebeam's CIPP evaluation model (2002). The inductive analysis of open
ended, in-depth interviews covered key informants from various institutions: the National 
Experimental University of Táchira (UNET), the National Experimental University of the 
Western Plains Ezequiel Zamora (UNELLEZ), the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), 
and the University of Zulia (LUZ), particularly the presidents of the employee associations. 
The results obtained show that the context is critical and demands the active collaboration 
of all involved parties. Among the main findings are problems related to the 
decontextualization and the mismatch of legal and regulatory foundations, inconsistencies 
in the statutes and internal regulations of the universities, as well as government 
intervention that compromises university autonomy, among other aspects.