Criteria for the evaluation of postgraduate programs in public and private Venezuelan universities

Abstract

The demands imposed by the environment on contemporary organizations make it imperative that their personnel possess superior knowledge", Albornoz (2001) defines this knowledge ("expert discourse") as that which should be taught in higher education institutions, as opposed to to the “credential that falsifies expertise” and that, equally, can be obtained at a university campus. Organizations demand from higher education institutions, therefore, prospects for employees capable of addressing, with their knowledge and experience, problematic situations that may arise in dealing with their organizational environment. This systemic relationship between the university and society must be, in some way, supervised by a higher body capable of establishing policies, standards and procedures that guarantee the adequacy of the university product (graduates with higher knowledge: input from the social system) to the demands of social organizations and institutions (processor of the social system) to achieve the ultimate and common goal of productivity and social well-being (output of the social system).