In the same year in which we commemorate the 50th anniversary of our Autonomy, we also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University of the Azores, an achievement of Democracy and Autonomy. It is essential to highlight its decisive role in our region, as well as the excellence of its faculty, whose greatest challenge is linked to the institution’s tripolar structure.
Over the last decades, we have witnessed the gradual emptying of the Angra do Heroísmo Campus with the departure of programs such as Basic Education and its master’s degree, as well as the Management program, a move that was highly contested. As for Faial, there was the possibility that the Marine Sciences program would be relocated to Ponta Delgada, but due to obvious reasons and the struggle of faculty members and researchers, it resisted the process of cost-cutting and remains where it belongs, continuing to produce internationally recognized scientific work, even with limited resources.
It was in this context of celebration that I was alerted to a reality that affects the lives of many people, even though it is often swept under the rug when the time comes for speeches and ready-made slogans. In a Region that is increasingly divided, there are attitudes and management strategies that are reflected in a lack of cohesion. They may be less visible, but they are nonetheless deeply felt by the resident population. It is important to acknowledge that, systematically and deliberately, the island academy appears to have forgotten its tripolar roots, consolidating itself around a model of centralization that is outdated and cannot be ignored.
Indeed, in the twenty-first century, with all the tools provided by technological progress, the University acts contrary to the cohesion required in a discontinuous and dispersed territory, due to its lack of a consistent e-learning response. This prevents, for example, people from other islands from pursuing master’s degrees. It is true that this obstacle results not only from the concentration of academic offerings in Ponta Delgada, but also from accreditation requirements imposed on programs offered in this format by the A3ES agency. Yet should we simply surrender to these difficulties, or should we strive to overcome them?
Susana Mira Leal was re-elected by majority vote, on a single-candidate list. The new—and continuing—Rector once again emphasized her intention to diversify and decentralize the institution, with a greater offering of programs and digital and hybrid learning models. But for any prospective student, a brief consultation of the University’s institutional and regulatory rules is enough to realize that a significant part of the University’s operations remains unable to function remotely. Any working adult under the Worker-Student Statute who hopes to pursue a master’s degree from a distance must prepare for a difficult journey.
There are always the so-called practical alternatives: follow the logic of entrepreneurship without reason, move and change one’s tax residence, pursue studies through the Open University while remaining limited in options. Or simply do not study at all and remain quiet and submissive, just as the system seems to prefer. The decline of this model is yet another silent proof of the condition to which this State has arrived. We live in fear, uncertain how to move forward, always restrained by invisible chains—those of centralization, capitalism, and the absurd acceptance that investment in academic advancement is only for a select few.
Breaking the cycle of structural poverty in the Azores depends on the University of the Azores. But we cannot accept that, in order to attend it, we ourselves must become potential additions to the statistics of poverty.
Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives on Terceira Island in the Azores. She is a regular contributor to several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.
NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant perspectives on some of the archipelago’s issues.
Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).