The Adventist University Center of São Paulo (UNASP) in Brazil received authorization on February 12, 2025, to begin a Professional Master in Communication. The institution underwent evaluations by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), an agency of the Ministry of Education responsible for postgraduate studies, and by its sponsor, the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The new program will be available at the Engenheiro Coelho campus, which already has three undergraduate courses in the areas of Journalism, Advertising and Propaganda, and  Radio and TV.

Course coordinator, Professor Sâmela Lima, mentions that “the expectation is for academic and professional maturation of the undergraduate course and an almost symbiotic relationship between the two programs.”

UNASP’s Vice-President for Student Development, Dr. Carlos Ferri, highlighted the evaluation process's importance for the growth of the program and the institution.

“We thank this committee, and we take another step towards excellence,” he celebrated.

Academic, Professional and Social Contribution

The Master's Degree in Communication will include two lines of research: technology, organizations, innovation and media, culture, and society.

Technology, organizations, and innovation focus on investigating the effects that contemporary technologies have on the communication processes, formats, and products of social, private, and public organizations.

Media, culture, and society deal with the relationship between communication, social phenomena, and cultural practices. Investigations are articulated to analyze the processes of creation and production, messages, their circulation and distribution flows, and reception and consumption practices.

Lima also participated in the structuring of the program and highlighted the practical objective of the project.

“The focus of the professional program is precisely the development of research with practical application. Our master's degree is an extension of what is already done in the undergraduate program, which is already a vocation of UNASP, which is the development and looking at communication in a very practical way”, she explains.

Ludimilla Panaíno, a professor of Communication courses, was interested in the Master's degree and highlighted the importance of having this opportunity at the institution where she works.

“My expectation is to acquire in-depth knowledge about the communications market, especially in a scenario marked by rapid and constant technological transformations,” she explains.

Approval by CAPES

The process of studying and developing a proposal to open the Master's degree began in 2019. This stage usually takes time because it depends on the Ministry of Education (MEC) 's opening notices for new programs. 

After working on the proposal for a few years, UNASP submitted the project for evaluation by CAPES, which is the MEC body responsible for stricto sensu programs (masters and doctorate), receiving a positive response at the end of last year.

“Several groups meet and analyze the submitted proposal. In September of last year, we received confirmation that our proposal had been approved by the MEC, which is a delicate, complicated and extremely demanding process,” says Sâmela.

Institutional Accreditation

After government approval, UNASP submitted a request to the Adventist Education accrediting body, the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA). The agency also evaluates the project's technical conditions and relevance and analyzes its suitability to Adventist Education principles.

This committee visits the campus, evaluates the project, and talks to professors, institution leaders, program directors, and prospective students. It then determines whether the conditions are right to offer the course at the level of quality that the organization requires.

The conference concluded this process last week, granting the recommendation for opening, which will be validated by the International Board of Education (IBE) in April. Julián Melgoza, associate director of the Education department at the Adventist Church's world headquarters, read the official report, which specified the entity's positive points and recommendations.

The Vice-President of Research and Institutional Development, Dr. Allan Novaes, explains the importance of this assessment.

“For UNASP, there are two very important things in the arrival of this commission. First, the validation and recommendation from the Church that these courses should, in fact, be opened, recognizing the quality of our programs. The second major highlight is that with this authorization, we advance another step towards obtaining university status, which is a major strategic objective,” he concludes.

Based on these two authorizations, UNASP will organize the notice, number of vacancies, and other details. The institution will soon announce the registration dates for the selection process.

The original article was published on the South American Division Portuguese website.