Univates is now University of Vale do Taquari

On Wednesday, the 26th, the Taquari Valley, which for 50 years has joined forces to bring higher education into the region to qualify and develop people, reaped an important fruit of a collective work: Univates received the grant of the title of university. The homologation, through Administrative Rule no. 897, published on July 27th in the Union Official Journal and signed by the Minister of Education, José Mendonça Bezerra Filho, was greatly celebrated by the academic community.

The first public to receive the news, soon in the morning, were the collaborators of the Institution. In the afternoon, a collective toast brought together professors, technical-administrative staff, scholarship holders, trainees and outsourced employees at Univates Cultural Center to commemorate the achievement. On that occasion, the dean of the University of Vale do Taquari, Ney José Lazzari, spoke about the history of the institution and the importance of each one in the construction of the higher education in the region. "We are today in right what we already were in our essence. Univates, which 50 years ago started its journey from the dream of people who believed that our Valley could be great and develop from knowledge, now reaches the status of University. We are the University of Vale do Taquari. We are great because we are collective. We have been built by many hands, built from many struggles and dreamed by many minds," emphasized Lazzari.

For the dean, being a community institution means to incorporate the foundations and the objectives of a regional collective project: the social, economical, cultural and technological development.  “As a non-state public institution, our heritage belongs to the community in which we are inserted. Our extension projects and community actions already benefited more than hundred thousands of people. These actions, allied to research, quality education and the promotion of initiatives emancipatory for the society, make the impact that we produce in people's lives as great as the impact that the community has on our growth. And now, as a university, we have a great challenge ahead: through our research to be reference in terms of technology transfer. Today not only do we transmit new knowledge but we also generate new knowledge", reinforces the dean.

At night, starting at 7.30 pm, the Institution held an event open to the community in front of Univates Cultural Center. There was a firework display and the presentation of the band Hello Ms.Take. The celebrations will continue in August with another event aimed at the students and the community. More information will be given on the return of classes.

What the region has to say

For the president of the Association of Municipalities of Vale do Taquari (Amvat) and mayor of Estrela, Rafael Mallmann, the contribution of Univates to the socioeconomic development of Taquari Valley is indisputable. "In addition to university education, Univates has helped young people to remain in their hometowns so that they may collaborate, in the future, with their communities. It is also important to highlight the action of the University in regional affairs, establishing solid partnerships with the municipalities and other regional entities, including Amvat, with which the Institution has always maintained a cooperative relationship with the objective of contributing to the growth of our Valley", he emphasizes.

The coordinator of the 3rd Regional Coordination of Education of Rio Grande do Sul, Greicy Weschenfelder, highlights the planned and sustainable growth that Univates presented during its history. "Univates today represents a pillar for our region. A renowned institution that carries out its activities to foster the region in which it is located. We have noted the growth in a gradual and planned manner. The Institution aims its actions to the future, always based on the formation of a student committed to values such as citizenship and proactivity. I am a fruit of Univates, and I have it as a family, because it is still cultivated here the idea of ​​community. And I understand, because they helped me understand, that our knowledge must serve the region and the others”, she says.

Challenges of the University of Vale do Taquari

Today, Univates receives more than 13 thousand students from 159 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul and from 92 cities of other states of the federation. With the responsibility of improving the lives of so many people, the Institution renews its commitment consolidated to the society: to be a university with social, cultural, economical and technological impact. "What will be the contribution of Univates? What will the university, as the successor of the University Center, bring as additional value to the Valley? The answer is simple: beside the quality higher education that it will continue to offer, it will bring technology as a tool to make feasible the social and human potential that the region has to offer. It will be through technological development that the University of Vale do Taquari will open new alternatives for regional development, enabling more value aggregation and greater competitiveness, and guaranteeing the region's sustainability by opening up new economic segments with high technological density and high added value ", explains Lazzari.

"We are not just celebrating an achievement of the academic community of Univates. The University of Vale do Taquari is a conquest of the whole region and, above all, an affirmation that we do not hesitate to face the challenges that the future holds for us. We will dare to know and dare to act", concludes the dean.