Sports projects in higher education: challenges and adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The case addresses the situation experienced by the author in a sports program of the federal sports policy, with a focus on serving the university community, primarily students. The program is a public partnership between a public higher education institution and the Ministry of Citizenship and started in March 2019. Twelve months after its implementation, the project coordinator had to make emergency decisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to increase social distancing and reduce contamination. After analyzing the context, the program rules established by the federal government, and the pedagogical issues related to teaching-learning of physical activities, the coordinator decided to suspend the activities until the end of the pandemic. The coordinator was aware of the deadline to meet the program’s targets - October 2020, which could be extended to December 2022. However, the coordinator could not know when the pandemic would be under control and when the program’s face-to-face services would return. Therefore, several dilemmas were faced: should the coordinator ask the granting agency to suspend the program? Should the coordinator consult the agency about the possibility of adapting the program so physical activities could be conducted via remote tools? In the time between consulting the granting agency and obtaining a response, should the coordinator suspend or maintain the payment of scholarships to the personnel even though services were not being provided? Should the program maintain the payments and assign alternative activities until obtianing a response from the granting agency?

Keywords:
Public administration; Executive; University; Pandemic; Sports projects