JU - How do you assess the importance of affirmative action and social inclusion policies at Unicamp and how to deal with the challenge of retention and student support policies, taking into account the growth of students with lower income?
Tom Joe - The University's primary vocation is to train the human person and generate knowledge in line with a human rights policy. This leads the institution to reconfigure its values to accommodate a greater plurality of cultures, knowledge and individual expressions. On the one hand, the internal community needs to recognize the richness of this idea of diversity; on the other hand, external events provoke a deep reflection on the role of the university in society. In view of the above, this is the time to create structure and invest without fear, and with clarity, in what is understood as a citizen university, which recognizes and wants people's rights to be present and active within and outside its limits. We understand affirmative action policies in this context and with an important role in guaranteeing the constitutional principle of equality.
Historically, Unicamp has always been attentive to democratic struggles for equal rights and opportunities. The entrance exam, since it became a responsibility of the institution, has always had a clear orientation: to allow access to candidates with an academic profile open to society's main challenges. The writing test was notable for its varied set of themes and skills, in tune with society's dilemmas. This gave Unicamp invaluable symbolic capital and projected it as one of the institutions most sensitive to the spirit of the time. The entrance exam bonus programs, the implementation of ethnic-racial quotas and the indigenous entrance exam are a clear sign of the university we want and the diversity we hope to see in our community. We are at an important moment of consolidating and expanding these policies, which need to be considered at the level of students, staff and teachers. To achieve this, we need the participation of our community and society as a whole. Through this interaction, with the support of our administration, we will take Unicamp to a new level. In partnership with the Executive Directorate for Human Rights (DEDH), we can expand and support the black and indigenous community, as well as improve accessibility and permanence conditions. To achieve this, it is urgent to invest in a structure, with personnel and a specific budget, that makes DEDH's operations viable.
Article 206 of the 1988 Federal Constitution ensures equal conditions for students' access and permanence. It is then up to the public university to develop mechanisms and projects for access and permanence, inquiring into how to carry out in spirit what is in the letter of the law.
The challenges for a low-income student to remain at Unicamp are enormous and, often, invisible to the community. Many students leave their families and friends in their hometown and carry with them their dreams, their personal life stories and their expectations regarding higher education. This entire symbolic universe can quickly enter into crisis if there is not, specifically in our institution, the capacity to listen, welcome and forward the demands brought by these young people.
The first sign of welcome is to guarantee each of them a healthy, peaceful and respectful space for socializing with personal and cultural differences. Student Housing has fulfilled this role for decades. Having a secure space to live and knowing that, after an exhausting day, I can enjoy my privacy in the company of my friends is an inalienable right. Guaranteeing access to meals, transportation and other assistance that contributes to the economic maintenance of each student in vulnerable conditions is to fulfill the requirement of article 206 of the Constitution. However, the significant increase in students in situations of social vulnerability, and we must include not only low-income students, but indigenous, lgbtq+ and black students, imposes new challenges and requires concrete answers to questions such as:
1. Should we resume the new housing construction project? Isn't the benefit to the institution as a whole greater than its cost?
2. If we defend respect for differences and individual choices, couldn't we have more than one housing program model? For example, wouldn't it be worth increasing the amount of housing assistance in order to accommodate personal decisions?
3. Should conserving and renovating housing infrastructure be a priority for the main bodies responsible for such services in our institution?
4. Could a community security model, based on rules agreed upon by all residents, be implemented in effectively democratic management?
One of the most important institutional spaces in the history of Unicamp is the SAE. In the figure of its social workers, SAE shows that the defense of a policy that reduces social and economic inequalities among our students requires reliable mediators with proven expertise. A management "Unicamp: building tomorrow" understands that ensuring conditions and resources for SAE's operations is an effective measure to contribute to the success of affirmative action policies. Furthermore, with regard to the evaluation and scholarship granting policy, the inclusion of student representatives in the SAE board is a student demand that needs to be evaluated. SAPPE, another important institutional space for student stay, carries out exemplary work in attention and care for students' mental health, but has been overloaded. Therefore, we believe it is crucial to promote the expansion of its actions. The importance of partner and integrated action between central administration, SAPPE, SAE and the units is reinforced here.
Another essential aspect for permanence is academics. The difficulties that students face in following subjects can lead to course withdrawal or unsatisfactory training, both of which are critical for inclusion policies: failure by these graduates can corroborate prejudices and increase anxieties, leading to a consequent weakening of these policies. A singular perspective that takes into account the diversity of profiles and knowledge levels of new entrants is an effective way of supporting retention. Rethinking the Academic Support Program, bureaucratic in its current form, aligning it with other actions, such as offering alternative trajectories at the beginning of courses, also contributes to student retention. Particular attention must be paid to indigenous entrants. The discussion and construction of ways for these students to integrate into the rhythm of campus life and their social environment, different from those they bring, is important for controlling dropout rates. The discussion of a differentiated training path, composed of an initial training program that produces moments of interaction between them, as well as their interaction with students from other courses, can contribute to the inclusion and retention of these students.
Mario Saad - Affirmative action and social inclusion policies are a reality at Unicamp, which has been implementing a series of initiatives through its collegiate bodies for some years to expand access for students with greater social vulnerability. We value these initiatives and will reinforce them, always taking care to provide adequate conditions for student retention. Many initiatives that already exist today need more institutional support. As an example, Student Housing is the focus of our attention, as we understand that space is an extension of our college which should receive greater attention from the central administration. As in other segments of our university, other sources of financing will also be sought for permanence policies, which allow better conditions for our students to continue their studies. The following are proposals from our management:
With regard to affirmative policies
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Encourage the actions of the Ethnic-Racial Diversity Commission (CADER) and discuss the feasibility of transforming it into a body with more autonomy and institutional insertion;
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Robustly increase the number of SAE scholarships and create new sources of financing, facilitating access and use of these scholarships;
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Expand initiatives aimed at public school students, still restricted to the municipality of Campinas, to cities in the Metropolitan Region;
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Refine socio-economic support and periodic evaluation mechanisms, aiming at students’ permanence at university and excellent performance;
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Strengthen and expand current provisions relating to the granting of social benefits;
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Strengthen and expand student access to health services offered to the community, on all Unicamp campuses;
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Encourage student participation in artistic, cultural, sporting and leisure activities that must be offered by Unicamp, on all campuses
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Propose the creation of the Afro-Brazilian Studies Center;
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Establish partnerships with Unicamp’s daughter companies to offer internships to undergraduate students;
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If there is legal security, establish partnerships with private companies to act as financial guardians for quota holders, as an option to guarantee their permanence at the university;
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Invest in strategies to disseminate the importance of affirmative actions, within the scope of Unicamp, to the three main audiences that make up the academic community: students, teachers and staff.
With regard to the Student Housing Program
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The revitalization of the Housing's spaces, with structural improvements and aesthetic enhancement of common areas, with the aim of providing a better quality of life;
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Install structured cabling (internet via Unicamp cable) in student homes, allowing access to the virtual environment, with the aim of improving connection quality, internet stability and access to the university's information systems;
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Stimulate, together with ME resident students, collective management projects for spaces and improvements to be implemented;
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Encourage, within the scope of the ME, the carrying out of university extension and solidarity projects, in collaboration with associations and NGOs, in order to bring Unicamp Student Housing closer to the neighborhoods in its surroundings;
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Highlight the basic services that can be provided to residents of Student Housing, with the support of local businesses in offering more accessible conditions to students;
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Create mechanisms that provide greater integration between ME and Unicamp, with improved management (more intelligent and participatory) and provision of general services;
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Encourage the participation of ME resident students in cultural and sporting practices offered on the Unicamp campus, in Campinas, especially on weekends;
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Propose a study to implement a tracking system to control vacancies (with vacancy allocation and validity control).
Regarding the Student Support Service (SAE)
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Review the connection of the SAE, today at PRG, whose operations are broader and today permeate numerous areas of the University;
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Improve and update SAE’s ICT system;
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Replace, with financial responsibility, the loss of employees from recent years, reducing the workload of SAE employees.
Sergio Salles-Filho - Our Management Program is based on ten foundations that guide all of our proposals, including the active search for ethnic-racial, gender, cultural and social diversity as an element of promoting quality and inclusion.
Affirmative action and inclusion policies are fundamental for Unicamp to fulfill its mission. The University and society as a whole can only benefit from these policies. All segments of the Unicamp community - students, teachers, researchers and employees - must have a composition that is representative of the diversity that exists in Brazilian society. In this way, Unicamp will be able to count, in all its activities, on a broad spectrum of talents, with a wide variety of experiences, knowledge, concerns and interests.
At the same time as being a factor of inclusion, affirmative actions, by bringing diversity, contribute to the quality of academic activities. There are studies that offer concrete evidence about the impact of this diversity on the quality of university activities. Diversity is a path to creativity, inventiveness and cultural openness. Firstly, because it expands the possibilities of having talented professionals; secondly, because it allows the expression and integration of diverse, original points of view, little explored in the research, teaching and extension processes. The diversity of the student body, teachers, researchers and employees is also a condition for high-level training for the contemporary job market.
Jobs in the corporate world, in the public service and in the third sector require increasingly more preparation to adequately meet the needs and demands of a diverse population that is subject to rights. At the same time, a university of Unicamp's size has the responsibility of contributing to the advancement of democracy in our country, which presupposes training for the exercise of citizenship in a plural society, the training of people prepared to deal with the challenges of overcoming inequalities and repairing historical injustices to promote social justice.
As can be seen, then, the realization of the University's mission depends on the commitment to inclusion and diversity. In other words, it requires the success of inclusion policies, student retention and the development of academic and professional careers for groups currently less represented at the University.
We know that there are many challenges and that they are different when thinking about students at various levels of education (from early childhood education to postgraduate studies), teachers, researchers and staff. They are also distinct when thinking about teaching, research and extension. There are many initiatives in this direction at the University, some old, existing for decades, and others more recently implemented.
All of them need to become visible, strengthened and assumed as a value by the entire academic community. As a whole, these policies also need to have coordination bodies so that their effects are effective and lasting. These bodies will also be able to identify gaps and design appropriate institutional responses. In short, we need to move forward in the institutionalization of these policies so that they are structural, so that they leave their positive marks on all of Unicamp's activities and on the people who work there, in all segments.
There is a very important aspect that we would like to highlight: in order to be effective and produce lasting effects, inclusion policies must rely on the leading role of different groups in their formulation and implementation.
In our program, we detail a series of proposals, such as: strengthening psycho-emotional health programs and permanence policies, such as scholarships and grants, housing and others; measures to ensure the full inclusion of indigenous students; the consolidation of the Executive Directorate for Human Rights; promoting the anti-racist fight through concrete measures to combat structural racism and policies to promote gender equality; policies to combat forms of harassment and violence; reception policies for students and professionals in refugee situations; affirmative actions to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in different segments; promotion of continued reflection on our curricula and inclusive pedagogical practices and on academic rules, norms and procedures that require adjustment as they harm inclusion; strengthen accessibility policies, to guarantee the full participation of people with disabilities in all instances of Unicamp, including cultural, curricular, pedagogical, architectural and communication aspects.
This is the vision we have for our University. A diverse, inclusive University that produces excellent research, offers very high-level training in all areas and is engaged with society. Therefore, whatever the financial scenario, these policies must be satisfactorily present in the University's budget.
