Members of Unicamp's Central Administration and linked bodies received this Friday morning (2) the head of the Secretariat for Affirmative Actions and Diversities at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Francis Vieira Tourinho, for a meeting. The visitor spoke about the policies adopted by UFSC to promote the entry and retention of students covered by affirmative action programs. Francis spoke, among other points, about how the self-declarations of candidates with disabilities, black and brown, indigenous, quilombola and low-income candidates are validated.
According to Francis, for each of these cases a commission is set up, which is responsible for analyzing the self-declarations. In the case of self-declared disabled people, medical reports and documents are evaluated. If there is any doubt, the candidate is invited for an interview. Self-declared black and brown people are invited to a face-to-face meeting with the members of the commission, who analyze their identity documents and eventually ask the candidates a question.
The UFSC Secretary of Affirmative Action highlighted that the adoption of these validation mechanisms is a requirement of the Federal Public Ministry. The objective is to prevent fraud from occurring. “It is important to note that validation committees were not created to take away anyone’s position. On the contrary, they have the purpose of ensuring that people occupy the vacancies to which they are entitled”, said Francis Tourinho, who has a degree in Nursing and completed his master's and doctorate at Unicamp.
According to her, the UFSC Affirmative Action Secretariat is also responsible for proposing and executing campaigns aimed at combating racism, homophobia and violence against women, among other initiatives. “We strive to raise awareness in our community that diversity is extremely healthy for the university environment,” she said.
The general coordinator of Unicamp, professor Teresa Atvars, classified the meeting as very important, mainly because the University is preparing to implement, starting with the 2019 Entrance Examination, new mechanisms for admission to its undergraduate courses, including quotas ethnic-racial and the Indigenous Entrance Exam. “We are looking towards the 2030 Agenda, proposed by the UN and which aims to build a sustainable planet. For us, sustainability is about the environment, but also about people. Without a doubt, making universities more accessible is a decisive step in this direction”, considered the director.
Both the dean of Undergraduate Studies, professor Eliana Amaral, and the executive coordinator of the Permanent Commission for Entrance Exams (Comvest), professor José Alves de Freitas Neto, pointed out that Unicamp has made contact with other institutions that maintain affirmative action policies , in order to enjoy the best experiences. “The conversations have been very productive”, considered Eliana Amaral.
