Within the schedule foreseen by the Partial and Gradual Return Plan of Unicamp's in-person activities, from November 16th, up to 25% of undergraduate and postgraduate students will be allowed to return to the campuses. Even with this possibility, activities that can continue remotely without compromising their development will be maintained as such. Check out the report on what the postgraduate resumption process will be like.
Units will define priority cases
According to the dean of Postgraduate Studies at Unicamp, Nancy Lopes Garcia, each unit will be responsible for defining the students who will be able to return to carry out face-to-face activities on the campuses. This will be discussed by the directors of faculties and institutes, coordinators of postgraduate programs, advisors and members of the covid-19 crisis committees of each unit. Priority will be given to activities that cannot be continued remotely, both with regard to subject classes and laboratory work.
Nancy explains that, even with the interruption of face-to-face activities, part of the ongoing research that depends on the use of laboratories was maintained at the University. "Research that suffers some harm from being interrupted, such as research that works with animal species, continues to be carried out. Resolution GR 80/2020 allows those that present some risk of compromise to be analyzed by the unit's crisis committee and approved. So part of the research is already covered by this resolution", he explains. According to the resolution, each case is evaluated individually by the units and, with its continuity approved, all necessary hygiene and social distancing measures are established.
Postgraduate students who are selected for in-person return must go through the same procedures as employees, professors and undergraduate students: everyone must take the coronavirus detection test at Cecom, complete training in video classes on safe living and respond daily to the Application of Health Surveillance at Unicamp (AVISU). In addition, all hygiene precautions and distancing measures will be adopted in the spaces that will receive students, such as classrooms and laboratories.
"A positive factor in postgraduate studies is that classes tend to be smaller. Therefore, if they are considered a priority, it is easier to meet health and social distancing requirements. In the case of laboratories, we will only be able to determine how many students can return depending on the capacity of each laboratory. The only person who can point this out is the person responsible for the laboratory, he can say how many students can be together at the same time and for how long in each location. So it is something very specific", highlights the dean.
Programs adapt selection processes
Scheduled for the second semester, most of Unicamp's postgraduate programs will continue with their selection process calendars. As with other activities, the guidance is that the selections are adapted and the programs find ways to complete the steps remotely. Due to the variety of standards and requirements between programs, Nancy points out that there are still cases under analysis of the best options to be taken: "For example, the Economics Program has a national entrance exam for postgraduate programs. The way in which this exam is administered has been a challenge for the Institute of Economics, because Unicamp is one of the centers where the exam is administered.”
She also highlights that it is not yet possible to outline concrete perspectives on what the first half of 2021 should be like, as this depends on the evolution of the pandemic in the country and the development of a vaccine or other efficient way of controlling Covid-19. "I hope that, in the first half of 2021, there will already be some return to normality. I believe that part of the remote activities will continue, especially because they have made many things easier. This is the case of students who have already left their residence in Campinas and are now continuing to produce their theses. They will continue to do this remotely with the advisor. But it is not yet possible to make predictions", reflects the dean.
Nancy informs that, due to the setbacks that postgraduate students may have suffered due to the pandemic, the Dean of Postgraduate Studies (PRPG) is granting an extension of deadlines for completing credits for students who make the request. This must be done together with the supervisors, who will forward the requests to PRPG. It also advises postgraduate students that all specific cases involving the need to be present on campuses, research progress, deadlines and other issues should be discussed directly with the supervisors, who will liaise with the higher authorities of the programs and the University. “The best way is to always look for a mentor”, he concludes.
All detailed guidance on the partial and gradual return of Unicamp's in-person activities for postgraduate students is available in the Handbook on Safe Living available at https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp/cartilha-covid-19/estudantes
Also access the complete plan at https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp/cartilha-covid-19/plano-de-retorno-unicamp
Questions can be sent to the email reta.covid19@unicamp.br
