O Partial and Gradual Return Plan of Unicamp's in-person activities expects, from November 16th, that up to 25% of undergraduate and postgraduate students will return to the University's campuses. This does not mean the mandatory return of this percentage of students. It is up to each unit to define its priority cases - students who are completing courses and activities that are essentially in-person and cannot be postponed -, with the majority of activities being maintained remotely. In this context, the Unicamp DAC developed ways to guarantee service to all students while maintaining the social distancing necessary for the health and safety of students and professionals.
According to Adauto Delgado Filho, Academic Director at Unicamp, today DAC is able to meet around 95% of the demands relating to students' academic life. For all requests to be responded to, DAC has two forms of virtual service: the first is by filling out a form in the section "Contact us", available on the unit’s website. With this tool, students can find a series of answers to frequently asked questions, send demands to the agency and monitor the progress of requests.
Another option available is scheduling video calls with DAC professionals. In this case, students can report specific situations that depend on the analysis of the management team. "We offer remote assistance for the benefit of students and our team, the attention that students need to have with their academic life, eliminating the need to come to DAC. In most situations, today the student does not need to come to here. If he comes, it will be a pleasure to serve him, but due to the pandemic, we are increasingly prepared to serve without the student having to travel", analyzes the Academic Director. Appointments for video calls can be made via the address calendly.com/atenddac/.
Even with the possibilities of online service, DAC advises students that, before contacting the body in search of solutions to issues relating to academic life, they consult the secretariats and departments of the University's faculties and institutes. This is because most of the demands can be resolved within the teaching units themselves. Another advantage is that professionals from secretariats and departments already know most of the students and their trajectories at the University, which makes it easier to find solutions. Cases that cannot be resolved in the units themselves will normally be forwarded to DAC and, in these cases, students can rely on remote assistance tools.
In-person services return, but with restrictions
From November 16th, when the in-person return of students begins, DAC informs that services at the unit, in the Basic Cycle II building, will be resumed, but still with the necessary restrictions to maintain social distancing and preserve health of professionals and students. In these cases, DAC will also offer an online scheduling feature. With it, students' time will be optimized and crowding while waiting for appointments will be avoided. Even so, the board team reinforces that students and professionals at the unit have more advantages when opting for virtual service.
"The pandemic made us realize that we can be even more efficient through virtual means than through in-person service. Through virtual means, the student makes the request and we are able to have access to their academic life in advance. The service then becomes faster , more direct, more dynamic, which is often not possible with over-the-counter service. We have a large team working remotely to provide video assistance, using the form available on the DAC website", details Alessandra Reis Silva, Supervisor DAC Customer Service.
They believe that, even with the positive evolution of the pandemic and the normalization of face-to-face activities at the University, several resources made possible by digital tools must be maintained. "The remote service experience is here to stay. Sometimes students are on vacation, in their cities, and anticipate returning just because they need to come to DAC. In most cases, this is unnecessary", reflects Adauto.
“The community can also find out about the main academic information with our publications on the DAC communication channels, through portal e page on Facebook, which allow relationships and content sharing between users. The information is constantly updated and facilitates the organization of students' academic lives”, details Grazielle Souza, responsible for social media at DAC's Academic Service.
