In 2023, university extension will become part of undergraduate curricula

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Unicamp's undergraduate courses will allocate part of their course load to university extension. Students must complete at least 10% of their total workload in activities integrated with the community outside the University, such as providing assistance services, advising, preparing projects and technical opinions, organizing scientific events, among others. Extension activities will be mandatory for new entrants from 2023 onwards, but students who joined in previous years will be able to participate in the initiatives. 

"Curricularizing extension means including, in the training of students, mechanisms that allow for more intense interaction with the community outside the university", defines professor Fernando Coelho, vice-rector of Extension and Culture. According to him, the curricularization process favors an environment of mutual learning: "Society benefits from the knowledge acquired by students in the classroom, and students can benefit from what they learn from society." 

photo shows professor Fernando Coelho. He wears a short-sleeved shirt, glasses and gestures
Fernando Coelho: "Society benefits from the knowledge acquired by students in the classroom" (photo: Antoninho Perri)

The necessary adjustments to the curricula of undergraduate courses must occur throughout this year. The Deans of Extension and Culture (ProEC) and Undergraduate Studies (PRG) will offer course coordinators and teachers specific training activities, such as meetings, courses and conversation circles. The VIII Curricular Innovations Seminar, at the end of 2021, was dedicated to the topic, showcasing successful experiences from other universities. The deans also launched a notice to support projects that integrate undergraduate education with extension. 

According to Professor Ivan Toro, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, the inclusion of extension activities in the curricula will not imply an increase in the total course load. The proposal is to reorganize the activities already offered to students, with the validation of initiatives that already occur in some units and the reformulation of others that can incorporate an extensionist nature. 

In addition to promoting exchanges with the external community, the curricularization process should also facilitate integration between different units at Unicamp. "It's an opportunity for us to leave the walls of the University, and also to integrate, for example, Medicine and Physics, Biology and Mathematics. We will develop projects in which students do not necessarily remain in the areas in which they work, but which take them to social spaces that are important, in which they can learn about new realities", reflects Ivan Toro. 

Changes at all universities

The inclusion of university extension in undergraduate curricula complies with Resolution No. 7, dated December 18, 2018, of the National Education Council. It establishes the principles of university extension and its objectives, making clear its interdisciplinary and integrated character with teaching and research, in order to promote the citizenship formation of students and significant changes in the environment in which they come to work, as well as in the academic space. . 

photo shows professor ivan toro. he smiles at the camera
Ivan Toro explains that the university extension curricularization process follows the determinations of the National Education Council (photo: Antonio Scarpinetti)

Still according to the text, this process must take place in all Higher Education institutions in the country by January 2023. "Since the 1980s, there have been attempts to put into practice the project of integrating university extension into teaching. In itself The 1988 Constitution contains guidelines for this. The initiative has matured over the years and, in 2018, the resolution was launched that established the guidelines for extension in Higher Education", contextualizes Ivan Toro. 

At Unicamp, the development of extension projects and their inclusion in course subjects should take place throughout 2022. The idea is that the year will be a kind of experimental period, in which PRG and ProEC will be able to monitor the courses and teaching units , identifying demands for support in project development and curricular adaptations, and promoting the exchange of experiences between teachers and coordinators. 

In 2023, a minimum of 10% of extension activities in the curriculum will become mandatory for students entering undergraduate courses. Activities in which students are in contact with the external community, applying their knowledge to solve problems, getting involved in all stages of implementation, will be considered as university extension activities. These can be assistance services, technical advice and opinions, development of projects with companies and communities, organization of scientific events and similar activities.

In all of them, the participation of a Unicamp professor will be necessary, even in cases where the initiative comes from agents external to the University, such as actions with NGOs, for example. Teachers will be responsible for formalizing the integration between teaching and extension and validating students' working hours to be computed by the Academic Board (DAC). Internships may also be validated as extension activities, as long as the hours exceed the minimum already required by the mandatory internship disciplines. 

Fernando Coelho believes that the experiences will be enriching not only for the students, but also for the University's teachers and researchers. "In the medium term, we will have a significant increase in our research. A large part of the extension activities can be converted into research projects. This is interesting, because these are activities that discuss the country's reality", he reflects. 

The dean considers that these efforts will lead to an improvement of the entire University: "The idea of ​​curricularization moves towards increasing the degree of democratization of universities. There is knowledge on both sides involved, both dialogue and identify problems that can be solved applying knowledge from the university and the community. When this process ends, students and the community are no longer the same." 

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art shows photos of different moments of university extension: a health service, a theater play and an activity with children

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