Unicamp's University Council (Consu), in a meeting held this Tuesday (30), approved the proposal to purchase an area of around 45 thousand square meters for the expansion of Student Housing. Next to the current housing area, the land has the potential to increase the number of available spaces by another 1,4, which currently stands at around a thousand. The amount to be invested in purchasing the land is R$20 million.
The area comprises land belonging to the company Eagle Burgmann measuring 45.205 square meters, 22.622 square meters of free area and another 22.582 square meters with buildings, with the actually built area being just 4,5 square meters. In addition to being adjacent to the current housing, the buildings that already exist on the site could be used to house administrative sectors and for the development of university extension activities.
Today, Unicamp has two types of permanence policies aimed specifically at student housing: the offer of places in Student Housing and the payment of the Housing Assistance Grant (BAM), currently worth R$ 600. They are, approximately, 2 thousand students covered by BAM scholarships, which implies an investment of R$ 14.4 million annually. Calculations by the rectory estimate that the expansion of places in Student Housing will provide savings equivalent to the payment of BAM scholarships, worth R$600, for 12 years. Another advantage of the initiative is to separate the amount invested in student stay from the increase in rental prices.
“The real estate situation in Barão Geraldo (district where the Unicamp campus is located) is one of the most expensive in the state of São Paulo. Evidently, R$600 becomes insufficient for a student to rent housing in decent conditions given this scenario”, highlighted Roberto Donato, teaching advisor at the Rectory.
Rector Antonio Meirelles celebrated the approval of the project and pointed out that studies are already underway to facilitate the construction of new residential units in the expansion area. He highlighted that other actions are underway aimed at student retention also on the Limeira campuses, with more than R$100 million in planned investments, and in Piracicaba, with institutional actions to expand the unit, including the installation of a Medicine course. “These actions not only have an impact on our internal community, but on the future of our country”, celebrated Meirelles.
