University of São Paulo: USP creates new Dean’s Office to expand actions of inclusion and belonging
With 102 votes in favour, two abstentions and no votes against, the University Council approved today, May 3, the creation of the Pro-Rectory of Inclusion and Belonging (PRIP), which will centralize and coordinate the actions of the University aimed at affirmative and permanent, adding them to the Teaching, Research and Extension activities.
“Belonging must be built from the recognition, in the University and in social life, of the value of differences. USP is not detached from the society in which we live and the search for equity must guide all of the University’s policies” , said Dean Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior.
For Vice-Chancellor Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda, “with this new Dean’s Office, we are establishing a more intimate relationship with the dynamics of the contemporary world. When we work in environments with greater diversity, we not only produce more responsible knowledge and culture, but we also advance the discussion about diversity itself. As a public university, we have an obligation to be a vanguard institution in Brazil, this is our challenge and I hope we are up to it”.
Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior – Photo: Marcos Santos/USP IMagens
All committees of the University Council – Academic Activities Commission, Legislation and Resources Commission, and Budget and Heritage Commission – presented favorable opinions for the creation of the new Pro-Rectory of Inclusion and Belonging.
Acting on ethnic-racial, cultural, socioeconomic, gender, mental health, disability, memory and human rights issues, the Dean of Inclusion and Belonging should propose actions to create opportunities for greater equality and convergence at the University and encourage a culture guided by respect and appreciation of diversity.
“The creation of this Dean’s Office shows, with great vehemence, the importance that the University is giving to the themes of inclusion and belonging. It is an administrative structure that inescapably places themes outside, on the same level as teaching, research and extension. And the actions are aimed at the entire USP community – students, professors and employees – which makes the challenge even greater and original” , explained the new dean of Inclusion and Permanence, Ana Lúcia Duarte Lanna.
PRIP will be structured in five areas – Campus life ; Mental health and social well-being; Women, ethnic-racial relations and diversities; Training and professional life; and Human Rights and reparation, memory and justice policies.
Valuing coexistence and integration activities at the University;
Offer assistance to students in situations of vulnerability;
Promote affirmative action for students, technical and administrative staff and teachers;
Encourage memory actions related to Crusp, day care centers and university restaurants.
Mental health and social well-being
Valuing coexistence, social well-being and mental health at the university;
Locate the spaces of conflict and problematize the structures that produce suffering;
Promote mental health;
Strengthening of social bonds and a sense of belonging;
Create spaces for the reception of suffering;
Provide dialogue and guidance to the USP community;
Stimulate interaction and development and research in university hospitals and health and psychology units.
Women, ethnic-racial relations and diversities
Propose and manage policies related to diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and anti-xenophobia at USP;
Favor the presence and experience of foreigners or migrants;
Act in the fight against violence based on gender and sexual orientation;
Promote respect for equal conditions for the entire university population;
Implement actions to improve accessibility conditions in university facilities.
Training and professional life
Propose actions to stimulate the attractiveness of new talents, observing the promotion of diversity;
Continuous analysis of quality indicators and satisfaction of teaching and technical-administrative careers and student training;
Promote discussions on the legislation on careers at USP and its specialties;
Develop measures to promote the ethnic-racial diversity of the teaching staff and technical administrative staff;
Propose actions that aim to encourage belonging;
Qualify and integrate the different types of student support.
Human rights and reparation, memory and justice policies
Carry out programs and actions to affirm human rights;
Recognize silencing and violations of rights that have occurred in the history of the university;
Foster the interpretation of university spaces as places of memory;
Dialogue and enable the achievement of the objectives of the Human Rights Commission.
In the coming months, the PRIP should focus its efforts on consolidating the new structure, dialoguing with the community and integrating pre-existing actions. The new Dean’s Office should incorporate the Social Assistance Superintendence (SAS); the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Sports Practices of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (PRG); the USP Women’s Office; the Human Rights Commission; and the USP Legal and USP Diversity programs of the Dean of Culture and University Extension (PRCEU).
Pro-Dean of Inclusion and Belonging
The new Dean of Inclusion and Belonging, Ana Lúcia Duarte Lanna, is a professor at the Department of Architecture History and Project Aesthetics at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU).
Graduated in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Ana Lúcia has a master’s degree in History from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and a PhD in Social History from USP. She develops research on topics such as the history of cities, cultural heritage, architecture, urban history and social history.
In addition to research, the new pro-rector held several management positions. At USP, she was director of the Center for Cultural Preservation (CPC), the Institute of Brazilian Studies (IEB) and the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. She was also president of the Council for the Defense of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Tourist Heritage of the State of São Paulo (Condepahaat).
The Deputy Dean for Inclusion and Belonging, Miriam Debieux Rosa, is a professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychology (IP).
Graduated in Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-SP), where she also completed her master’s and doctorate, Miriam’s main research topics are the socio-political dimension of suffering, the clinic of trauma, expressions of violence, violation of rights , the modalities of resistance and confrontation of subjects in situations of vulnerability, the construction/transformation of the social bond in contemporary times, immigration and migration, responsibility and accountability.