USP: Defender contests more than 200 contests without quotas – 08/28/2023 – Educação

A public civil action challenges the legality of more than 200 contests opened by USP (University of São Paulo) to hire professors for not complying with the affirmative action policy for blacks, browns and indigenous people (PPI) established three months ago by the institution in São Paulo of higher education.

Resolution 8434, which created a policy valid for all university entrance examinations with the aim of increasing the presence of PPI persons, went into effect on May 24th. But the text brings a caveat: the policy would not apply to selection processes whose call notice had already been published on that date.

The action of the Nucleus for the Defense of Diversity and Racial Equality of the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office questions the legality of this caveat, but had an injunction request for urgent relief rejected for the suspension of the contests. The lawsuit goes to judgment, still without a scheduled date.

USP informed, by means of a note, that “the quota for PPI was not applied to the aforementioned contests due to the decision of the deliberative bodies of USP, based on the issue of university autonomy”.

According to the note, “we sought to privilege the urgent academic need and the non-delay of these contests already launched”, and the republication of the notices could lead, in some cases, to delays in filling the vacancies.

The action takes place at a time when USP is promoting hundreds of competitions to replace professors after hiring was suspended, in 2014, because of imbalances in the university’s accounts. There are 876 vacancies distributed to all units and divided into three phases: 50% of vacancies in tenders between 2022 and 2023, 25% in 2024 and 25% in 2025.

USP’s new affirmative policy was instituted after a previous action, in March of this year, also authored by the Public Defender’s Office. The lawsuit questioned the lack of reservation of vacancies or differentiated scoring provided for in federal law and which had their constitutionality recognized by the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

On the occasion, Judge Luiza Barros Rozas Verotti, from the 13th Public Finance Court of the Court of Justice, suspended, outright, the open registrations at USP for three vacancies: attorney, administrative analyst and veterinarian. An agreement was signed between USP and the Ombudsman’s Office to release public tenders, and on May 24, Resolution 8,434 was published.

On that date, according to USP, there were 261 contests in progress, among those with open enrollment (131) and others with closed enrollment, but selection process still pending (130).

The action of the Public Defender’s Office states that all these contests could be adapted to comply with the new rules of affirmative action. According to the text, the caveat undermines the resolution’s goal of raising the percentage of blacks, browns and indigenous people at USP until reaching “parameters similar to those of the participation of these groups in the total population of the State of São Paulo”.

Today, 2.2% of USP professors declare themselves black or brown, while, in the São Paulo population, the rate of those who declare themselves black or brown is 34.63%, according to the 2010 Census (the most recent one with this data). for SP).

The resolution provides for a reserve model of 20% of vacancies for tenders with three or more open positions and a differentiated scoring model for PPI candidates in cases of tenders for one or two positions. The new policy also provides for more racially diverse judging commissions for all contests, with at least one self-declared black, brown or indigenous member.

In his preliminary decision, Judge José Eduardo Cordeiro Rocha, from the 14th Public Finance Court of the Court of Justice, stated that there is a lack of information on the feasibility of implementing the new rules for these selection processes and assessed that the suspension of competitions until the judgment of the action could “sensibly impact university teaching, research and extension activities”.