Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (Brazil)

The Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (UNIMEP) is a private, Methodist university in the city of Piracicaba, which is located in São Paulo state. UNIMEP started as the Piracicabano School, founded in 1881 by an American Methodist missionary, Martha Watts. It obtained university status in 1975 and now has nine faculties.  UNIMEP’s Website>>

Extension at the Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba

The Brazilian Educational Law of 1996 establishes that for any higher education institution to be called a university, it has to develop extension activities alongside teaching and research. This approach is based on the notion that there is a principle of interdependence that operates between the fields of teaching, research, and service. The Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba is a communitarian university, and is involved in projects in Brazil, in the Latin American region more broadly, and in Africa. UNIMEP maintains a Fund for the Support of Extension that funds a variety of extension programs within each faculty. In the past, these projects have included literacy tutoring, teacher training, and child health care programs. Learn more>>

Institutional Profile:

Civic engagement activities at the university are regarded as an extension of the charitable or social work of their faith-based community. These programs are considered part of the academic curriculum and research activities, and are viewed as an important means of building the capabilities of nonstudent constituencies, such as staff of nongovernmental organizations. UNIMEP’s Institutional Profile>>