Undergraduate
Complementary Activities
Questions about Complementary Activities?
The current regulation for law programs – CNE/CES Resolution 9/2004 – requires students in the Undergraduate Law Program to complete a specific workload of complementary activities. These activities include congresses, lectures, teaching assistantships, extension and research projects, court hearings, internships, etc.
The purpose of complementary activities is to diversify and enrich the legal education provided during the undergraduate program through student participation in various types of events. It is important to remember that the completion of complementary activities depends exclusively on the initiative and dynamism of each student, who must seek out and participate in the activities that interest them most.
Here you will find the current Regulations, approved by the Department's General Committee and the University's Teaching and Research Council, the Complementary Activities (AC) Manual with the main guidelines, a tutorial on using the PUC-Online system, event report templates, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Office Hours
Coordination
- Monday (10:30 AM - 11:30 AM)Andrea Schettini
- Tuesday (09:00 AM - 10:00 AM)Mariana Imbelloni
- Thursday (6:00 PM - 7:00 PM)Mariana Imbelloni
Contact
[email protected]Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are complementary activities?
These are activities related to skills, knowledge, competencies, and attitudes acquired outside the traditional classroom environment aimed at enriching the student. They broaden the curriculum through academic or practical experiences, both internal and external to the program. Although not part of the mandatory courses, they are considered directly relevant to the student's education, such as extension activities, research, teaching assistantships, participation in events, publications, and complementary professional experience.
2. Who is required to complete complementary activities?
Every student enrolled from the 2003.1 semester onwards must complete complementary activities; otherwise, they will not be able to graduate at the end of the program.
3. How many hours of complementary activities must be completed?
For students in the new curriculum, 285 (two hundred and eighty-five) hours of complementary activities must be completed, corresponding to 19 (nineteen) credits. Out of these 285 hours, 135 (one hundred and thirty-five) hours must be fulfilled by the end of the fifth semester.
4. Which activities are considered complementary?
Complementary activities include:
- Participation in teaching assistantship and research activities, such as tutoring, institutional research and projects, PET, PIBIC, study or research groups supervised by professors, master's, or doctoral students, and reading groups (in this case, with prior notification to the Coordination);
- Attendance at congresses, seminars, conferences, lectures, master's and doctoral defense sessions, and events, showcases, or exhibitions complementary to legal education;
- Publication of articles, writing monographs (non-curricular), presenting papers at scientific events, and participating with projects in competitions, exhibitions, and showcases;
- Complementary professional experience activities, such as undertaking non-curricular internships, attending court hearings, trials, and legislative branch sessions at any federation level, internships in a Junior Enterprise / Business Incubator, legal volunteer work (provided its relevance is evaluated), participation in social projects, and reading workshops supervised by a professor, master's, or doctoral student;
- Extension activities, such as courses taken in extension programs and extracurricular courses;
- Other activities expressly pre-authorized by the Complementary Activities Coordination (e.g., attending "Cine-Direito", volunteering for "PUC for a day").
5. Which activities are not considered complementary?
Activities that are not considered complementary include, among others: Language courses and skills courses without a direct connection to Law (EXAMPLES: Conceptual Bases of Management Models; How to Make Investments; How to Organize a Family Budget; Fundamentals of Marketing, etc.).
6. Can the Supervised Internship and activities derived from it be computed as a complementary activity?
No. The Supervised Internship is a mandatory curricular workload and therefore cannot be considered complementary.
7. Can I complete only one type of activity?
No. Activities are classified into categories, and for each category, there is a maximum limit of hours that can be computed. This limit ranges from 45 to 180 hours in the new curriculum (30 to 120 hours in the old curriculum) depending on the category. Hours that exceed this limit will not be computed, even if the activity is authorized (they will be recorded as extracurricular hours).
8. Can I complete activities starting in the first semester?
Yes, activities can be undertaken from the moment of enrollment.
9. Can I complete activities during the holidays?
Yes, activities can be undertaken during the holidays. However, even during holiday periods, the deadlines and procedures for their completion must be observed.
10. How many hours are awarded per activity?
The standard attribution criterion is the actual time spent by the student completing the activity. When there is no description of the number of hours in the authorization request or in the proof of completion, the Complementary Activities Coordination will estimate it. Some institutional activities have a pre-fixed maximum number of hours, as do certain activities pre-authorized by the Coordination.
11. Is there a maximum number of hours that can be obtained per activity?
There is a maximum limit of hours that can be computed for each category. The limits for students in the new curriculum include, for example:
- Teaching assistantships, research, PET/PIBIC: up to 180 hours
- Attendance at congresses, seminars, and lectures: up to 180 hours
- Non-curricular internships: up to 180 hours
- Articles published in peer-reviewed journals: up to 135 hours
- Attendance at hearings and trials: up to 90 hours
12. How many hours equal one credit?
Every 15 (fifteen) computed hours represent one credit on the academic transcript.
13. Are complementary activity credits included in the 30-credit semester limit?
No. Although the student may only enroll in up to 30 credits per semester, the credits corresponding to complementary activity hours computed in that semester can exceed this limit.
14. I transferred from another institution. Can I compute the complementary activities completed there?
Yes, up to a maximum limit of 150 (one hundred and fifty) hours if transferred to the new curriculum, provided that the activities completed and their workloads are compatible with those established in the Regulations. This will be evaluated by the Complementary Activities Coordination. To request this transfer and compatibility evaluation, the student must (i) submit a request indicating that it is a transfer of complementary activities from another institution, followed by (ii) the presentation of a descriptive academic transcript of the completed activities (if they had already been computed at the other university) and the respective supporting documentation as proof of completion. A separate request must be made for each activity category.
15. What is the procedure for computing complementary activity hours?
The standard procedure for computing hours, which may vary depending on the activity type, consists of registering the activity in the PUC-Online system. You must describe the activity category, its name, participants, location and date, duration, and other relevant circumstances for evaluating its complementarity to the Law program. Immediately upon registration, supporting documents must be submitted, usually by presenting a report accompanied by an attestation/declaration/certificate proving its completion and indicating the respective workload. Note that, after completing the activity, the student has a strict 30-day (thirty days) deadline to request its application as a complementary activity.
16. Do all activities require submitting a report as proof of completion?
No. The method of proving the completion of an activity varies depending on its type:
- Teaching assistantships, research, PET/PIBIC: Report signed by the Advising Professor, with workload attribution;
- Attendance at congresses, seminars, and defenses: Student report and certificate of attendance;
- Publication of articles, monographs, or papers at scientific events: The published article, produced monograph, or presented paper;
- Non-curricular internships: Student report on the duties performed and the internship's contribution to their education, along with a certificate of completion;
- Attendance at hearings: Student report and certificate of completion (the "hearing report" template combines both, as it is a report countersigned by the judge certifying attendance);
- Participation in social projects: Student report and certificate of completion;
- Extracurricular courses: Certificate of completion.
17. What is the deadline for providing proof of activity completion?
The proof, usually through a report and certificate of completion (with workload attribution), must be submitted within 30 (thirty) days after the activity concludes.
18. How should the report be presented?
When required, the report must include student identification, the nature of the activity, its participants, location, date, and duration. Furthermore, the report must contain a detailed description of the facts involved in the activity itself, which varies depending on its nature. For example, an internship report should outline the typical tasks performed by the intern, a lecture report should contain a review of what was presented, and so on. The report will be rejected if deemed insufficient or plagiarized (subject to disciplinary sanctions).
19. What should be attached to the report?
The supporting documents proving the completion of the activity must be attached to the report, as required by the regulations for each activity type (e.g., certificate of attendance for a congress or seminar, internship completion certificate, etc., all indicating the workload).
20. I am in my final semester. Can I request the "Expected Graduate Declaration" with complementary activities still pending?
Students in the new curriculum who have completed more than 135 (one hundred and thirty-five) hours of complementary activities (nine credits)—meaning they have up to 150 (one hundred and fifty) hours pending (ten credits)—can obtain the "Expected Graduate Declaration".
21. What must I do to compute internship hours as a complementary activity?
Proof of completing the internship requires submitting an attestation from the law firm, company, or public agency indicating the start and end dates and the corresponding workload, along with a student report detailing the tasks performed. An internship contract or commitment term, even if stamped by PUC, is not valid proof, as it only indicates a commitment made, not its fulfillment. Registration and proof submission must be done within thirty days after the internship ends or earlier, once the student has reached the maximum hours allowable for this activity type (180 hours).
22. What must I do to compute teaching assistantship, PIBIC, or PET hours as a complementary activity?
Proof requires submitting an attestation from the advising professor indicating the start and end dates of the activity and the respective workload, along with a student report detailing the tasks performed during the assistantship, scientific initiation research, or PET. Registration and proof submission must be done within thirty days after the activity ends or earlier, once the student has reached the maximum hours allowable for this activity type (180 hours).
23. What must I do to compute a hearing I plan to attend as a complementary activity?
To claim credit for attending hearings, trials, or legislative sessions, the report and the certificate of completion can be consolidated using the "hearing report" template. The student must print this template, take it to the hearing, fill it out on-site, and then have the document stamped and initialed by the judge or the person in charge.