1. On Academic Program Improvement

· Twenty-one of 26 degree-granting units of Diliman reviewed their degree programs to make their curricular offerings more responsive to the demands of their fields or disciplines. The review resulted in the abolition of some courses, the institution of new ones, changes in program requirements, changes in fields of specialization, etc.

· We implemented the Revitalized General Education Program with our offering of 33 new GE courses in addition to the existing GE courses at the start of the first semester of this school year, thanks to our colleagues from the various units who rose to the challenge not only of developing new courses so students will be able to choose from a wide range of courses, but also for ensuring a smooth transition from the old GE curriculum to the new one. Departments, even those opposed to the RGEP have deferred to the University Council’s decision to implement the RGEP. Some of these departments were among the first to propose the institution of new GE courses. To their credit they have instituted very interesting, useful courses. The administrative nightmare that many thought would attend the implementation of the RGEP did not happen. In the last University Council meeting held in July, 11 new courses were endorsed by the Council bringing to 44 the new GE courses under the RGEP.

· We provided funds for the improvement of academic programs of the National Institute of Physics, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the College of Business Administration, the National Institute of Geological Sciences and the Department of History.

· Diliman endorsed the upgrading of the Third World Studies Program into the Third World Studies Center, the conversion of the Creative Writing Center into the Institute of Creative Writing, the elevation of the Women in Development program of the CSWCD to a department and the merger of the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography and the Environmental Science Program of the College of Science. Of the four proposals the Board of Regents has already approved three – we hope to go the Board for the merger of the units of the College of Science before the end of the year.

· We established the Center for International Studies, the resource center for information on different countries and for the development of experts and specialists on countries of the world. To date the Center has a number of faculty affiliates who have expressed interest in teaching and doing research with the center. The Center at present has a very lean staff with only one research item because all the rest are faculty affiliates.

· The three Philippine Studies Programs were merged into a single Diliman-wide Philippine Studies Program. In 1991 there were three separate Philippine Studies Programs each one with different curriculum. It was during my first term when we decided to at the very least have core courses common to all three. This time we have decided to merge all three programs into one.

· Diliman established an endowment fund for Dulaang UP and the Institute of Creative Writing to help these units sustain their activities and to give them more financial flexibility. These two units have been very productive over the years and yet they have had to beg for funds whenever they had projects. The establishment of the endowment fund will give them flexibility to pursue projects without having to worry too much about funding.

2. Increasing Research Productivity
To support our faculty in their research efforts, we:

· Extend research dissemination grants to over 198 faculty members enabling them to present their papers in international conferences.

· We also re-launched 2 issues of Science Diliman and launched 2 issues each of Social Science Diliman and Humanities Diliman, all of which are refereed journals.

· We actively assisted our faculty members in the protection of their intellectual property rights and in the commercialization of their inventions. For examples, we helped Dr. Henry Ramos of the National Institute of Physics file the first application for an international patent under the Patent Cooperation Treaty of his invention. We are also assisting him in searching for potential licensees for his TiN-coating technology. We are also providing support to Dr. Caesar Saloma and his colleagues in their application for an international patent for a method that the team has developed. We provided assistance to Dr. Nemesio Montaño of the Marine Science Institute in the commercialization of his seaweed technology. We are also exploring the possibility of obtaining a patent grant for the swiping machine developed by our Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering for the HRDO. This is part of our HRDO computerization program. There was a suggestion in one of the consultations that we should start computerizing HRDO records. We have also extended assistance to our colleagues from the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and the Department of English and Comparative Literature in their application for copyright registration.

· We endorsed the conversion of the status of the research personnel of the Marine Science Institute from research staff to research faculty. This was one of the first things we did when we assumed our positions in 1999 to address the plight of our REPS and we got approval from the Board in 2000.

· We have entered into consignment agreements with Bookmark, Filipinas Heritage, Popular Bookstore, Solidaridad Bookshop, Philippine Materials Service, National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Reader’s Knowledge and Tradewinds Bookstore to help our colleagues in the marketing of their publications

· And very recently we formulated the policy that only refereed journals shall be entitled to financial support from the University.

3. Linkages with the International Academic Community and the Private Sector/Industry

· Diliman, with permission from Malacañang, successfully hosted/organized twelve international conferences which were attended by scholars and practitioners of various disciplines. Two of these conferences were organized by the Asian Center, one by the Center for Ethnomusicology, three by the National Center for Transportation Studies, two by NISMED, one by SOLAIR and one by the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

· We received a total of 101 visiting professors from foreign universities. Many of the visits were at no cost to UP.

· We sent 33 of our faculty as visiting professors in universities abroad.

· We supported the participation of over 198 faculty members as paper readers in international conferences held in 27 countries and in the process, increased UP’s visibility in the international academic community. This figure does not include those who read papers in international conferences but whose participation was supported by institutions other than UP. In the local scene UP supported the participation of 999 faculty members in local and national conferences from November 1999 until the present

· We forged agreements with 22 universities in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, North America, the Middle East and Europe of which 16 are currently active

· We revitalized the UP Diliman Technology Business Incubator to generate more ICT-related technology ventures through an agreement with Ayala Foundation, Inc. In 1999 UP was losing an average of about 60,000 pesos per month in that facility plus we had collection problems with the tenants, many of whom were not really engaged in incubating activities. This time we are no longer losing but earning and there are now a lot of activities going on in the facility. Many of our colleagues from various colleges have been tapped to work and cooperate with the tenants who are engaged in ICT-related business ventures.

· We also established in cooperation with Sun Microsystems, Mirant Philippines foundation and Ayala Foundation, the Java Education Center and the Java Research and Development Center. Our Department of Computer Science is actively involved in this project. The JAVA Education Center is designed to give students and trainees the skills needed to fasttrack careers in the Net economy. This center directlyu services UP faculty and students, IT faculty members of other universities, and selected high school students. On the other hand, the JAVA Research and Development Center is the research arm of the JAVA Education Center. It has the necessary equipment to support student projects. It provides the opportunity for students and IT professionals to convert their ideas into practical marketable solutions that will enable them to create welath for themselves.

4. Modernizing UP Diliman

· We have been implementing the Computerized Registration System with almost 80% of the students enlisting online and are continuously improving the system including the Student Records System

· We continue to improve the Diliman Network (DilNet). During the period we proceeded to implement DilNet
3 (structured cabling of 12 academic buildings), DilNet 4 (bandwidth upgrading, student email accounts, and structured cabling, with support from the UP System, DilNet 5 (public E terminals, University Virtual Learning Environment, single sign-on portal). About 46 Public E terminals have been installed very recently in major buildings around the campus enabling students to access their email. These should also be useful to them when they preenlist.

· We established/upgraded computer laboratories at the College of Architecture, Department of Computer Science, Department of Mathematics, and School of Statistics with funding support from the UP System. UP Diliman funded from its own funds the computer laboratories of the Department of Engineering Sciences, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technology Management Center, the University Library and the UP Integrated School. The upgrading program has tremendously improved student: computer ratios in the programs of these units.

· We have developed the Faculty Information System to facilitate access to data on faculty loading, study leaves, and other pertinent data.

· We have also completed Phase II of the HRDO Computerization Project and are proceeding with Phase III. This project is about the development of the prototype and units of ID Card Swipe Machines with Fingerprint Identification (deployment of machines will be completed by October this year) for monitoring attendance, leaves and absences of our employees.

· We have installed MAELISA software for the networking of Diliman libraries. This was made possible by the President’s approval allocating funds from the Library Development Fund (from Ang Bahay ng Alumni proceeds). Twenty eight libraries are now part of the network and are implementing the MAELISA modules.

5. Faculty and Staff Welfare

When we came on board in 1999 there was clamor for greater effort on the part of the UP Administration to look for creative ways to improve the University’s reward system. Faculty and staff welfare was foremost inour minds when we got down to work.

· We were the first campus to argue for an increase in overload honoraria for the faculty and when the President gave his approval, we were the first campus to implement such increase.

· We also argued to increase the honoraria for librarians and coaches.

· To encourage and facilitate interaction among each other we set up the Faculty Lounge at the Balay Kalinaw and supported the setting up of a faculty lounge at the Faculty Center.

· We established the Computer Loan Program for the faculty and staff and set aside funds for its implementation. To date about 81 members of the faculty and staff have availed of the loan program

· Upon the request of the junior faculty, in particular, the UP Katipon we liberalized policies and rules on dormitory privileges during semestral and Christmas breaks.

· We got approval from the Board of Regents for the construction of the Faculty Dormitory through a Build Operate Transfer scheme. A special committee has been working on this project continuously and is making sure that procedures are strictly followed. A first bidding was held recently but this one failed. The committee is repackaging the project to attract more developers to bid for the project.

· Aware of the fact that faculty and staff have become increasingly anxious about the outstanding loans of students whose loans they guaranteed, we obtained approval from the Board of regents to free faculty and staff guarantors of their obligations under the Student Loan Program. Upon the advice of COA we are now gradually cleaning up the records to facilitate the processing of clearances when the faculty and staff leave or retire from the University.

· We also extended the grace period from one year to two years for retired faculty and staff to stay in their housing units.

· We allowed the reimbursements of expenses for housing repairs of up to P100,000 for transferee-residents

· We provided funds for the airconditioning of faculty and staff offices of the Asian Institute of Tourism, College of Arts and Letters (Creative Writing Center, Bulwagang Recto, the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, the department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, Vargas Museum) College of Engineering (Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics Engineering), College of Music, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (History and Psychology), School of Economics, Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, College of Home Economics, Accounting Office, HRDO, and Cash Office

6. Student Welfare
We did not forget the students who are our primary customers in the University.

· We streamlined registration procedures through the CRS/SRS for their convenience. For the first time freshmen have been able to pre-enlist online this year.

· We upgraded admission requirements for students of the UP Extension Program in Pampanga and students admitted through the Varsity Athletic Admissions System so they are not branded as poor cousins of UP Diliman students.

· We increased the number of graduate scholarship slots and improved laboratory and other facilities of graduate programs through the increase in graduate tuition

· Upon the initiative of President Nemenzo we extended library hours up to 12 midnight, providing 16 hours continuous library services to students.

· With support from the UP Sytsem and the alumni we provided computer units in dormitories (Kalayaan, Kamia, Sampaguita, Sanggumay, Molave and Ilang Ilang)

· We actively coordinated with scholarship donors and encouraged them to increase privileges of scholars.

· We supported the travel abroad of three students who participated in the international ICT competition in Malaysia. Our students got the top award.

· We implemented the Adopt-a-Student Program to help students disqualified from STFAP and other private scholarship grants. The response from alumni and friends has been encouraging and has enabled us to help a number of students.

· We fostered greater and active participation by students in cultural activities, consulting them in the disposition of cultural fees, supporting their cultural activities, and bringng culture closer to them through the Bisita Kultura, the Pasyal and their involvement in Diliman month celebrations.

· We continue to maintain close coordination with UP BARKADA (a group of UP alumni fratmen from 16 fraternities) in monitoring activities of fraternities on campus and in settling disputes between and among fraternities.

· We are now finalizing plans for a student dormitory with funding support from Congress

· We revived the student hotlines providing students access to University and College officials to report problems in the classroom. Not only has my office received phone calls, we have also received email from students complaining about their professors.

· We extended tuition payment deadlines without fine to provide relief to students and families facing financial difficulties.

7. Campus Development and Security/Safety
For campus development, what have we done?

· By the end of 1999 there were a number of construction projects going on. Our priority then was to complete as many of the ongoing projects. We managed to complete the construction of the following buildings: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Gusaling Magsaysay of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Annex Building of the College of Music, Media Center of the College of Mass Communication

· We also allocated funds for the construction/completion of the following buildings: Phase I and now Phase II of the College of Arts and Letters building, the National Institute of Physics the construction of which has been left idle in the last five years, and the University Registrar’s Office (with the Office Admissions). Because we were warned of some structural defects in the old OUR building we had to transfer the OUR to a warehouse to be on the safe side. We are hoping that this year we will be able to start the construction of their new building.

· We obtained approval for the construction of the offices/shopping center (on the site of the Shopping Center) and the Academic Hangout (on the site of the University Arcade) through a Build Operate Transfer scheme.

· We closed the academic oval to vehicles on Sundays for the benefit of joggers, bikers, and families who frequent the campus on weekends.
Campus safety and security has increasingly become a problem but we have moved to make this place a safe one to live in.

· We established police presence along University Avenue where the incidence of crime has markedly increased, by constructing a police outpost in the vicinity.

· Our colleagues from the Math Department complained about the intrusion of outsiders in the vicinity of the Math building, so we constructed fences along CP Garcia (up to Mathematics Building). We also fenced the back of the International Center and Ilang-Ilang dormitories to ensure the safety of our dormers.
· We closed all entry-exit points (except University Avenue) of the campus starting 10:00 in the evening until 5:00 in the morning and installed traffic signals on University Avenue.

· We detailed roving blueguards at high-crime risk areas at tremendous expense to the University.

· We also purchased vehicles and security equipment for the police.

· We also organized the Bantay Kampus Brigade relying on volunteers from among the faculty, staff, students, and community residents to help the police in monitoring criminal activities and other undesirable events on campus.

8. In the area of Resource Generation,

· We conducted 4 Resource Generation Kapihans that brought together deans and directors to share experiences and strategies for generating resources.

· We have also completed the online database on resource generation activities and projects of degree-granting units

· Throughout the three-year period, we established 20 new professional chairs with a total endowment fund of P11,171,000 during the period. Funds were with the help of the units and their foundations.

The accomplishments are by no means mine alone. They are the products and outcomes of the cooperation and support of the entire UP Diliman academic community working together harmoniously, the productive relationship with the UP System within the proper context of autonomy, and the constructive and vigorous support of the alumni and our private sector partners and friends.
In six years the University will be celebrating its centennial. This should inspire the Diliman community to work even more aggressively to become a world class university in its fullest sense by year 2008, if not sooner. Together let us complete the groundwork for UP Diliman’s transformation into a university that stands equal to the best universities in the world.

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