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UPB new chancellor selection earns headway

BAGUIO CITY (Mar. 9) — As part of the University of the Philippines Baguio’s (UPB) conduct of the selection process for its next chancellor, the search committee composed of representatives from various sectors of the university held dialogues with its community.

The said dialogues aimed to carve out the issues concerning students, faculties, and non-academic personnel that are to be addressed by the appointed chancellor.

Two were nominated for the position: one is Dr.Ronaldo Paraan, a medical practitioner and a UP Diliman/Manila alumnus, and second, is the UPB’s incumbent chancellor Dr. Priscila Supnet-Macansantos, also a UPB alumnae.

Dr. Paraan presented four points of what he envisions for the university: the “governance reform (to institutionalize linkages within the UPB community); creating synergy in existing academic programs, research and extension, and the university’s culture, arts, and sports programs; welfare aspect in designing and implementing a resource generation program; and improving the knowledge facilities and physical infrastructures.”

On the other hand, Dr. Macansantos’ agenda for the next three years in UPB includes strengthening research in UPB; faculty development; campus development and upgrading facilities; library modernization; strengthening programs in the sciences; develop innovative general education courses, and review of programs in the Social Sciences, and Arts and Communications; rationalization of personnel complement and improvement of administrative efficiency; and resource generation and mobilization.”

On February 23, students raised in a dialogue that the appointment of the university’s officials should undergo democratic consultations. Among the issues were students’ voice in the policy-making process through a student representative in the Chancellor’s executive staff; regularity of university assembly; curfew; more access to facilities and improved basic services; upgrade scholarship programs; sensitivity and participation of the university to social issues by taking a stand.

Moreover, for the faculties, their concerns are suppression of academic freedom; interventions through micro-management; promotions are centrally administered; not adequate administrative transparency; enhance administrative support; reaching out to lower units; generation of funds through cooperatives; and more visible governance.

The matters discussed during the interview with the non-academic sector were the issue on promotions; grievance mechanism; pro-active Human Resource Development for career path; inclusion of the administrative sector to the development plan; value interpersonal relationships; concretization of employees’ performance evaluation; conducive working environment; benefits like housing projects and resource generation; and abolition of “kapartido” system (that a non-academic personnel cleared that whoever is closest to the chancellor gets the position or any grant request; instead, establish a democratic and consultative appointment of positions).

These issues and concerns will be forwarded to the UP system-wide President Emerlinda Roman to help deciding on the next UPB chancellor. # Keith Sison/ UPB Intern for NORDIS

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