Tag: Vol. LXXXIV

UST ranked 150th in the latest listing of top Asian universities and topped other Philippine schools in two out of nine indicators, data from the British consultancy Quacquarelli-Symonds showed.

With a score of 39.90, the University trailed state-run University of the Philippines (UP), which improved a notch to No. 67 (58.70 points); and Ateneo de Manila which plummeted to No. 109 (46.90) from last year’s No. 89. De La Salle University dropped to the 151-160 bracket from No. 142 last year.

UST’s latest ranking was down two notches from 2012, its lowest standing in five years. It tied with South Korea’s Yeungnam University at the 150th spot.

THE ADMINISTRATION has slashed the tuition increase for Academic Year 2013-2014 by half, but miscellaneous and other fees were raised by up to 150 percent.

Tuition went up by P31.23 per unit to P1,280.23 for students in the second year and up, a 2.5-percent hike. Tuition increased by 3.5 and three percent in 2012 and 2011, respectively.

UST officials originally proposed a five-percent increase, but decided to cut the rate by half following consultations with student leaders and deans last Feb. 14 and 19.

Central Student Council President Miyuki Morishita said the hike was necessary to ensure that the University would continue to offer high-quality education despite rising costs.

STUDENTS from the Conservatory of Music are the “most dissatisfied” on University services, results of the annual exit survey conducted by the Office for Planning and Quality Management showed.

The college got an average score of 3.07 from respondents in the past two years, settling at the low end of the four-point satisfaction survey of the University.

Sherry Cantor, immediate past president of the Music Student Council, attributed the students’ dissatisfaction to some professors’ tardiness.

“Some students had pointed out that professors’ tardiness was the reason Music students suffered delay of graduation,” she said.

FEWER Thomasians volunteered for the 2013 midterm elections compared with three years ago, to the disappointment of student leaders.

Political Science Forum President Patrick Bugarin, who headed a group of UST poll watchers, said Thomasians were generally passive in this year’s elections, as only 100 students signed up to volunteer. This was down drastically from 210 Thomasian volunteers in the 2010 national elections. In the 2007 midterm elections, UST failed to send election volunteers.

“It is quite ironic that most of us are hopeful on the progress of our country yet majority of us remained hesitant to sacrifice some time for the country,” Bugarin said.

THE number of UST professors with master’s degrees has risen in the past three years, but the number of doctorate degree holders has not improved, official statistics showed.

A total of 1,085 faculty members had master’s degrees as of the second semester of academic year 2012-2013, up from 964 in 2010, data from the Office of Faculty Evaluation and Development (OFED) showed.

The Faculty of Engineering had the highest number of master’s degree holders with 128, followed by the College of Nursing with 93, and the Faculty of Arts and Letters with 78.

A total of 311 faculty members have yet to obtain their master’s degrees, OFED Director Editha Fernandez told the Varsitarian.

STUDENTS at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) are barred from shifting to other courses, as part of efforts to impose stricter academic standards.

Incoming CRS freshmen are no longer allowed to shift to other courses at any period of their stay, said College Secretary Donald Manlapaz.

“We need to have the no-shifting policy since our courses have board examinations. We want the student to be aligned to what they want to choose,” he said.

Parents were asked to sign a document waiving PPS No. 1006 or shifting regulations in the UST Student Handbook, which states that: “The University recognizes the right of the student to choose the program he or she wants to pursue, provided he or she meets all the requirements for admission.”

UST HOSPITAL is expected to complete a 12-story extension building by 2015, in a change of plans following delays in construction.

The multi-million structure will be taller than the previous nine-story plan in 2011, but shorter than the original 17-story medical tower proposed in 2007.

The extension building was delayed as UST had decided to complete the Clinical Division renovation and the six-story vestibule that now houses doctors’ clinics, said Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez, architect of the UST Hospital extension building project.

ALMOST half of Accountancy sophomores failed their retention exams, following a stricter screening process to improve UST’s showing in the certified public accountant (CPA) board exams.

Out of 764 second-year students, 315 students were removed from the program. A total of 476 took the retention exam, with 211 students or 44.33 percent failing. This was lower than last year’s 47.58 percent, wherein 265 out of 557 failed the test.

Accountancy Dean Minerva Cruz said the retention exam was implemented to screen students who were “really fit” for the program.

“Accounting is very in demand but we have to be selective of our students,” Cruz said. “We [want to] either maintain or improve our performance in the board exams.”

THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has expressed disappointment over Catholic schools’ opposition to an order requiring private universities to submit to a government-prescribed quality status.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) has cried foul over CHEd memorandum order (CMO) 46 last May, saying it was unfair to close private higher education institutions (HEIs) for substandard performance, but not public HEIs.

In a chance interview, CHEd Commissioner Patricia Licuanan said CMO 46 was a quality standard for higher education, describing it as “simple and rational.”

BEGINNING Academic Year 2013-2014, sophomores will be taking physical education (PE) classes with their respective block sections.

The Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) came up with the new system following the unequal distribution of students in different PE courses offered on a first-come, first-served basis during enrollment.

“With the new scheme, students would no longer queue for PE advising, making the enrollment process less complex,” said IPEA moderator Pauline Gabayan.

Under the block system, each student will go through the four areas of PE, namely physical fitness, folk dance, team sports and individual sports.

But the new scheme has drawn mixed reactions among incoming sophomore students.