DESPITE having the second highest number of professors with master’s and doctorate degrees, six out of the ten programs from the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) are still short of the faculty profile requirement of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) for Level I accreditation.
The deficiency caused the Faculty to postpone the Level I accreditation applications of the Communication Arts, Journalism, Sociology, Behavioral Science, Political Science, and Asian Studies programs set this month to next February.
According to Prof. Lino Baron, faculty secretary, Artlets had to postpone the accreditation to give time for faculty members to finish their masters and doctorate degrees.
“For the six programs, some faculty members have failed to meet the requirements of their degree,” Baron said.
PACUCOA requires 75 per cent of the faculty members of each major to have at least a master’s degree to qualify for accreditation.
As of press time, there is only one major which has completed the 75 per cent requirement. Based on records, Behavioral Science has 77 per cent and 75.8 per cent professional course and general education professors who have at least a master’s degree. Journalism has 72 per cent and 71 per cent, Communication Arts has 72 per cent in both areas, Asian Studies has 75 per cent and 64.29 per cent, Sociology has 80 per cent and 84 per cent, and Political Science has 77 per cent and 78 per cent.
Baron told the Varsitarian that all six courses will be able to fulfill the requirement next year.
“When PACUCOA accreditors come by February next year, the records will show that we have fulfilled the faculty profile requirement already and I hope we have enough just as long as these people would surely be able to defend their master’s and doctorate degrees,” Baron said.
The Faculty lost its Level II accreditation three years ago after it failed to meet the 75 per cent requirement.
Baron explained that the faculty members then were not as eager to attain post-graduate degrees as they are now. But Literature, Philosophy, Legal Management and Economics, which attained Level II accreditation last year, are now preparing for Level III accreditation, he added.
The four programs went through Level II accreditation smoothly because of their satisfactory faculty profile.
