UNION bosses have called the attention of University officials on supposed delays in the salaries of professors caused by the slow processing of teaching appointments.
In his Feb. 5 letter to Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Clarita Carillo, Reynaldo Reyes, USTFU vice president for grievance, pointed out that a teaching appointment is a prerequisite to the issuance of teaching assignments. The Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA) issues the appointment upon the recommendation of the dean and the submission of required documents.
“If the teaching assignment or teaching load is issued by the OVRAA earlier to the concerned faculty members duly signed by the faculty and the dean, then why the delay in the issuance of their teaching appointment?” Reyes said in his letter, noting that some faculty members had resorted to using credit cards to survive during those months without pay.
Carillo said in her Feb. 7 letter to USTFU President George Lim that cases of pending teaching appointments must be clarified with the dean’s office.
“Teaching Appointments take a maximum of three (3) working days for processing and release provided teaching recommendations and all documentary requirements have been duly submitted to the Office for Faculty Evaluation and Development (OFED)-OVRAA and are found in order,” she said. “OFED immediately informs the Deans’ Offices of any problem related to submitted documents, or at times, non-submission of necessary documents. The faculty member’s own compliance is therefore vital to the prompt release of his/her teaching appointment.”
But Reyes said a faculty member assigned to teach without appointment violates University polices.
“[I]t would imply that the students are taught by an ‘unauthorized personnel,’ i.e., by someone ‘unemployed by the University,’” he said in his Feb. 5 letter.
Reyes cited Section 11 of the Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education, which states that an institution shall execute a written employment contract with teaching and non-teaching academic employees, whether permanent, probationary or part-time, before or at the start of the school term.
He suggested that the University should initially grant the lowest rank to an employee with a pending teaching appointment, and make adjustments soon after the document is released.
Rene Tadle, USTFU internal vice president, echoed Reyes and said certain people who should be held accountable. “Ang importante na lang dito siguro ang ibigay na lang na rank sa kanila ‘yung lowest rank na lang rather than delay all the pay, kasi pinagtrabahuhan naman niya ‘yun,” Tadle said.
The deans cannot be blamed in hiring faculty members without a teaching appointment, he said.
“They need to hire the faculty members immediately and ask these faculty members to teach, or else and’yan na‘yung estudyante, walang magtuturo, so kailangang magturo na sila kaagad,” he said. “Since nagturo na sila kaagad, ang problema, hindi naman binabayaran on time kasi nga wala pa daw appointment.”
The Varsitarian is still trying to seek comment from Carillo. Bernadette D. Nicolas
