AACCUP evaluates JRMSU programs in January, April

The Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU) main campus in Dapitan City warmly greeted six accreditors from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) last January 25 and 26, as the said team arrived to evaluate the two programs submitted by JRMSU for Level III Phase 2 Accreditation Survey Visit.

Then, on April 14-16, the school will also welcome another 21 AACUP Accreditation Surveyors.

For the AACUP Accreditation Survey last January, two colleges from the university, the College of Education (CED) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), were prepared for the accreditation of their respective programs.

For the CED, the programs subjected for accreditation include all the Majors of the Bachelor of Secondary Education program; namely, BSED-English, Filipino, MAPEH, Math, Biology and Social Studies, while CAS had its Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

The AACCUP accreditors who evaluated both JRMSU programs were Dr. Demetria A. San Juan from URS; Prof. Minerva C. Zoleta from EARIST; Dr. Namerod F. Mateo from URS; and Dr. Manuel T. Corpus, AACCUP Executive Director and Chairman of the panel of accreditors.

University president, Dr. Edgar S. Balbuena, was at the forefront of the welcoming contingent for the accreditors during the opening program held in JRMSU’s Quality Assurance Office while Dr. Riza B. Bagalanon, Quality Assurance director, presented the panel of judges during the said program.
During the exit conference, the accreditors, led by their Chairman, Dr. Corpus, gave their overall impression and findings based on the data they had gathered during the survey period.

In an interview with Dr. Narcisa Bureros, dean of the College of Education, she stated that the purpose of the said accreditation is to assess CED and CAS “quality and excellence.”

“To ensure the quality and excellence that the college (CED) delivers to their constituents is the reason why the College of Education submitted for accreditation ( Level III, Phase 2) for the Bachelor of Secondary Education Program,” Bureros said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Quindhe M. Banquiao, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said in a separate interview that, “we passed the Level 3 Phase 1, and we are still waiting for the result in Phase 2. I encourage everyone to be a part of the accreditation especially in the preparation of the documents and other areas to be accredited.”

Moreover, Dr. Bagalanon expressed her gratitude to the task force of the said accreditation and even went as far as saying that they are “heroes.” “I am thanking all the JRMSU Officials, especially the task force, the real heroes of the success of the accreditation, for working so hard in order to make these (accreditation) things realistic.”

It is worth noting that JRMSU Dapitan is one of the top-ranking SUC’ s with the most number of programs assessed, and was awarded as top 6 with a total of 31 programs assessed during the 29th AACCUP Annual National Conference held at the Grand Ballroom Hall, Century Park Hotel, Malate Manila, on February 18, 2016.

Meanwhile, the more recent AACUP accreditation opened on April 14 in the JRMSU Gymnasium with JRMSU vice president for Academic Affairs, Dr. Aida O. Lanioso doing the honor of welcoming the accreditors while the presentation of these visitors was made by their fellow accreditor, Dr. Agapito M. Bayron, Jr. of the Central Mindanao University. The said opening program was hosted by Dr. Jovelyn M. Cantina.

In her welcome speech, Dr. Lanioso would highlight the fact that our school has been a university for seven years only, yet we have made strides in bringing our educational excellence to be at par with the best universities all over the Philippines.

“This is still our 7th year as a university but this does not hold back our collective desire to be at par with other known institutions in the country who have proven their worth in various disciplines. Modesty aside, we are proud to be awarded 6th place among the 112 SUCs with the most number of accredited programs, from our candidate status to level three in the 29th AACUP Annual National Conference in Manila last February and as to this date we have already 66 programs accredited at different levels,” Dr. Lanioso said in her speech.

This April, the whole JRMSU System is submitting 28 programs for Level 1 and six programs for Level 3 Accreditation. Seven of these are from here in the JRMSU main campus with four undergraduate and three graduate programs. The undergraduate programs are Bachelor of Science in Tourism, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology and Bachelor of Science in Management Information System.

Meanwhile, the graduate programs include Master of Science in Agriculture, Master in Business Administration (major in HRM) and Master in Information Technology.

After the three-day interaction with JRMSU faculty and staff, the accreditors were sent off with an Exit Conference and Closing Program on April 16 in the CNHAS AVR.

The Doxology of said closing program was given by Febra S. Sagario followed by presentation by the accreditors of their findings and recommendations. As for his overall impression, Dr. Bayron did not immediately announce the result of the survey but he did acknowledge the warm hospitality JRMSU offered to their team.

Then, to follow such speech was the words of commitment given by Dr. Lanioso who stressed that the comments and recommendations given by the accreditors to the school faculty and officials during their interactions were “doable enough” and that “although these are not instantly within the school’s capacity and resources, this calls for a collective effort between the administration faculty, staff and students.”

“Accreditation is voluntary but it has become a part of the university culture to submit for accreditation no matter how much it costs us and how challenging it is. The reason behind is because we believe that we can best deliver our mandates if we can assure our stakeholders and clienteles that what we are offering them are of quality and has met the standards at par or comparable to that of other known state universities or colleges in the country,” Dr. Lanioso disclosed in her speech. “The transformation of JRMSU since 2006 that is very evident in the main campus is the result of this endeavour.”

The vice president for Academic Affairs also stressed that President Balbuena is 100 percent committed in addressing the recommendations.
The three vice presidents of JRMSU, namely, Dr. Lanioso; Vice President for Research, Extension and Development, Dr. Evelyn R. Campiseno; and Vice President for Administration, Dr. Reynaldo M. Venezuela, then went on stage to award the certificates of the accreditors.

As for her closing remarks, Dr. Campiseno thanked the accreditors for their candidness and she reiterated the fact the JRMSU family is bent on doing the necessary adjustments and solutions to achieve excellence in education based on the recommendations from the accreditors.

The team of accreditors is composed of Dr. Bayron Jr., Dr. Eva  Machutes of BSC, Dr. Liza J. Caballero of NorSU, Dr. Amelita S. Indo of ASSCAT, Dr. Anita C. Sornito of USM, Dr. Gilda B. Gose of BSC, Dr. Belladona A. Cortez of NorSU, Dr. Marcelina O. Bahalla of USM, Dr. Bernarda C. Lleno of BukSU, Dr. Demetria May T. Saniel of BukSU, Dr. Samsia I. Beduya of CCSPC, Dr. Ann Concordia F. Mier of NorSU, Prof. Maribel N. Doyungan of BSC, Collete O. Abequibel of NorSU, Prof. Aloha P. Tolin of NorSU, Prof. Rozanne Tuesday G. Flores of BukSU, Prof. Marilou O. Espina of BukSU, Prof. Elena O. Biado of CCSPC, and Engr. Jonathan M. Tiongson of MSU-IIT.

The said closing program was hosted by Prof. Archer C. Campoy. (The JRMSU Dapitan State Collegian staff)

By: by Daisy Rose D. Rodriguez, Emelyn Cayongcong and Mary Joyce Padao