The University of the Philippines Board of Regents approved UP Mindanao's proposal to establish the UP Mindanao Quality Assurance Office (QAO) at its 1388th BOR Meeting on April 4, 2024.

The approval was contained in the Notice of BOR Resolutions certified by Board Secretary Roberto Lara, following the endorsements of UP VP for Academic Affairs Leo Cubillan, EVP Jose Fernando Alcantara, and UP President Angelo Jimenez.

The approval came with a policy instruction, "No new academic program shall be submitted by any constituent unit (CU) for approval by the Board of Regents until such program has passed the quality assurance standards set by the CU Quality Assurance Office."

The UP Mindanao proposal stated that UP Mindanao is "committed to the sustainability of its degree programs by supporting these through standard quality management systems" and that "Quality assurance (QA) aims to strengthen UP Mindanao's academic programs."

The UPMin QA Office will be "primarily responsible for the high level of excellence and professionalism in instruction, research, extension, innovation, public service, and administrative processes. The office will ensure the alignment of all programs and projects with national, regional, and global goals and standards," it stated.

Internally, UP Mindanao monitors its degree programs via the internal Academic Assessment and Development System (iAADS). Externally, the degree programs' self-assessment reports (SARs) are assessed by Type B assessment (assessment by another CU).

While strengthening the academic programs, the UPMin QAO will ensure that teaching staff, non-teaching staff, and students will be at par with global standards and will be responsive to an increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and vulnerable) world.

The QAO will be composed of a Director and six QA Officers, selected from existing faculty or staff from the colleges and central administration and to be issued appointments as additional assignments. An initial support staff of three persons will handle office operations which the Academic Program Improvement funds will augment.

A QA Advisory Board will be composed of the chancellor as chairperson, the QA Office director as co-chair, and the vice-chancellors as members.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 

The University of the Philippines Mindanao is opening the call for abstracts to two research events organized by the Office of Research:

• the Mindanao Symposium on Rethinking Innovation on 27 September 2024 
• the Joint Conference and Symposium on Health on 14-15 November 2024.

For more details, click the links below:

MINDANAO SYMPOSIUM ON RETHINKING INNOVATION: https://tinyurl.com/minsyminnovation

JOINT CONFERENCE AND SYMPOSIUM ON HEALTH: https://tinyurl.com/jointconsym

The School of Management will celebrate the 29th UP Mindanao Anniversary with offerings during SOM Week from March 18, 2024, onward. All the forums will be held online via the Zoom platform.

On March 18, Monday is the "Knowledge Sharing Initiatives" Public Lecture Series featuring Instructor Francis Levi Durano, Associate Professor Ligaya R. Leal, and Asst. Prof.Vlademir Shuck.

On March 20, Wednesday, is the "17th Supply Chain Forum," featuring six speakers who will present their research findings.  

On March 21, is the School of Management Policy Forum. In the morning, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, is "e-Tuna: Digitizing Traceability System for Tuna in Davao Region." Registration is FREE via bit.ly/SOMPolicyForum1. 

In the afternoon is the "School of Management Policy Forum: Bridging Research Evidence into Policy and Action." Three faculty members will present their research on tourism, gender, and infectious disease mitigation. Registration is FREE via bit.ly/SOMPolicyForum2.

On March 22, the forum "Gender-Responsive Policies for Women Empowerment" will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon. This will be followed by a soft launch of the upcoming book "Inclusive Policies for Women in the Agrifood Sector: A Guide for Local Policymakers in the Philippines."

Mr. Mark James S. Saguimpa, "Productivity and technical efficiency of Robusta coffee farmers at varying elevations in Sultan Kudarat, Philippines"

Mr. Adrianne John Nuñeza, "Factors Influencing Market Outlet Choice of Coffee Farmers in Sultan Kudarat, Philippines"

Mr. Dave Laurence Q. Dela Cruz, "Can Sultan Kudarat Coffee Farmers Afford a Spanish Latte?"

Ms. Alessa Keith E. Carbonell, "Effects of Farm Management Practices on Technical Efficiency: A Case of Cacao Farmers in Laak, Davao de Oro and Veruela, Agusan del Sur''

Ms. Novy Aila V. Rivas, "Exploring Profitability of Small-scale Cavendish Banana Growers through Allocating Banana Yield to Different Banana Classes"

Mr. Alex John C. Labanon, "Maximizing Profitability for Cavendish Banana Farmers through the Development of a Cost Calculator and Market Profit Optimizer Application" 

The UP Mindanao UC supports the creation of the Committee on the Promotion and Protection of Academic Freedom and Human Rights. Given the rampant cases of state fascism such as red-tagging and violation of human rights and academic freedom, we believe that the present institutional arrangement we have at present does not have the avenues and facility for ends which the proposed Committee can best accomplish.