Highlights in June, 2019
22nd COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES AND INVESTITURE OF 5TH CHANCELLOR
The University of the Philippines Mindanao held its 22nd Commencement Exercises on 21 June 2019. Executive Vice President Teodoro J. Herbosa led the awarding of diplomas to the Class of 2019. It was UP Mindanao’s biggest batch to date, with 353 graduates. The university had its first summa cum laude, Ms. Pete Maverick Nicole Estudillo, BS Food Technology. This news item went “viral” nationwide. The class of 2019 had the most number of magna cum laude (13) and cum laude (80) graduates.
The investiture of Professor Larry N. Digal as the 5th Chancellor of UP Mindanao was held in conjunction with the commencement exercises. Regent Angelo A. Jimenez led the Investiture Ceremony. In his speech, Chancellor Digal said, “UP Mindanao is committed to becoming Mindanao-focused but adopting an international outlook... with the university bringing the best of the world to Mindanao and the best of Mindanao to the rest of the world.”
Full text of the speech of Chancellor Digal is available here: http://bit.ly/2NP0Lhs
REACTIVATION OF UGNAYAN NG PAHINUNGOD
Chancellor Larry N. Digal reactivated and formally established the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod in UP Mindanao on 1 June 2019 through Administrative Order No. LND 2019-070. This was in compliance to President Danilo L. Concepcion’s Executive Order No. PDLC 19-01. Mr. Michael A. Gatela, University Extension Specialist II, was appointed Officer-in-Charge through Administrative Order No. LND 2019-071, effective 1 June to 31 December 2019. The Pahinungod will be placed under the Office of the Chancellor and will carry out functions consistent with UP’s “social and moral responsibility” and “institutional commitment to promote and provide volunteer work by its faculty, staff, graduates, and students to underserved areas or communities.”
GEO-SAFER PROJECT CLOSE-OUT
The Geo-SAFER Mindanao Closing Conference was held on 05 June 2019 in Caraga State University (CarSU). The heads of the participating institutions, such as Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Central Mindanao University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, UP Mindanao, and CarSU attended and gave their respective closing messages.
TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INCUBATION MOA SIGNED
Chancellor Larry Digal signed a memorandum of agreement with the Dept. of Science and Technology (DOST) on 10 June 2019 for the establishment of the UPGRADE, UP Mindanao's Technology Business Incubation (TBI), with funding from the DOST. In the agreement, the TBI will facilitate the transformation of at least 15 promising research & development products by UP Mindanao constituents and other proponents to become viable business applications and, in the process, promote entrepreneurship through innovation as a viable career path for Filipinos. Asst. Prof. Miguel Guillermo, the TBI Manager, said the TBI will focus on Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Food Systems and techno-entrepreneurs from inside and outside the university who have qualified projects are encouraged to apply for technology-business incubation. The TBI will provide common service facilities and referrals to credit providers for entrepreneurs to grow their business from the idea stage to the enterprise stage within a period of two years. The signing by Chancellor Digal followed the approval by the DOST Governing Council of the UP Mindanao proposal on 8 April 2019. Previous to that, the Technical Panel of the DOST-Higher Education Institution Readiness for Innovation and Techno-preneurship (HEIRIT) screened the UP Mindanao proposal and endorsed it for the approval of the Governing Council. Construction of the TBI facility and will be implemented upon receipt of funds from the DOST. The TBI will be supervised by Prof. Guillermo as Manager and Ms. Lynda Buenaobra as IT Support Office Manager.
DAVAO CITY STARTUP ECOSYSTEM MAPPING
The UP Mindanao TBI participated in the multi-sectoral Davao City Startup Ecosystem Mapping on 14 June 2019. The participants mapped out the stakeholders, potential industry partners, relevant government agencies, and the target markets for the information technology start-ups.
MOU FOR COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR LGUS
UP Mindanao and 8 other higher educational institutions (HEI) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Interior and Local Government-Region 11 on 28 June 2019 to help local government units in the formulation of their Comprehensive Development Plan. Prof. Jean Marie Juanga, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, signed on behalf of UP Mindanao.
MARILOG LAND RESERVATION
The Land Reservations Management Office (LRMO) provided a seminar on sustainable abaca production to the UP Marilog Land Reservation community on 11 June 2019, in coordination with the tribe, the barangay council, and the Fiber Industry Development Authority-Region XI.
RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
1.Elumba ME, Mata MAE, Abpi MM, Nañola CL. 2019. Age-based growth variation of Green-blotched Parrotfish Scarus quoyi in the Southern Philippine Seas. Phil. J. of Science. 148(2):411-417.
2.Digal LN, Placencia SG. 2019. Retail demand estimation of organic rice and other variants in the Philippines and its implications to sustainability and self sufficiency. Organic Agriculture 2019: 1-10.
3.Millado CS. 2019. Laboratory Manual/Laboratory training module for Molecular Biology Camp for senior high school teachers. Davao City: University of the Philippines Mindanao, Philippine Genome Center-Mindanao Satellite Facility.
NOTABLE PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
1.Soriano PC, Villame RGE, Delima AGD, Alviola JNA, Calumba KFA, Alviola IV PA, Bayogan EVB. 2019. Utilization of alugbati (Basella alba L.) leaves powder to increase vitamin A content of fresh egg noodles. Paper presented at: International Food Technology Conference (IFT19), 2-5 June 2019, New Orleans, USA.
2.Sumaoy PSA, Villame RGE, Delima AGD, Alviola JNA, Calumba KFA, Alviola IV PA, Bayogan EVB. 2019. Development of moringa powder-fortified peanut butter cookies as potential snack item for iron deficient school age children in Davao City. Paper presented at: International Food Technology Conference (IFT19), 2-5 June 2019, New Orleans, USA.
BEST DISSERTATION AND NEW PH.D.
Asst. Prof. Karen Joyce Cayamanda of the Department of Humanities was awarded the “Best PhD Dissertation” by the UP Los Baños College of Public Affairs and Development for her work on “Risk communication management for flood-vulnerable communities of Davao City, southern Philippines.” Prof. Cayamanda is the second UP Mindanao faculty member to graduate from the UPLB PhD in Development Studies off-site program that is hosted by UP Mindanao.
DEVELOPMENT OF FACULTY ONLINE PROFILE
The Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science organized a Workshop on the Development of Faculty Online Profile on 7 June 2019. The project is expected to improve the online presence of each and every faculty member of the university.
THESIS COMPETITIONS
The BS Biology program held the 2019 BS Biology Best Thesis competition on 14 June 2019 at the College of Science and Mathematics. The main competitions were the oral competition, of which there were six, and the poster competition, of which there were 30. The oral presentations were on rice, tomato, rabies, and biodiversity. The posters were on purification, quality, senescence and similar studies on animals, fishes, fruits, and bioactive compounds from plants, among others. The BS Applied Mathematics and the BS Computer Science programs held their 2019 Best Special Problem competition on 13 June 2019. The papers used data analyses, statistics, algorithms, linear programming on banana flour, inventories, tuberculosis, traffic, fisheries, rabies, and other subjects. The BS Food Technology Undergraduate Research Conference was held on 27 May 2019 at the CSM Building. These included food and materials product development.
CAREER ORIENTATION AND JOB PLACEMENT
The Office of Student Affairs Counseling and Testing Section organized the Career Placement Orientation and Pre-Employment Seminar and the Annual Job Fair on 3-4 June 2019. Chancellor Larry Digal gave the Inspirational Message, wherein he advised the graduating students to “nail it” as a memo for the acronym “P-A-C-O,” or “Plan-Act-Check-Open.” The last word to mean, “keep an open mind.” Mr. Kim L. Chua, Managing Director of Jobs180.com Incorporated, spoke on “The Next Generation Resume” and “Personal Branding (Dressing Up for Success),” and Ms. Mary Anne Love Deseo, Training and Development Manager of Awesome OS, spoke about “Ace-ing Job Interviews.” The companies and their personnel accommodated the job applicants in the Annual Job Fair held in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Food and agriculture, information technology, real estate, energy, and business process outsourcing industries were represented at the Fair. The companies who participated in the Job Fair were the following: Aboitiz Corporation, Advanced World Systems Corp., Blue Sun Phils. Inc., Dole Phils. Corp., Franklin Baker Corp., Gaisano Mal of Davao, Phoenix Petroleum Corp., Rococo Global Technologies Corp., Awesome OS, Azeus Systems Phils., JTC Companies, Lapanday Foods Corp., and Teleperformance Company. The Public Employment Services Office (PESO)-Calinan provided support services.
Send-off ceremonies were organized by the three colleges for their graduating students and the parents. The ceremonies included recognition for students who excelled in academics, leadership, arts and cultural activities, and athletics. Winners for best thesis were announced and awarded. The colleges invited the following speakers for their ceremonies: former faculty member and Department of Tourism Assistant Secretary Mr. Roberto Alabado III for the School of Management; alumnus Dr. Edward Cagape for the College of Science and Mathematics; and architecture board exam 4th placer, alumna and faculty member, Ar. Kristin Faye Olalo for the College of Humanities and Social Science.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Improvement of roofs was undertaken for P5 million in the administration building, the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) building, and the Learning Resource Center rooms.
Improvement of rest rooms was done for P5 million in the administration building, Elias B. Lopez Hall dormitory, CSM, Kalimudan Student Center, Human Kinetics Center, and University Student Council room.
In other infrastructure developments, the Marilog land reservation training center was completed and the campus housing/hostel building is near completion. Electrification and piped-in water for the Center of Advancement of Research and Engagement in Mindanao (CARIM) building phase 1 is expected soon. The turn-over of the Coconut Tissue Culture Lab phase 2 was accomplished and that for the CHSS Cultural Center phase 1 is in-process.
In the Sports Complex, the swimming pool is under repair and construction of the bleachers is on-going. The official turn-over of the track and football field and stadium and of the training gym is expected soon.