The University of the Philippines President Angelo A. Jimenez has urged the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) to increase its carrying capacity to 5,000 students within the next six years. 

“We are committed to making UPMin a full spectrum university that offers the relevant skills and professional needs of our island,” said President Jimenez in a recent visit.  

To achieve this target, the UPMin administration has conducted a workshop on how to increase its capacity. The workshop involved the various academic units that crafted a proposal on its new academic offerings and various projects. The said proposal will be submitted to President Jimenez.

The UP Board of Regents (BOR) recently approved two new academic degree programs in its April 3, 2023 meeting. These are the  Bachelor of Science in Data Science and the Master of Science in Human Movement Science. These bring UPMin’s degree programs to 12 undergraduate and seven graduate programs, with more in the pipeline. 

“We have been looking forward to the approval of our new degree programs,” said UPMin Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao. “This is part of UP Mindanao’s commitment to innovate and broaden our academic offerings in response to the emerging demands of the 21st century,” she said.

The proponents earned the approval for the new degree programs from the planning and coordination in recent years, coupled with last-mile efforts through the University Council, the Academic Curriculum Committee, and the President’s Advisory Council. UPMin’s academic units can learn from the program proponents' experiences to expedite their new programs.

The efforts to add more academic offerings are part of Chancellor Murao’s commitment to UPMin’s continuum of strategic plans initiated by her predecessors. This strategy also addresses UPMin’s requirement for additional plantilla items for teaching and non-teaching personnel.