The press conference

the town hall meeting

University President Angelo Jimenez rolled out the UP Strategic Plan to UP Mindanao constituents and the public in a visit on May 7, 2024. President Jimenez started with a press conference, alongside UPMin chancellor Lyre Anni Murao, to share the UP strategic plan with the media. He announced UP Mindanao's upcoming medical program, to be offered in cooperation with the UP College of Medicine, and a civil engineering program in cooperation with the UP College of Engineering. Chancellor Murao added that UPMin units would offer a Master of Science (MS) in Quantitative Methods and Modeling, an MS in Biology, and an Associate in Arts in Entrepreneurship in the next academic year. These are part of UPMin's R2-5K, or "The Road to 5,000 Students," which aims to increase enrollment from the current 1,400 students to 5,000 by 2029.

President Jimenez also unveiled plans to make UP admissions more inclusive for applicants from public schools in certain Mindanao geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. "We have set aside funds for a certain number of UPMin qualifiers to support their study in UPMin," he said.

President Jimenez and Chancellor Murao also updated the media on the proposed UP-Bangsamoro Development Institute and the eight "baskets" of offerings that UP can offer the BARMM, namely, food, health, education, the environment and ecology, information and communication technology (ICT), governance, economics, and maritime science. A ninth basket, on culture and the arts, was conceived from subsequent consultations.  

Chancellor Murao also introduced the proposed Mindanao Sports Development and Training Institute, contained in a House Bill authored by Davao City Congressman Isidro Ungab, which aims to make the Davao City-UP Sports Complex a hub for sports training and research.

The presscon news earned UPMin a nationwide readership, a result of concerted efforts by the UP and UPMin public affairs teams.

Afterward, President Jimenez met the UP Mindanao constituents to roll out the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029 in a widely-attended Town Hall meeting. President Jimenez also listened to and answered the UPMin constituents' issues and concerns, ranging from campus infrastructure to job security and mental health, to name a few.