CTU: Bigger changes sans tuition fee increase

CEBU, Philippines - New policies, better facilities, and improved teaching standards – these are what the public can reportedly expect from the Cebu Technological University in the year ahead, the school’s vice president said yesterday.

CTU Vice President Victor Villaganas said yesterday the university will implement these improvements without having to increase tuition.

The school’s Board of Regents, which is composed of CTU President Bonifacio Villanueva and representatives from the government and public and private sectors have signed a moratorium to suspend an increase in tuition.

“The agreement [to freeze tuition increase] is part of Rep Raul del Mar’s request and also the sentiment of the group,” Villaganas said.

CTU students are paying only P150 per unit.

The former State College of Science and Technology became a university last year after President Gloria Macapagal –Arroyo signed House Bill 5641 into law on November 10, 2009. 

Villaganas said committees are now being formed to review the college code, all manuals of the faculty, and policy manuals.

“We do all of these to attune CTU to its mission and vision and we will accomplish these in 30 or 60 days,” he said.

Del Mar, one of the authors of HB 5641, announced earlier that as a state university, CTU will be entitled to an “ample budget” from the national government.

Villaganas said CTU, having been recognized by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACUP) and the International Organization for Standardization for its quality management system, is “proud” with its teaching faculty.

“Before endorsement [for conversion from state college to state university], at least 20 percent of the teaching force must have Doctor’s degrees and the rest should have Master’s Degrees. The teaching faculty is composed of well-trained and highly-competent individuals,” Villaganas said.

Villaganas also disclosed that aside from CTU’s main campus along M.J. Cuenco Avenue, the university will also improve the services of its 10 satellite campuses located in different towns and cities in the province.

The satellite campuses include the Fishery and Industrial College in San Francisco, Camotes; the Abellana College of Arts and Trades in Mandaue City; the College of Agriculture in Barili; the Experimental Station in Sibonga; the College of Industrial Technology in Danao City; the College of Fisheries in Daanbantayan; and the College of Fisheries Technology in Carmen.

Villaganas said innovative programs will be introduced into CTU’s curriculum. The university will reportedly offer new college courses by next school year, including Bachelor of Science in Mechatronics and Bachelor of Science in Graphic Arts and Design.

Mechatronics is centered on mechanics, electronics, computing, control engineering, molecular engineering (from nanochemistry and biology) which, when combined, make possible the generation of simpler, more economical, reliable and versatile systems.

One focus of mechatronics is robotics, which according to Villaganas will hone students’ skill in the engineering science and technology of robots, and their design, manufacture, application, and structural disposition since it is related to electronics, mechanics, and software

He said Japan-based electronics company Hitachi has given the school equipment for its laboratories.

CTU started as an arts department of then Cebu Normal School, which is now the Cebu Normal University in 1911. It produced its first graduates a year later.

In 1983, it was named Cebu School of Arts and Trade and was later named Cebu State College of Science and Technology.

On September 5, 1997 during the 10th Congress, Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s first district first filed the bill for the conversion of CSCST into a university, but the bill did not prosper owing to technicalities.

Gullas then re-filed the bill the following year, but it was subsequently rejected by the Senate.

During the 14th Congress, Del Mar introduced the bill as principal sponsor with Gullas as co-author. – Marjun A. Baguio/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)