UP, Ateneo OK August-May schoolyear

MANILA, Philippines - The opening of classes in the University of the Philippines system, except in the Diliman campus, and at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) will be moved from June to August.

Quoting UP student Regent Krista Melgarejo, a report in the Philippine Collegian said the UP Board of Regents has approved the shift in the academic calendar starting this year.

The Ateneo Board of Trustees also approved during its meeting on Wednesday the shift in the academic calendar for its undergraduate and graduate schools – the Loyola Schools and the Professional Schools – beginning school year 2015-2016.

“The decision to shift the academic calendar is part of the continuing efforts of UP to develop into a regional and global university and to maximize the opportunities offered by ASEAN integration and global educational partnerships,” said UP president Alfredo Pascual in a statement released yesterday.

He said the synchronization “will create more joint programs and partnerships with other universities, allow students to get transfer credits, particularly under ASEAN and ASEAN +3 Credit Transfer System, and address the problem with semestral gaps with partner universities.”

It will be implemented in six of the seven constituent universities of UP – Manila, Los Baños, Baguio, Visayas, Mindanao and Open University, as well as in UP Cebu, an autonomous college.

UP Diliman was not included as it has yet to complete its stakeholder consultations.

UP Diliman chancellor Caesar Saloma earlier said the university council – composed of full-time faculty members with the rank of assistant professor and above – has voted not to endorse the proposal of its administrators.

Saloma said the council “recommends a more in-depth study to understand the possible advantages gained as well as challenges encountered when effecting such a shift.”

A public forum will be held at the UP Diliman National Physics Institute auditorium on Feb. 10 to discuss historical, cultural, climatic and international context related to the shift in academic calendar.

UP registration

Based on an earlier proposal, registration for the first semester will start on the second week of August and the first day of classes will be on the third week of August. Classes in the first semester will end on the first week of December.

Registration for second semester will start on the second week of January, while classes will start on the third week of January. Classes will end on the second week of May.

Meanwhile, registration for summer classes will start on the second week of June, while classes will start on the third week of June. Classes will end on the third week of July.

The De La Salle University and the University of Santo Tomas have also expressed openness to changing the school calendar.

Elementary, high school

UP vice president Prospero de Vera said he has yet to verify if the approved shift will also cover the basic education programs maintained by UP units covered by the shift.

In addition to the UP Integrated School, which is maintained by the College of Education in UP Diliman, there are four other high schools under the university.

These include the UP Rural High School maintained by the UP College of Arts and Sciences in Los Baños; the UP high school in Cebu under the Professional Education Program of UP Cebu, and the UP high school in Iloilo maintained by the UP Visayas College of Arts and Sciences in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

In Ateneo, no shift in the academic calendar in the elementary and high school is being considered.

Schedule alignment

Ateneo president Jose Ramon Villarin said the change in the academic calendar will align the schedule of the university to more than 80 percent of its current university partners overseas and more than 70 percent of all universities around the world.

“Ateneo needs to ensure that our graduates develop a global outlook and global competencies so that they can navigate a more complex, interconnected world and contribute towards resolving global concerns,” he said.

“This will facilitate mobility among students and faculty members and collaborative academic programs and research,” he added.

Villarin said the shift follows an internal study and intensive consultations over the last eight months.