C. OTHER MATTERS
V. OTHER MATTERS
31 B. CONTRACTS/AGREEMENTS (cont’d)
. . .
UP Los Baños (cont’d) . . .
2. Memorandum of Understanding between the University of the Philippines Los Baños and Kumamoto University, Japan providing for academic cooperation Implementing unit: UPLB Office of International Linkages
32 1. On SDT Case no. (redacted) (cont’d)
. . .
1.3. Regent Farolan inquired if the Board has discretion to impose a penalty lower than expulsion. While he believes in accountability, he also thinks that expulsion for a young man would be depriving him of the opportunity to study in UP. Vice President Uy said that expulsion is not from the Anti- Hazing Law but from the University rules promulgated by the Board.
1.4. After long deliberation, the Board affirmed the Decision of the President (redacted), with a modification that the recognition of the
(redacted) is withdrawn, instead of “lifetime suspension”.
Board Action: Board affirmed, with modification, the Decision of the UP President dated June 27, 2017. The Decision is modified to reflect that official recognition of the (redacted) is withdrawn, instead of
“lifetime suspension” of official recognition.
2. On the matters of Regent Farolan
2.1 Status of the female residents of the Kamagong Dorm and on the housing programs on faculty, staff, and student in UP
2.2.1 Regent Farolan said that he raised the matter of the Kamagong Residence Hall again because of the continuing complaint of the female faculty residents of Kamagong Residence Hall that they were being evicted from the dorm to give way to male students and faculty- graduate students. They claim that they were only given two (2) months to vacate the premises, with no assurance that they would be given slots in other dormitories reserved for females. Twelve (12) of the affected faculty residents have not found a place to transfer.
2.2.2 UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jerwin Agpaoa explained to the Board that the memorandum issued by the Dormitory Admissions Committee of the Office of Student Housing to the current residents of Kamagong Residence Hall was sent to the residents more than a year ago, when the Dormitory Admissions Committee decided to convert the Kamagong Residence Hall into an all-male dormitory in view of the renovation of the Molave and Yakal dormitories.
2.2.3 The affected faculty members were given options to transfer to other dormitories such as, Acacia Residence Hall, Balay Kalinaw, and even at NISMED Hostel.
33 2. On the matters of Regent Farolan (cont’d)
2.1 Status of the female residents of the Kamagong Dorm and on the housing programs on faculty, staff, and student in UP (cont’d)
. . .
2.2.4 However, the affected faculty residents of the Kamagong Residence Hall appealed that they be allowed to stay for one (1) more semester, considering the difficulty and expense to be incurred in transferring, as well as the higher fees being charged at other residences being offered to them.
2.2.5 Consequently, the affected faculty residents requested that they be allowed to stay in their current residence until the end of the first semester of AY 2019-2020.
2.2.6 After a long discussion, the Board resolved to direct the President to meet with all concerned parties and come up with a solution that will address the concerns of the affected faculty as well as that of the UP Diliman housing offices. In addition, the President undertook to direct the Vice President for Administration to collaborate with UP Diliman housing officials in formulating a long term housing policy for students, faculty, REPS, and staff.
2.2.7 For this purpose, President Concepcion directed the Secretariat to schedule a meeting of the parties, including the Faculty, Staff, and Student Regents, to discuss and resolve the matter. He also directed that all members of the Board be invited to attend the meeting, if they are so inclined.
Board action: 1. President Concepcion is directed to meet with all concerned parties to find a favorable resolution to the issue.
2. President Concepcion will direct the Vice President for Administration and UP Diliman housing officials to formulate a long term housing policy for students, faculty, REPS, and staff.
34 2. On the matters of Regent Farolan (cont’d)
. . .
2.2 Consultation with Shopping Center stall operators
2.2.1 President Concepcion informed the Board that, according to Diliman Vice Chancellor Raquel Florendo, they have conducted numerous consultations with the concessionaires of the old Shopping Center. For his part, President Concepcion assured the Board that he intends to meet with the concessionaires once the plans for the new Shopping Center have been finalized.
2.2.2 Regent Farolan said that this may just be a communication issue which can be easily addressed through consultations with the stakeholders involved. He proposed to include in the study the selection process that will be adopted for the new Shopping Center stalls because many of the former stall operators affected are sub-lessees. President Concepcion assured that stall operators that are directly affected by the fire shall be consulted.
2.2.3 President Concepcion said that, in order to avoid problems in the past, they will adopt a new bidding process for concessionaires at the new Shopping Center. The winning bidders shall be based on highest discount offered to students, faculty, and staff of UP. Discounts shall be applied automatically for UP students, faculty, and staff if they use their new ID cards with the RFID technology, which will be provided to them for free. Outsiders will not enjoy the same discount and will have to pay the regular price.
2.2.4 Chair De Vera said that any contract with the concessionaires should include a prohibition on subleasing by a contractor, as provided under the procurement law, and that violation thereof is a valid ground for termination of the contract.
2.2.5 According to Atty. Percival Cortez of the UP Diliman Legal Office, a series of consultations with the SC stall operators was conducted in 2018, and early part of 2019. In fact, SC stall operators have been informed that they are the priority in relocating to food parks and other locations. The concern, however, is whether food stall operators can go back to the new Shopping Center if they choose to relocate to the food hub. President Concepcion responded in the affirmative, on condition that they can choose only one stall to maintain, meaning, they either stay in the food hub or transfer to the new Shopping Center.
Board Action: NOTED
35 2. On the matters of Regent Farolan (cont’d)
. . .
2.3 On the matter of the difficulty of retiring faculty members in securing a clearance from the University Library, for failure to return books which were lost during the fire that destroyed the Faculty Center
2.3.1 Regent Farolan brought the matter up to the Board because there are retiring faculty members who have problems in processing their retirement papers due to their inability to return borrowed books lost during the Faculty Center fire.
2.3.2 President Concepcion moved to take the responsibility in solving the matter. He said that he would call a separate meeting with the units and people concerned to discuss and resolve the issue. He requested the University Librarian, Mr. Chito Angeles, who was present during the meeting, to come up with a procedure on how the books borrowed by faculty members holding offices at the Faculty Center may be written-off.
2.3.3 With respect to the COA issue, President Concepcion said that he will address the same once completed staff work has been done.
Board Action: NOTED
3. On the policies on overload of faculty members
3.1 Regent Guillermo said that since the Board is running out of time, he is willing to defer his other agenda matters for the next Board meeting. However, he posed a query on the policy of the University on overload pay of faculty members handling smaller classes. He said that there is a rule in UP Diliman that faculty members handling only 2-3 students like in PhD classes are not entitled to overload pay. He requested the Board to gather materials on the matter for discussion at the next Board meeting.
3.2 President Concepcion said that from his recollection, the overload has nothing to do with the number of students handled, but should depend on the number of credit units assigned to a faculty.
3.3 Chair De Vera suggested that the President just call the appropriate office to a meeting to discuss and settle the matter.
Board Action: NOTED
36 4. Issues on the implementation of CSC-DBM-COA Joint Circular No.1, s.2017,
as amended by CSC-DBM-COA Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2018
4.1 Regent Pedrano said that many issues are being raised by her constituents regarding the implementation in the University of the CSC-DBM-COA Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2017, particularly on the 20% premium payment for contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers. Other issues such as non- remittance by UP of Philhealth premiums of contractual workers are also being raised. She proposed to have a special briefing of the Board on the matter inviting resource persons to explain.
4.2 Chair De Vera moved that the Board just order the affected sectors to submit a report to the Board on the matter. If there are policy matters that the Board has to correct then that policy should go to the Board.
4.3 President Concepcion said that he is willing to sit down with the Staff Regent and with the Vice President for Administration and all Vice Chancellors to discuss the matter.
Board Action: NOTED
5. On the confirmation by the Board of the appointment of the Officer-in-Charge of the National College of Public Administration and Governance
5.1 President Concepcion said that he was requested to discuss, as part of the agenda, the matter of the appointment of the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) in UP Diliman, since the term of the incumbent Dean expires on 31 July 2019. He said that he brought the matter up to the Board in light of the new policy it approved during its 1345th meeting held on 10 June 2019, that Deans whose terms are expiring will no longer be allowed to continue on holdover status.
5.2 Chair De Vera said that state universities and colleges have to secure Board confirmation of OIC appointments.
5.3 At this point, the Board went off the record.
5.4 Going back on record, the Board approved the appointment of Assoc. Prof.
SIMEON A. ILAGO as Officer-in-Charge of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, effective 1 August 2019 until the appointment of a new Dean, or for a period not exceeding 60 days, whichever comes first.
37 5. On the confirmation by the Board of the appointment of the Officer-in-Charge
of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (cont’d)
Board Action: Assoc. Prof. SIMEON A. ILAGO is appointed as Officer-in-Charge of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, effective 1 August 2019 until the appointment of a new Dean, or for a period not exceeding 60 days, whichever comes first.
6. On the mental health policy and program for students, faculty, and staff
6.1 Regent Farolan recalled that during the Mental Health Workshop conducted in 2018 at the Bonifacio Global City, each Constituent University (CU) was asked to submit an action plan transforming UP into a mentally healthy university. He requested an update on the status of the implementation of this action plan.
6.2 Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Richard Philip Gonzalo reported that the result of the said workshop is a two (2)-year Action Plan to transform UP into a healthy and nurturing academic environment. This Action Plan, with focus on mental health, was cascaded to the respective Offices of Student Affairs (OSAs) of the CUs. One output of the said Action Plan is a protocol system on how to respond to crisis situations, which include the creation of an algorithm to help in detection, assessment, and response to students in emotional distress.
6.3 Assistant Vice President Gonzalo also presented the draft Health and Wellness Policy for UP Students, which aims to ensure the health and wellbeing of UP students in the course of achieving their academic goals.
6.4 Assistant Vice President Gonzalo added that his team is now in the data management and record-keeping stage because there are also reportorial requirements. The next step is to create a Technical Working Group of panel experts this First Semester of AY2019-2010 to review the policy framework, and to perform consultations with the relevant offices and constituencies within the semester. The target initial implementation of the framework is at the Second Semester of AY2019-2020.
6.5 Regent Farolan remarked that it would be good to cover not just students but also the faculty and staff. President Concepcion said that there is an urgent need to first approve and install a system to address the increasing number of cases. Once a system is in place, it would be easier to expand it to faculty and staff.
38 6. On the mental health policy and program for students, faculty, and staff
. . .
6.6 President Concepcion said that he would call a special meeting of the President’s Advisory Council to discuss and plan for the UP Mental health policy and program in UP.
Board Action: NOTED
7. On the policies in UP on hiring of employees, faculty and staff
7.1 Regent Farolan raised a general query on the policy of the University on hiring of employees, faculty and staff, particularly on hiring of lecturers in different colleges. From his understanding, even lecturers have to go through the Academic Personnel Committee (APC) of the colleges. He requested if the President could check if hiring processes are being followed at the college level because if not, then that might need some policy guidance at the level of the Board.
7.2 President Concepcion said that each college in the University has its own standing policy on how to screen and hire its own faculty members. The College Academic Personnel Committee (CAPC) which is in charge of recruitment and selection of academic personnel of the college is composed of the Dean of the College as Chair and the Chairs of the various Department Academic Personnel Committees as members.
7.3 On the request of Regent Farolan, President Concepcion said that he will look into the matter.
Board Action: NOTED
8. On the appeal on (redacted) case
8.1 President Concepcion informed the Board that the decision being appealed (redacted) is the Decision of the President (redacted).
8.2 In response to Regent Taroma, President Concepcion said that the appeal is already at the Board level. However, both parties involved in the case shall be afforded the right to due process. The appeal will be submitted to the Board for consideration after the appropriate offices have completed the staff work and due diligence on the matter. The guidelines and timelines for the appeals process will be observed by the University.
Board Action: NOTED
________________________
NOTE: REACTED in compliance with RA 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012).
39 9. Report of the Student Regent on the result of the recently-concluded 48th
General Assembly of Student Councils held on 27-28 July 2019
9.1 Regent Taroma reported that Mr. John Isaac B. Punzalan has been selected as the 37th Student Regent, during the 48th Convention of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) held last 27-28 July 2019 in UP Visayas Tacloban. Mr. Punzalan is from the College of Arts and Letters in UP Diliman.
9.2 In the same convention, the GASC approved 20 resolutions which reflect the campaigns that the GASC will carry throughout the academic year, particularly on registration, e-UP, and CHED Memorandum Nos. 18 (s.2018) and 20 (s.2013). The said resolutions will be presented by the next Student Regent during his first Board meeting in August.
9.3 President Concepcion requested that the Board be provided with a written report in advance so that the Student Regent will just have to report the summary during the meeting.
Board Action: NOTED