University of the Philippines

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University of the Philippines
image:up1.png
Founder Philippine Legislature
Address Diliman, Quezon City
Website www.up.edu.ph


The University of the Philippines (or Unibersidad ng Pilipinas), abbreviated as UP, is the national university of the Philippines. It was founded in 1908 through an act made by the Philippine Legislature. The University provides a wide range of courses to choose from for tertiary level education in almost every field, from agriculture, medicine, and public health, law, natural and social science, engineering creative writing and fine arts.

The University is a highly reputable school for tertiary, graduate, and post-graduate studies. Since it is a state university, the tuition fees are subsidized by the Philippines government, making its fees the lowest among the comparable universities in the country. This makes admission into U.P. very competitive as seen on the number of students taking the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) for undergraduate admission.

U.P. students and graduates are referred to as Iskolar ng Bayan (Scholars of the Nation) due to the minimal cost of their well founded education.

U.P. is known for its famous symbol, the Oblation. It is a monument of a naked man, with arms outstretched and face pointed upwards. The Oblation is inspired by the second stanza of Jose Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios, which shows reference to selfless dedication and service to the nation.

The University's colors are maroon and green. Maroon was chosen to represent the fight for freedom, as Maroon is also a name of a Jamaican tribe who were successful in defending their freedom from slavery and their independence from English conquerors for more than 100 years.

Unlike other universities, the University of the Philippines has unique academic regalia. Graduates wear the Sablay which is a sash joined in front by an ornament and embroidered or printed with the University's initials in Alibata and running geometric motifs of indigenous Philippine tribes. It is traditionally worn over a white or ecru dress for females or an ecru Barong and black pants for males, although there has been instances wherein the sablay is worn over other indigenous clothing. Candidates for graduation wear the sablay at the right shoulder, and it is then moved to the left shoulder after the President of the University confers their degree, similar to the moving of the tassel of the academic cap. Not all units have adopted the Sablay; the Manila and Los Baños campuses still prescribe the usual cap and gown.

Contents

[edit] History

The University of the Philippines was established as the “American University of the Philippines in 1908 in Manila. This was through the First Philippine Legislature Act. No. 1870, also known as the University Charter, which specifies that the function of the University is to provide advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences, and arts, and to give professional and technical training. The university initially offered courses under the College of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Medicine and Surgery in Manila as well as a school of Agriculture in Los Baños. After several years, U.P. opened the College of Law and the College of Engineering in Manila, as well as academic units under the College of Agriculture and Forestry in Los Baños. With the growing demand for a better education, U.P. saw the need to establish more academic programs as well as to expand its facilities. The Board of Regents saw the necessity of the expansion, thus purchasing a 493 hectare lot where the present campus is located. Construction immediately began in 1939. During World War II, U.P. had to close most of its colleges with the exceptions of the Colleges of Medicine and Surgery, Pharmacy, and Engineering. During the post-war years, massive rehabilitation and construction efforts were executed by the university due to the extensive damage to the new Diliman buildings.

In 1949, an extensive Diliman campus master plan and map were created to design the new campus landscape with buildings that include: the University Library (Gonzalez Hall), the College of Engineering (Melchor Hall), the Women's Residence Hall (now Kamia Residence Hall), the Conservatory of Music (Abelardo Hall), the Administration Building (Quezon Hall), and the U.P. President's Residence . In February of the same year, during the 40th anniversary of U.P., the central administrative offices of U.P. were moved from Manila to Diliman together with the transfer of the Oblation.

In the 1950s, UP reformulated its approaches to tertiary education by establishing new academic units and degree programs, thus the introduction of the General Education (G.E.) In 1959, U.P. President Vicente Sinco saw the necessity to reorganize the college into a university college, which would offer core subjects to be taken during the first two years of the undergraduate program many colleges than expanded their curriculum. The College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offered major courses in humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. More institutes were founded as well such as the Institute of Public Administration (1952), the Statistical Center (1953), the Labor Education Center (now the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, established in 1954), the Asian Studies Institute (now the Asian Center, established in 1955), the Institute of Library Science (1961), and the College of Home Economics (1961).

During the time of Carlos P. Romulo’s administration, several institutions emerged such as the Population Institute, the Law Center and the Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry Training Center in 1964, the Institute of Mass Communications, the College of Business Administration, and the Institute of Planning in 1965, the Computer Center, the Institute for Small-Scale Industries in 1966, the Institute of Social Work and Community Development in 1967 and the Asian Center in 1968.

During the Martial Law period U.P.'s administrators tried to sustain the university's educational priorities and institutional autonomy. At the height of activism in the university, U.P. President Salvador P. Lopez established a system of democratic consultation in which decisions such as promotions and appointments were made through greater participation by the faculty and administrative personnel. Lopez also reorganized U.P. into the U.P. System. In November 1972, the Los Baños campus was the first to be declared an autonomous unit under a chancellor. A Php150 million grant from the national budget boosted UP's Infrastructure Development Program. In Diliman, it funded the construction of buildings for the Colleges of Business Administration and Zoology, the Institute of Small-Scale Industries, the Transport Training Center, and the Coral Laboratory of the Marine Sciences Institute. Kalayaan Residence Hall and housing for low-income employees were also built around this time.

At the height of activism during the Martial Law period, U.P. President Salvador P. Lopez reorganized U.P. into the U.P. System in order for the university to attain educational and institutional autonomy.

Onofre D. Corpuz declared U.P. Manila, then known as the Health Sciences Center, and U.P. Visayas as autonomous units. At the same time, the Asian Institute of Tourism (AIT) was established in light of the prioritization of tourism as a national industry. New centers for research and degree-granting units such as the Third World Studies Center (1977), Creative Writing Center, National Engineering Center (1978), U.P. Extension Program in San Fernando, Pampanga (1979), which is now in Clark Field, Angeles City, Institute of Islamic Studies (1973), U.P. Film Center, National Center for Transportation Studies (1976) were also established.

U.P. celebrated its 75th year in 1983.Edgardo Angara's Diamond Jubilee project raised P80 million which was earmarked for the creation of new professorial chairs and faculty grants. Angara also organized the Management Review Committee (MRC) and the Committee to Review Academic Programs (CRAP) to evaluate and recommend measures for improving university operations. The MRC report led to a wide-ranging reorganization of the U.P. System, the further decentralization of U.P. administration, and the declaration of U.P. Diliman as an autonomous unit on March 23, 1983. U.P. Baguio was then placed under the supervision of U.P. Diliman. Meanwhile, the College of Arts and Sciences also underwent a reorganization to become three separate colleges: the College of Science, the College of Arts and Letters, and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.

President Jose Abueva introduced the Socialized Tuition Fee Assistance Program (STFAP) in 1987. Abueva also institutionalized a Filipino language policy within the university. President Emil Javier established the creation of U.P. Mindanao at Silicon Gulf, Southern Mindanao, and the U.P. Open University in 1995. President Francisco Nemenzo’s legacy includes the Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) and the institutionalization of more incentives for research and creative achievements by U.P, faculty members. President Emerlinda Roman is spearheading a Centennial Campaign Fund envisioned to upgrade the university’s services and facilities in time for U.P.’s 100th year in 2008.

[edit] Programs and Services

[edit] National Centers of Excellence and Development

At present, the University of the Philippines System (U.P.) is composed of seven Constituent Universities (Commonly abbreviated as C.U.) located in over 10 campuses around the country.

Listed below are the courses offered through the U.P. System of Education.


- Cordillera Studies, Ethnicity and Cultural studies, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Social and Development Studies, Management, Language and Literature, Communication Arts, Fine Arts, Biology, Physics

- Law, Engineering, Architecture, Education, Accountancy, Business, Management, Natural Sciences, Marine Science, Mathematics, Information Technology, Creative Writing, Theater, Language and Literature, Music and Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Social Sciences and Philosophy, Public Administration, Journalism, Film and Communication Arts, Sports Science, Tourism, Home Economics, Anthropology, Architecture, Biology, Business, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Communication Arts, Computer Engineering, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, English, Filipino, Foreign Languages, Geology, History, Industrial Engineering, Geodetic Engineering, Information Technology, Journalism, Literature, Marine Science, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Music, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics

- Agriculture and allied studies, Biology and allied studies, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Information Technology, Development Communication, Forestry, Veterinary Medicine, Education, Engineering, Management, |Agricultural Engineering, Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Communication Arts, Forestry, Information Technology, Mathematics, Physics, Veterinary Medicine

- Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Public Health, Allied Medical Professions, Biomedical Sciences, Natural Sciences, Biology, Medicine, Nursing, School of Health Sciences in Palo, Leyte and School of Health Sciences extension program in Baler, Quezon

- Aquaculture, Fisheries, Marine Science, Social Sciences, Language and Literature, Communication Arts, Natural Sciences, Information Technology, Management, Accountancy, Education, Biology, Fisheries, Marine Science, Information Technology

- Information Technology, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Management, Information Technology


- Distance learning, Distance Education

[edit] Basic education

[edit] General Education Program

The General Education Program, was first introduced in 1959 and formed core courses prescribed for all students at the undergraduate level. The current General Education Program is the Revitalized General Education Program (abbreviated as RGEP), which was approved by the Board of Regents in 2001. The RGEP offers courses in three domains (Arts and Humanities, Mathematics Science and Technology and Social Sciences and Philosophy) and gives students the freedom to choose the general education subjects in these domains that they would like to take.

[edit] Library System

The University library system has a comprehensive collection, containing the largest collections of agricultural, medical, veterinary and animal science materials in the Philippines. The library system, in general, has a large collection of Filipiniana material, serials and journals in both electronic and physical forms and UPIANA materials in its archives. It also has acquired a collection of documents of student, political, and religious organizations advocating political, economic, and social changes during the Marcos administration in the Diliman library.

[edit] Undergraduate Admissions

Being a state university, "selection is based on intellectual and personal preparedness of the applicant irrespective of sex, religious belief and political affiliation. Admission to a program is usually based on the result of the UPCAT, University Predicted Grade, which is an average of grades obtained during high school and, sometimes, a quota set by the unit offering the program. The University also maintains a Policy of Democratization which aims to "make the UP studentry more representative of the nation's population" with a quota for each province. The UPCAT also allows students to enter INTARMED, the University's accelerated medicine curriculum, one of the only two entry points into the program. Transferring to the University from other constituent units or schools outside the system are determined by the degree-granting unit that offers the program or the course, not by the university's Office of Admissions.

[edit] Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program

The Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (also referred to as the "Iskolar ng Bayan" Program, and more commonly abbreviated and referred to as STFAP) was implemented in response to the increase in tuition in 1989. The program, proposed in 1988 by U.P. President Jose Abueva and mandated by the President and Congress of the Philippines, called for a radical departure from the old fee and scholarship structure of UP, resulting in tremendous benefits for low-income and disadvantaged students. The STFAP is divided into four basic components: Subsidized Education, Socialized Tuition, Scholarships and Student Assistantships.

[edit] Highlights

  • 30 out of the 50 National Artists and 28 out of the 29 National Scientists of the Philippines are affiliated with the University.
  • U.P. has the most number of National Centers of Excellence and Development among all higher education institutions in the country
  • U.P. is one of only three schools in Asia that has received institutional recognition in the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
  • In line with the celebration of the University's centenary, the year 2008 has been proclaimed as the "UP Centennial Year" and the years 1998-2008 as the "University of the Philippines Decade."
  • The University is one of the two Universities in the Philippines affiliated with the ASEAN University Network, and the only Philippine university to be affiliated with the ASEAN-European University Network and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
  • The University is ranked 299 on the Times Higher Education Supplement Rankings in 2006 and 48 in the Asiaweek's Best Universities in Asia last published in 2000,
  • In 2004, the University's seal and the Oblation were registered in the Philippine Intellectual Property Office to prevent unauthorized use and multiplication of the symbols for the centennial of the University in 2008.
  • The University has also released the centennial logo in 2006, which will be used in all visual materials and presentations of the various centennial activities and events of the University System.

[edit] References


[edit] Citation

Original content from WikiPilipinas. under GNU Free Documentation License. See full disclaimer.


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