Last month, I spoke about my vision for UP during the public forum featuring all nominees for the university presidency. It has three dimensions: (1) an agile UP that brings its expertise in emerging and traditional fields to anticipate and respond to disruptions and adapt to changes; (2) a smart UP that will push for digital transformation in research and learning; and (3) a high-impact UP that will produce innovative and policy-relevant research that can address many of our country’s problems.
This is not the place to go into the details (you may read my entire vision and mission here if you wish) but let me focus on (1) and (3), which are related.
An agile and high-impact UP will entail intercampus collaboration, and by extension, interdisciplinary research. Each UP campus has its own strength, and one of my plans, if chosen president, is to bring together and synergize expertise across disciplines and campuses.
These include agricultural policy innovations (through UP Los Baños), advancement of the blue/maritime economy (UP Visayas), digital transformation (UP Open University), and the promotion of cultural heritage and indigenous studies (UP Baguio and UP Mindanao).
And we should not forget the various institutes and centers in the university such as the Center for West Visayan Studies, the Philippine Genome Centers in Davao, Miag-ao and Diliman, or the Cordillera Studies Center in UP Baguio. As always, we can rely on the longstanding expertise of Diliman, Manila, Cebu, and Tacloban in STEM, the humanities, and the social sciences.
There is also much to look forward to from the innovative programs in UP Diliman, which include data science, artificial intelligence, and space engineering. Indeed, the work of our engineering faculty and students led to the launch of the Diwata and Maya satellites, the space engineering track in our MS program and the creation of the Philippine Space Agency. I also envision a partnership with the DOST to promote MSME start-ups.
Over the years, I have worked with various UP campuses on different projects and have fostered close relations with their faculty and staff, many of whose support I am thankful for. Each campus already does admirable work, and UP can do so much more if we bring them all closer to, and in communication with, each other.
Each campus also brings different perspectives grounded in their respective locales. All of us can learn from one another and correct each other’s biases and blind spots—in the service of the nation. That synergy will be the envy of any modern business organization.
Indeed, there is a need for transformation and innovation, but they are rooted in the initiatives of past UP administrations. My idea of a smart UP—which we implemented in Diliman through the development of data management systems for budgeting, hiring, procurement, payroll—builds on the initiatives of former president Alfredo Pascual and what President Danilo Concepcion’s administration achieved during the pandemic, when the university transitioned to remote learning.
Smart UP also hews to the spirit of laws like the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), which seeks to streamline many government procedures. One of UP Diliman’s procurement platforms, eBODEGA, won a Government Best Practice award from the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in 2021.
Like all visions, mine is ambitious; so where will the money come from?
UP will always have a budget, but it can and should also generate its own resources. These funds will add to UP’s share of the national budget. I believe that by showing the public the contributions of UP, we will be able to generate the resources for our university’s needs.
We need to protect, if not increase, what is due to the university. This will involve assuring stakeholders that UP’s expertise will have a clear return of investment. Its research and pedagogy shall be channeled to help solve policy issues, or its curriculum will continue to produce students with industry-relevant competencies and critical skills that will prepare them for jobs, provide for their families, and contribute to nation-building.
To harness UP’s expertise also entails strengthening the linkages and lines of communication between and among the university, other government agencies, LGUs, civil society, and the private sector.
We are all in this together. As a national university, UP will be always prepared to lend a hand to all sectors that need its know-how. But it will also listen to their needs, and make reasonable adjustments to its policy, curriculum, and research agenda without compromising academic freedom.
Though UP can and will produce research that can be critical, that criticism is also done in the spirit of public service and policy improvements. There have been some tensions between UP’s relationship with many of its stakeholders, including the government. But we can help ease them through constant dialogue and collaboration.
Dr. Nemenzo is the current chancellor of UP Diliman, the largest of the 8 constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System. He has a Doctor of Science degree in mathematics from Sophia University in Tokyo and has been a member of the UP faculty since 1992.