OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM NEGROS ORIENTAL STATE UNIVERSITY PERTAINING TO INQUIRIES REGARDING THE INCREASE OF TUITION AND COLLECTION OF OTHER FEES Lately, the University has received a number of queries from several stakeholders asking clarifications about the University’s tuition fee increase , collection of certain funds (specifically the College and Student Funds), and the conduct of field trips. The University, through its President, Dr. Don Vicente C. Real, has decided that aside from answering individual queries, the answers should be brought to the public sphere since NORSU serves all the people of the province. Tuition Fees NORSU has tried to avoid increasing its fees for as long as it could. Earlier this year, however, after consultation with various stakeholders, and upon approval by the Board of Regents (which also include representatives from students, parents, and the Commission on Higher Education or CHED) NORSU raised its tuition fee by P1,000.00 for regular programs and P2,000.00 for specialized and flagship programs. This increase affects only the First Year and Transferee students. Now, our stakeholders would be interested to know why there was a need to increase tuition. The reason for this is that, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the University to continue to offer quality education if it relies solely on the government’s allotted budget. The amount allocated by the government is simply not enough. In addition, the recent CHED order for the immediate accreditation of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) puts more pressure on the University to raise its tuition. All SUCs are facing the same dilemma. Even the University of the Philippines (UP), which has the highest government allocation among state universities and is exempt from the CHED accreditation requirements, had to increase its tuition a few years ago by 200 percent to offset the lack of government funds. The university is aware that this increase adds to the burden of the parents who send their children to NORSU, which is why President Real has pushed for a much easier mode of payment for students affected by this. In the past, students were obligated to pay the entire amount of tuition immediately upon enrollment. Now, students are allowed to pay one half of their tuition upon enrollment and pay the other half later in the semester. Dr. Real is even looking at the possibility of breaking it down further into three payment modes or more. The amount raised from the tuition fee increase will be used for the improvement of academic facilities (classrooms, laboratories, and other academic-related facilities) and for the slight increase in the salaries of the part-time faculty. Students have been clamoring for the improvement of the university’s academic facilities for over a long period of time. These improvements can now be made possible. Classrooms can now be made more conducive for learning. Toilets can now be made more comfortable. Laboratories can now be established for those without laboratories, while those with laboratories can now look forward to much needed improvements. These may not happen all at once, but with funds from the tuition fee increase, NORSU is now in a position to prioritize and fund these projects. The part-time faculty is a very important segment in the academic life of NORSU. The University needs part-time faculty because the number of regular faculty items allotted by the government is not enough. To make sure students have enough teachers, NORSU tries to attract part-time faculty members with the necessary educational qualifications and professional expertise. When Dr. Real assumed the presidency in July 2011, he has made it a priority to have a rationalized and fixed salary scheme in place that would pay the part-time faculty member according to his or her educational qualifications and/or experience. This rationalized salary for part-time faculty has also taken into account the need to increase salaries. In the past, most part-time faculty members of NORSU received P60.00 an hour regardless of academic qualifications. Now, every contact-hour starts at 100 pesos for those with Bachelor’s degrees while the rates of those with Masters, Doctoral, Ph. D and other post-Baccalaureate degrees have significantly increased. All of these developments are geared towards the ultimate goal of the University to raise its accreditation status by 2016. Currently, many academic programs of NORSU are Level I and 2. By 2016, it is expected that most, if not all programs of the university should be Level IV. Failure to do so may push the CHED to order the closure of programs with low accreditation and could lead to the decrease in the annual budget for NORSU. If this happens, NORSU will have to offer fewer courses and may have to decrease the size of its operations, affecting thousands of students. Thus, there is a need for the university to invest massively in all academic programs to avoid this scenario. Fees from the tuition fee increase make these developments possible. It is also important to note that in spite of the increase, NORSU’s tuition fee per semester is still one of the cheapest in the country. Student Government and College Funds The collection of College and Student Government (SG) Funds is a practice that started in 1998 when NORSU was then known as Central Visayas Polytechnic College or CVPC. The practice was instituted by the Board of Regents in 2009. Under the NORSU SG Constitution and By-Laws, it is the elected student leaders of the university who solely determine the amount to be collected and what projects to fund with the money they have raised. They formulate resolutions which have to pass the legislative arm of the student body for them to access these funds. Earlier this year, Dr. Real directed the NORSU SG to issue official receipts for all the funds they collect to ensure a higher degree of accountability and transparency among SG transactions. When several complaints were raised against what was perceived as the arbitrary nature of the collections and the perceived lack of student consultation in the pricing of the SG and College Funds, Dr. Real moved to ensure that these complaints were addressed. He directed the SG to temporarily suspend all collections until an ad hoc committee he has formed to look into the matter clarified the issues raised against the collections of these funds. The said committee has recommended that the SG revisit consultations with the students and modify the amount to a much lower one. Educational/Field Trips It is the policy of the University that only Field or Educational Trips that have been justified to reinforce classroom learning will be allowed. Such trips should meet the requirements set by CMO 17 Series of 2012, a CHED Memorandum defining Policies and Guidelines on Educational Tours and Field Trips of College and Graduate Students. A copy of this CMO is available at the CHED website. Any deviation from the policies outlined in CMO 17 should be reported to the proper university officials. Making NORSU Better NORSU welcomes the opportunity to clarify these issues for its stakeholders, especially the parents and its students. The University recognizes their importance in NORSU’s continuous development. It is the hope of the University that this statement improves understanding and trust in NORSU. Soon, mechanisms will be in place to enable valuable inputs from NORSU’s stakeholders to immediately reach the proper university administrators. Until then, all complaints or queries are encouraged to be addressed to the proper university officials or to the University President’s Office at the NORSU Main Campus, Capitol Area, Dumaguete City.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 23:05:01 +0000
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