"Telling the UP story"

UP Media and Public Relations Office

Jan 8

UP System rolls out Strategic Plan 2023-2029, aligns projects and initiatives

*President Angelo A. Jimenez speaking to participants of the meeting/workshop.Photo by Bong Arboleda, UP MPRO.*

Opening 2024 with a figurative bang, administration officials and heads of units of the University of the Philippines (UP) System gathered together at the Executive House in UP Diliman on January 3 for a daylong meeting/workshop dubbed "Rolling the Thunder: Implementation Plans for Program and Project Initiatives in the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029."

The high-level meeting was held in line with UP President Angelo A. Jimenez's Transformative Agenda, specifically for its 55 or so participants, who attended in person or via Zoom, to orient themselves with and internalize the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029, and to align the various UP projects and initiatives accordingly.

Humility, teamwork, action

The goal, Jimenez stated in his opening message, was to mark his first-year anniversary as UP President with a formal rollout of the projects, programs and initiatives of his administration on February 10 this year, hence, the title of the meeting/workshop.

"We always start with our basic mandate under RA 9500: to lead in higher education. But not just to lead; to lead with humility," he said, addressing the members of the University's executive sector. "We have to be humble because, one, humility will encourage others to help us and, therefore, add to our strength; and two, if we're humble from the start, we'll be better able to manage these problems emotionally. So, I hope we can lead with humility—this is the goal."

He also stressed the value of team work, collaboration and direct consultations, and an action-oriented approach that fosters continuous improvement along the way. "At the end of the day, we are creating a story", —the UP story, he said. "I would like to ask you, within the next five years, to develop your story, and this story will be told to the country."

Three strategic themes

Taking off from the president's words, Executive Vice President Jose Fernando T. Alcantara and Vice President for Administration Augustus C. Resurreccion gave an overview of both the meeting/workshop and the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029. Alcantara summarized the purpose of the event in four words: "Align to implement effectively." That is, to align the offices of the UP vice presidents and the units under them, the offices under the Office of the President, the technical working groups and special projects of the UP System, and of course, the individual members of the UP executive sector, to the UP Strategic Plan.

Afterward, Resurreccion gave an overview of the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029", titled "Transformative Education in the Service of the Nation".

To fulfill its mandate under its Charter, the University aims to be "a national university dedicated to the formation of good citizens and leaders, engaged in knowledge co-creation towards a just, equitable, and sustainable society" (Isang pambansang Unibersidad na nakatuon sa paghubog ng mabubuting mamamayan at lider, at nakikibahagi sa sama-samang paglikha ng kaalaman tungo sa isang makatarungan, pantay, at likas-kayang lipunan). This vision is encapsulated in the UP System administration's motto: "Honor and Excellence in the Service of the Nation" or "Karangalan at Kahusayan sa Paglilingkod sa Bayan". Moreover, the UP Strategic Plan 2023-2029 affirms UP's recognition of the pivotal support of its various partners, constituents, and stakeholders, and its commitment to provide an enabling environment for healthy and mutually beneficial collaborations.

Three strategic themes will serve as pillars for the UP's strategic plan for the next five years:

Teaching, Research, Innovation, and Creative Works for a Sustainable Society, which commits the University to preparing its graduates and staff with the skills and values necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century;

Public Service for the Common Good, which commits the University to responding to national and global concerns in areas where its expertise and resources shall have the greatest impact; and

Consultative and Accountable Governance for the Well-being of University Constituents, which commits the University to value and outcome-based leadership and governance.

Under each of the three strategic themes are strategic priorities and key program initiatives that the UP System administration aims to implement from now until 2029, in alignment with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines PAGTANAW 2050, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Eight key program initiatives will be prioritized based on the significance of their impact and contribution to national progress and countryside development:

On Teaching, Research, Innovation, and Creative Work for a Sustainable Society

Academic excellence in teaching, research, innovation, and creative works as enabled by socially beneficial advances in science and technology;
Review and crafting of a more inclusive admissions policy;
Maximizing the use and impact of Open Distance e-Learning (OdeL) for national and global reach; and
Establishment of the structure and programs of the Archipelagic and Ocean Virtual University.

On Public Service for the Common Good

Active and collaborative partnerships with state universities and colleges (SUCs), national government agencies (NGAs), local governments units (LGUs), the private sector, and civil society; and
Establishment of the UP-Bangsamoro Development Institute.

On Consultative and Accountable Governance for the Well-being of University Constituents

Institutionalization of Quality Management System and Quality Assurance; and
Fast-tracking of the University's digital transformation program for a seamless interoperable system.

Breakout groups

Guided by UP faculty stalwarts constituting the Strategic Advisers Group, the participants enumerated existing and proposed projects aligned with the ten key program initiatives under the three strategic themes.

In line with UP President Angelo A. Jimenez's Transformative Agenda, UP System administration officials and heads of UP System offices and units launched the new year with a whole-day meeting on January 03 at the UP Executive House in Diliman. Dubbed "Rolling the Thunder in January 2024", the meeting's main objectives are the orientation to and internalization of the UP administration's Strategic Plan 2024-2029, and alignment of plans, projects and initiatives across the UP System. Around 55 heads of UP offices and units, as well as former UP vice presidents and chancellors, attended the meeting in person, while others participated via Zoom. Photo by Bong Arboleda, UP MPRO.

One breakout group, represented by Vice President for Academic Affairs Leo Cubillan, during the presentation of output, discussed implementing "academic excellence in teaching, research, innovation, and creative work" in terms of new, more accessible curricula, courses, and instruction; "a more inclusive university admissions policy" that employs and promotes more non-UPCAT platforms; and the establishment of the Archipelagic and Ocean Virtual University beginning with at least a master's program in a year's time.

Another group, featuring human resources expert Larry Mapolon and Prof. Reginald Ugaddan of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance as presenters, brainstormed on carrying out "active partnerships with SUCs, NGAs, LGUs, private sector, and civil society", starting with a proper inventory of the status quo and its challenges. Rolling out the UP-Bangsamoro Development Institute, they said, would involve existing UP programs expanding into the region, with a view of BARMM establishing its own Bangsamoro university.

The same group, with presenters, Jowima Ang-Reyes, a Social Work and Community Development Professor and Director of the UP Diliman Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, and Director Jeanette Yasol-Naval of the UP Padayon Public Service Office (PPSO), also went into details of further capacitating UP public service offices and upgrading the status of public service work in universities.

A group, featuring the presentation of output by Jimbo Reverente, an innovation coach of the Cesar EA Virata School of Business, devoted its breakout session to strategizing a framework for collaborations for innovation and for rationalizing technology programs, techno-hubs, and S&T parks through partnerships with industry. Alyssa Peleo-Alampay, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, presented the output of the group that discussed: facilitating "open and distance e-learning for national and global reach"; targets in terms of quality management systems and quality assurance; and, implementing a digital transformation program for the University through centers for intelligent systems and data commons.

Public perception of UP

UP Political Science Prof. Ranjit Rye capped the presentations with the results of a national survey his OCTA Research organization conducted on the public's perception of UP during the last quarter of 2023. This should give UP a means to check how effectively it will communicate its achievements to the public it serves from this time onwards. Interviewed were 1,200 adult probability respondents from all socio-economic classes. Claiming a ±3 percent margin of error and using open-ended choices of perceptions, the survey revealed that UP was best-known as: "a university where the best and brightest students study" (63%); "a university that provides high-quality higher education for students" (54%); and, "the best university in the country" (49%). Among the socio-economic Class E, the next popular perception of UP was "the university that produces the leaders of our country".

The next workshop for the same group is set on January 11, 2024. It will focus on consolidating the implementation plans and devising a toolkit for monitoring and analyzing their operationalization. Later this month, through the same workshops, it will be the CUs' turn to align their plans along the key strategic initiatives of the UP System.

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