THANK YOU

Prof. Judy M. Taguiwalo, Ph.D.*

November 24, 2008


While the official results of the second and final round of nomination for the 2009-2010 UP Faculty Regent have not yet been released, results of our monitoring of the canvassing in the seven constituent universities (CUs) indicate that I have won in all CUs and have more than 600 votes margin over the number of votes of my nearest co-nominee.


Thank you for making my victory possible. This victory validates my proposition that the UP Faculty Regent's main role is to advance the rights and welfare of the faculty in the highest policy making body of the University and that she should be accountable to the faculty.


I have had the chance to dialogue with many of you in my visits to several units in Diliman, Los Baños, Manila, Baguio, Open U and Iloilo and through email communications with colleagues in Cebu, Tacloban and Mindanao in the days prior to the second round of nomination. I have taken note of the particular concerns you raised in relation to the plans contained in my vision paper and the new concerns you want me to look into. Among these are:


1. Enabling conditions for our young faculty to complete the Requirements for tenure and the need for transparency in the process;


2. Review of promotion standards and processes currently in use especially in UP Los Baños;


3. Salary increases, means of reducing income tax obligations, and expansion of non-wage benefits including provision for additional health insurance, expansion of definition of dependents for study privilege and expansion of subsidized housing;


4. Proposals related to the Faculty Regent selection process ;


5. More efficient information dissemination of university decisions related to faculty rights and welfare and increased participation of ordinary faculty members in governance; and


6. Strengthening of gender/women's studies and offices in the university.


Rest assured that I will do my utmost to address these concerns and other concerns that may emerge in the future. I will need your support and participation in the various initiatives that the Office of the Faculty Regent will make in the coming two years.


I will continue the dialogue with you, as your representative in the Board of Regents, through visits to the various campuses, through email and through other means of communication. The Office of the Faculty Regent, located in the basement of Vinzons Hall, UP Diliman, will continue to be open to you.


Muli, maraming, maraming salamat.


*Department of Women and Development Studies

College of Social Work and Community Development

University of the Philippines, Diliman

jmtaguiwalo@gmail.com


ADVANCING FACULTY RIGHTS AND WELFARE

In particular, I hope to accomplish the following:

1. To contribute to ongoing efforts at assessing and revising current university policies and practices on recruitment, renewal, tenure and promotion of faculty so as to ensure that the scholarly requirements are balanced with enabling conditions for faculty development and that provisions for transparency in the processes involved are in place.

2. To initiate the review of existing rules on the process of FR selection based on past experiences and to make proposals to the university councils for the necessary amendments.

3. To continue to advocate for the democratization in the governance of the university by working for the setting up of a mechanism to operationalize Section 3, (h) of the UP Charter: “...promote the holding of fora for students, faculty, research, extension and professional staff (REPS), staff and alumni to discuss non-academic issues affecting the University.”

4. To support policy proposals and initiatives that will enhance the promotion of women and gender studies and the adoption of more-gender responsive policies in the university.

5. To work closely with university organizations advocating for the payment of back Cola of qualified UP personnel.

6. To work closely with the Staff Regent to advocate for higher compensation and additional benefits of faculty, REPS and non-academic personnel and to promote the democratic participation of UP personnel in the formulation of policies that concern our terms and conditions of work and in the governance of the university.

7. To advocate for a University that is more responsive to national issues, supports science and technology for national industrialization and development ; and that advances Filipino cultural identity especially under conditions of domestic and global crises.
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