By Adrianne Lorenzo Corpuz

StratCom Intern

“I feel extremely happy today with the start of face-to-face classes,” said Julius R. Pablico, a 4th year Bachelor of Science in Agriculture student.

Seeing his fellow students enter the gates of the Mariano Marcos State University, and later on attend their classes inside their college rooms, Pablico added, “I hope this learning set-up will continue.” 

After two years of no in-person classes, MMSU has welcomed back almost 6,000 college students on campus as it started its limited face-to-face classes today, February 7. 

Fourth-year students, and students in all levels with laboratory courses are now physically attending their classes this Second Semester of Academic Year 2021-2022. Students under internship and immersion programs, including medical clerkship, are also now reporting onsite.

In a virtual welcome program live streamed via the MMSU Facebook page this morning, President Shirley C. Agrupis remarked that with the ongoing limited in-person sessions, the university is now on the “now normal” phase, following the “new normal.”

“It is another time wherein our resilience and adaptability [to the present situation] will be tested again,” she added.  

In the limited in-person set-up, students attend their classes through a scheduled rotation basis. Meanwhile, graduate school students shall have their F2F sessions every other Saturday. 

MMSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Prima Fe Franco said the university has fully prepared for the limited in-person classes by complying with the requirements imposed by the Commission on Higher Education, Department of Health, and component local government units. 

The university has retrofitted its classrooms and laboratories and achieved almost a hundred percent vaccination rates among students and employees. In accordance with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) guidelines, MMSU also created its in-campus COVID-19 protocols and established its crisis management committee. 

“First, I cannot deny that I am nervous because of the adjustments. But, we are joyous because everything is slowly going back to normal,” remarked Prof. Eugine Ramos who met his class this morning at a CAFSD laboratory room. (StratCom)