By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

In the consistent quest for quality and excellence in higher education, Mariano Marcos State University is submitting its Laoag campus to institutional accreditation (IA) administered by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) starting today, December 12. 

A team of AACCUP accreditors will assess the College of Teacher Education, College of Industrial Technology, and the Graduate School until Friday, Dec. 16, focusing on nine areas: governance and management; teaching, learning and evaluation; faculty and staff; research; extension, consultancy and linkages; support to students; library; infrastructure and other learning resources; and, quality assurance culture. 

Dr. Milabel Ho, AACCUP executive director and team consultant, lauded MMSU for pushing for accreditation this year despite the limitations posed by the pandemic. She assured the survey will help the university improve its programs and make them fully attuned to the needs of its stakeholders.

Dr. Raul Muyong, the lead accreditor, said the team, for the most part, will scrutinize MMSU’s online documents, conduct online interviews with officials, students, staff, and other stakeholders; and, do a virtual ocular tour of university facilities. Dr. Muyong is president of the Iloilo Science and Technology University.

Other members of the accreditation team are Dr. Riceli Mendoza, professor of University of Southern Mindanao; Dr. Maria Glenda De Lara, professor of the Philippine Normal University; Dr. Noralyn Natura, campus coordinator of Nueva Vizcaya State University; and, Dr. Myrna Mallari, retired president of Tarlac State University and former chairman and president of AACCUP Board of Trustees.  

Mallari and Natura will arrive in MMSU tomorrow, Dec. 13, to physically visit the areas on support to students, library, and infrastructure and other learning resources of the Laoag campus. 

“Submitting our campus to IA just shows how we value accreditation as a way of life, and as one of our major avenues to attain MMSU’s aim to become a premier Philippine university,” said University President Shirley C. Agrupis. 

Dr. Prima Fe R. Franco, university vice president for academic affairs, thanked AACCUP for accommodating MMSU’s request for an accreditation visit. She also expressed gratitude to the faculty and staff of the three colleges for all their efforts in preparing for the accreditation. 

In 2021, the MMSU Batac campus obtained the IA Level III, making MMSU one of the few state universities and colleges in the country with the highest accreditation level so far. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)