“Efficiency, effectiveness, and excellence.” These are what Dr. Miriam E. Pascua, PASUC I chair and MMSU president, foresees as the result of groundbreaking moves to amalgamate universities in Region I. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) indicating the support of the six SUCs in the region towards the creation of a regional university system was signed April 17 at the FEM Hall Conference Room.

The MOA, which is between PASUC I and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), was signed by President Pascua and the presidents of the other five SUCs serving as witnesses. This was then brought to the CHED Central Office in Quezon City for the signature of Chairperson Patricia Licuanan. CHED will provide funding for this initiative.

The amalgamation of the country’s 110 SUCs into regional university systems is a result of intensive research and policy formulation by the Department of Budget and Management, the National Economic and Development Authority, and CHED as part of the government’s Higher Education Reform Agenda. This is expected to arrest the prevalent practice of creating new SUCs and of converting state colleges into universities even if they are not qualified.

The MOA mainly tackles collaboration in the pre-amalgamation phase where the six SUCs will focus on building their own niche markets and engaging in programs that would improve the quality of instruction, research, extension, and production. On the pipeline are the following: unified admission tests, common admission and retention policies, and uniform programs and policies that will address the undersubscribed courses. In the long run, structural systems in administration and governance will also be put into place. For these purposes, a charter for the regional university system will have to be enacted by Congress.

The eventual creation of a regional university system – which will have its own name, board of regents, and set of administrator – will depend on the support of lawmakers who will enact a law creating its charter. Dr. Pascua admits this might take a long time as the proposal will still be subjected to extensive debates.

PASUC I is in the process of benchmarking with regional university systems here and abroad. Amalgamation of universities is a trend in higher education which has been successful in other countries, including Australia and China.

In the Philippines, an example of successful amalgamation of SUCs transpired in the Province of Rizal where the University of Rizal System (URS) resulted from the merger of two state colleges and a university extension campus – the Rizal Polytechnic College, Rizal State College, and the Rizal Technological University Antipolo Annex. The approval of Republic Act 9157 on Aug. 11, 2001 established the URS with URS Tanay as the main campus. It has satellite campuses in Morong, Pililla, Rodriguez, Angono, Binangonan, Cainta, Antipolo, Cardona, and Taytay.

The regional university system is currently being piloted in Region IX, the Davao Region. In Region II, the Regional Development Council has also endorsed the amalgamation of the five SUCs in the area into “Cagayan Valley State University.”

There are currently six SUCs in Region I: MMSU, University of Northern Philippines (UNP), Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU), Pangasinan State University (PSU), Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College (ISPSC), and the newly created North Luzon Philippines State College (NLPSC). UNP, ISPSC, and NLSPC are all located in Ilocos Sur.

MMSU offers a total of 31 degree programs while UNP, DMMMSU, and PSU offer 107, 101, and 44, respectively. ISPSC has 38 degree programs and NLPSC, 18. PSU lists the highest enrolment at 18,048 while NLSPC’s 1,945 is the lowest.