Accreditation

The CHED CMO No. 1 Series of 2005 declared as its policy, the recognition of the accrediting agencies of both the private and public higher education institutions shall be sole authority and responsibility of the Commission on Higher Education. As such the accrediting agencies must prove that they ought to be recognized by the said institution. Their standards as well as survey instruments used in the evaluation of the academic programs must be well-formulated and the instruments validated and reliable to be given recognition and the evaluated programs certified by the CHED as true and correct in order for the accrediting agencies to issue their own respective certifications of the accreditation levels attained by the academic program surveyed.

The Institutional Accreditation Center is the primary office for the institution’s accreditation work. It is the accreditors’ initial destination for briefing and orientation about the institution and the relevant degree programs that is being accredited. Similarly, it is the place where all the deliberations and meetings regarding the institution’s efforts at being accredited are held. Likewise, the center is the accreditors’ work hub during the visit. This is where they deliberate and review all the findings of the on-site inspection as well as that of classroom observation sessions that validate the findings of such. Thus, the director for this matter is the main individual to coordinate and ensure that the necessary documents for accreditation be prepared way ahead of the scheduled survey visits.

(CHED CMO NO. 15 Series of 2005)

Relative to the above CHED CMO, the Palawan State University embraces the same set of objectives but with the following as specific to the institution:

  1. To enable the institution to improve itself through the conduct of regular accreditation of academic programs.
  2. To enhance the institutions’ capability to design, develop and manage its academic programs for better delivery of education services to its clients.
  3. To aim for full accreditation of all the institution’s academic programs with the view in mind of being institutionally accredited by the CHED-recognized accrediting agency.

Institutional Accreditation Office's Past Accomplishments and Future Plans

As it is, the Institutional Accreditation Office began its operations last November 2010. Its first program accreditation survey visit was conducted last March 14-18, 2011 with the following academic programs successfully attaining the level of accreditation aspired for:

  1. Elementary Teacher Education - Qualified for Level III
  2. Secondary Teacher Education - Qualified for Level III
  3. Accountancy - Qualified for Level III
  4. Business Administration - Qualified for Level III
  5. Science (Biology pre-med) - Level I accredited
  6. Environmental Science - Level I accredited
  7. Electrical Engineering - Candidate status
  8. Civil Engineering - Candidate status
  9. Mechanical Engineering - Candidate status

(Source: AACCUP Summary of Ratings Report dated March 29, 2011)

A second accreditation survey visit (preliminary survey) was conducted last May 16-20, 2011 for academic programs aspiring for Level I accreditation. Again, the following programs were granted candidate status which implies it is qualified to aspire for Level I accreditation with specified periods of visits set by the accrediting agency, the AACCUP.

  1. Computer Science - Candidate status
  2. Entrepreneurship - Candidate status
  3. Tourism - Candidate status
  4. Nursing - Candidate status
  5. Arts and Social Science (BA-Political Science) - Candidate status
  6. Graduate Master’s (MA-Management) - Candidate status
  7. Hospitality Management - Candidate status
  8. Social Work - Candidate status
  9. Science (Psychology) - Candidate status

(Source: AACCUP Summary of Ratings Report and Board Action dated June 02, 2011)

The IAO plans to have the next accreditation survey visit on or before March 2012 with the following programs aiming for full Level III accreditation (phase 2 of Level III visit):

  1. Accountancy
  2. Business Administration
  3. Elementary Teacher Education
  4. Secondary Teacher Education

With the aforementioned accomplishments, the office has embarked on its information dissemination campaigns especially with regard to the phase 2 Level III visit for the four (4) programs. The director has joined the meetings called for by the respective deans of the two (2) college units (CTE and CBA) whose programs are scheduled for the said visit on 2012. Coordination with the officials of the AACCUP as well has been completed thus the meetings were then set to enable the college units to fully prepare for the visit next year. For those units intending to undergo accreditation visits, the office likewise distributed survey instruments as well as letters of information to their respective deans in order for them to accordingly meet with their own accreditation coordinators.

With the above accomplishments, the director would like to extend its gratitude to the university administration officials for its support to accreditation. We in the office hope to obtain the same level of support in order that the office as well as that of the university will be able to attain its objectives as well as be able to achieve the vision of the institution.

Contact Information

 

DR. CECILIO MANARPAAC
Director, University Quality Assurance Center 
University Quality Assurance Center 
Palawan State University
Medical Building, Tiniguiban
Puerto Princesa City
048 – 0917 – 5699571