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Mindanao Polytechnic State College
October
2007
Dr. Charito G. Ong, Executive Assistant to the President
Soaring to greater heights of university hood
Humble beginnings
The Mindanao Polytechnic State College evolved through three historic acts. It
started operating as a trade school with the name Misamis Oriental Trade
School instituted through the Vocational Act of 1927 otherwise known as
Pre-Commonwealth Act No. 3377. It offered elementary level until 1936 when it
underwent academic transformation. That year, the intermediate curriculum was
swooped with the four-year secondary trade program.
Long after its intermediate operation as a trade school, Republic Act 672 of
1952 renamed MOTS to Mindanao School of Arts and Trade. Chiefly distinguished
as a secondary trade school, MSAT offered a four-year Secondary Trade
Curriculum. It appended courses in two-year trade Technical Education and
Evening Programs with Short Term Courses of the National Manpower and Youth
Council. Furthermore, MSAT was recognized as the sole Degree Program provider
of 1970 through its Teacher Education program offering made possible through
Republic Act 3959.
A remarkable episode cropped up in 1977 when MSAT’s Superintendent, Dr.
Medardo P. Santos, settled as MSAT head. Very resolute in his vision to set up
a University System in Region X, Dr. Santos called for the drafting of a bill
to convert MSAT into a State College. Blissfully, the conversion was fulfilled
on June 10, 1978 as then President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed the bill. Hence,
MSAT was ultimately converted to Don Mariano Marcos Memorial Polytechnic State
College.
DMMMPSC then opened nine satellite and extension colleges. The campuses doled
out as service areas of the college. Several course offerings were opened from
elementary to doctoral level into respond to the needs of educational leaders.
With the self-motivated administrators coupled by the vibrant teaching force
and staff of both main and satellite campuses, exceptional instruction was
given to the studentry which marked a tough upshot in MPSC’s history. Until
this time, people still refer to the college as “Don Mariano” despite the
several changes it has undergone, more so with its name.
Before DMMMPSC was renamed MPSC, various notable events happened. In 1981, the
competencies of the faculty in the college were strengthened. They were
offered scholarships, made to attend late afternoon classes and even conducted
on-air programs. Faculty exchange programs were likewise introduced, a break
for them to upgrade their individual turf. These opportunities proved as
edge-provider as the college produced its first batch of Engineering board
passers in 1983.
1984 was an extra segment in the maturity of DMMMPSC when the services of
foreign volunteers as instructors were requested. Among those who responded
were from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan and Korea. These specialists shared
their expertise and flair in various fields. An extra periphery of fortune
happened in the same year when the college produced its second batch of board
passers with a fourth placer in the Electrical Engineering Board Exam.
From then on, DMMMPSC rocketed nonstop, rising exceedingly with determination
to generate eminent alumnae, constantly driven by the maxim of fineness.
Hence, after thirteen dynamic years of its flourishing operation, DMMMPSC
became Mindanao Polytechnic State College through Republic Act No. 7102 in the
year 1991.
On its earliest year with the fresh trademark as MPSC, it turned out a fifth
and seventeenth placer in the Electrical Engineering Board Exam coupled with a
third placer in the Forestry Board Exam. The succeeding year, MPSC again
obtained an eighty five percent passing percentage in the Electrical
Engineering Board Exam. The school maintained this distinction in the years
that followed until such time that it garnered the distinction of being the
topnotch producer of Electrical Engineers in Region X, Visayas and Mindanao
and even placed third nationwide. It also received the First Globe Telecom
Award in Northern Mindanao and got a hundred percent passing rate for
Electronics and Communications Engineering in the year 1996. MPSC maintained
the same performance throughn the years and up to the present.
Adding to this academic success, MPSC’s BSIT and BSIE programs passed the
first level accreditation in 1997. In another light, MPSC ventured to augment
its budget by transforming each unit of the college to an income center and
generated an Institute of Entrepreneurship and Productivity (IEP), an income
generating arm of the college. This center became very productive as it sought
the assistance of the Philippine Australian Governance Facility (PAGF).
Quality Assurance was another club of stamina for MPSC. It established
vertically articulated programs in 1999. In the succeeding year, MPSC shifted
to the RIPE (Research, Instruction, Production and Extension) paradigm. A
research culture was then built in the academe. MPSC also became a full BIDANI
member for serving fifteen barangays in its extension program. MPSC added
production as its fourth function. Indeed, a great deal had been accomplished
by MPSC that it is often regarded as a university.
These substantiate how Mindanao Polytechnic State College lodged such sturdy
roots.
Present times
Year 1995 saw greater interest for the conversion of the Mindanao Polytechnic
State College to Mindanao University of Science and Technology through the
inflexible efforts of the passionate and ardent hand of the previous
President, Dr. Montano F. Salvador. Presently, MPSC remains a state college
but runs as a university. It is certified by the Philippine Association of
State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) as Category A under Program Category
of SUCs with distinctive competence in the area of Science and Technology,
Advance Studies, Engineering Technology and Teacher Education. It also
qualified as a Level IV SUC through the joint evaluation of CHED and DBM.
Currently headed by the competent headship of the lone Doctor of Energy in
Visayas and Mindanao, Dr. Ricardo E. Rotoras, MPSC is one of the fourteen out
of one hundred ten SUCs in the country which is classified as level IV.
Aside from the Level IV classification, the college is in reality commendable
to be granted a university status for several reasons. Academically, it has
afforded quality service to the 7,321 school populace as it relentlessly
stands out in the Engineering board exams. Worth citing is the BSECE Licensure
Examination Performance of its graduates for the year 1995 and 1997. MPSC was
awarded top 1 performing school in the country with 100% passing rate of the
BS Architecture graduates in 2005 and 2006. Equivalent merit was awarded to
the BSEE graduates in the year 2006. Due to these achievements, MPSC is
rightfully a self-proclaimed center of Excellence in Engineering and
Technology.
The conversion of MPSC to MUST is fundamentally a response to Northern
Mindanao’s need for a wider and more comprehensive higher education provider,
the College President stressed. MUST will match the demand for high level
manpower in Science and Technology needed by industries and business
establishments in the region. Apart from this, MPSC’s conversion is but
rightful. Its research and instruction programs have reached full maturity,
equivalent to that of universities abroad in terms of quality. The college’s
extension and consultancy services have also provided assistance to industries
and other organizations in the region through personnel training and research
collaboration activities. To quote the Commission on Higher Education-tasked
Committee on Evaluation, “MPSC is much better than many institutions that now
enjoy University status. It is now functioning like a University in the
Philippine setting. Thus, it should be converted to one now.” These are
fervent grounds for MPSC’s conversion to universitihood.
The striking status of MPSC continues to capture the attention of Northern
Mindanao populace. It is named as a CHED Zonal Research Center in Region X and
CARAGA areas. It assists the commission in the effective and efficient
management of research activities for other Higher Education Institutions (HEI).
MPSC is also the Center of Development in Mathematics. As an HEI, it has
established the highest level of standard along the areas of instruction,
research and extension. It is a sending and delivery institution in
Mathematics.
Equally important is the college’s feature as a Regional Node for
Computerization program. Likewise, it is a recipient of funding from the
Swedish International Development Assistance (SIDA) for IT equipment. Other
subsequent category of MPSC is being a CISCO Training Provider and a
Continuing Professional Education source.
The physical amenities of the college are also parallel to that of a
university. It has an on-going four-storey structure, one of the major
infrastructure projects of its current president. It has also the Learning
Resource Center which houses the main college library, graduate school office,
classrooms, lecture rooms and the E-library. It has also state-of-the-art show
window laboratories. One of these is the Simulation and Modeling laboratory
which addresses students concerns on software development and application.
Another is the Automation and Control laboratory. Undeniably, the students of
the college are so propitious to have the familiarity of operating the
million-peso worth Mechatronics package, Electro-Pneumatics with PLC,
Electro-Hydraulics Trainer, Process Trainer and Web Trainer.
MPSC is also endowed with the highly advanced equipment contained in the
Multi-Media Center. It is designed for instructional technology classes,
fabrication of instructional materials and serves as a training hub for all
teachers and professionals in the region. It is also recognized by the
Department of Science and Technology through its Extension Services. It houses
the DOST Provincial Science and Technology Center in Misamis Oriental. In the
campus is the Oro Science and Technology Centrum that develops a Science and
Technology Culture of the broad-spectrum community. Moreover, the college
continues to seek linkages with other agencies to maximize its resources.
Recently, MPSC became a beneficiary of one of the most esteemed honors in the
country, the 2006 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. Prior to this
year, MPSC was afforded parallel merit as it was given the recognition of
“2005 Ten Accomplished Youth Organization” through the college’s Mathematics
Society.
That is the preview of the entire vista of the history, organization and
success of the booming Mindanao Polytechnic State College.
How MPSC leaves tracks in the orchard of the academic world
Essentially shaped to train Northern Mindanao’s professional corps, Mindanao
Polytechnic State College continues to climax for University status.
Through the capable management of Dr. Ricardo E. Rotoras, the dreamed Mindanao
University of Science and Technology is within reach. Nevertheless, the
college president stalwartly deems that becoming a university is not the
end-all and be-all of the college’s thrusts. He places more weight on the
dictum, zeal for excellence thereby cheering the entire academia to
relentlessly toil for the greater good of the majority principally for the
studentry.
With the variety of distinctions and awards (Level IV SUC, TOSP, TAYO, and
Topnotch Licensure Performance), that the college has reaped, it persistently
spaces key importance on its students. Rated by CHED as Center of Excellence
in Mathematics for 2004, the college has increased its number of Doctor of
Philosophy degree holders. The faculty is also encouraged to present research
output in the national and international fora. All these efforts are made for
the entire college studentry. The college believes that intellectually
superior students are by products of valuable training.
Another thing is the Mathematical Sciences Program of MPSC which is the first
of its kind in Southeast Asia. The program’s core is Mathematical Modeling,
one that makes use of the powerful tools of mathematics to explain scientific,
engineering and social phenomena in terms of a predictive model. It is a
program that is beneficial to Mathematicians, Engineers, Social and Physical
Scientists. This indicates how the college delivers quality instruction
through its competent faculty members.
The college’s award-wining Mathematics Society has also reached out to public
school students in the city. It has afforded voluntary services like the
Summer refresher Course and Tutorial programs, with the objective of being
catalysts for students to be keen on Mathematics.
Exemplary importance is also placed for the college accreditation plane. To
systematically range the programs and services of MPSC, the Quality Assurance
and Accreditation Services office was given nativity. This office further
ensures that the college operates above the standards of AACCUP. These efforts
of the college are thus sustained by the ideal performance of its students and
graduates who have reaped a series of awards both in the local and national
echelon.
To MPSC, kudos! Carry on the first-rate feat!
Source: Manila Bulletin Online
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