Reviewing UP's Faculty Conditions

I just read this article by Dr. Roland G. Simbulan, a development studies expert from U.P. Manila, on faculty tenure policy in the University of the Philippines. The article was written during his term as faculty regent where he discussed the three types of faculty members we have: the academic proletariat, the lumpen academic and the public intellectual. The classification was based on a faculty's economic status, their solution to it and the mperspective they are offering to justify it. The figures and statements of Dr. Simulan may not be relevant anymore. However, what should be seen in the article is that professors in the country's only national university deserve more compensation than what they have now.

Simbulan pictured academic proletariat as those greatly affected by the increadibly low salary of professors in U.P., generally the starting faculty such as instructors and some assistant professors. Lumpen academics, according to him, are those "selling their intellectual capabilities to the highest bidder" either corporate or government, either masterminds of the worsening of our economic condition or not. Lastly, public intellectuals as defined by Simbulan are those in between the two mentioned earlier who earns from public appearances and column-writing but dignifies their principles by not engaging in "intellectual prostitution". Public intellectuals such as Professor Emerita Solita "Winnie" Monsod and Professor Emeritus Randolf "Randy" David are powerful as they greatly influence general opinion.

With low compensation for instructors, Simbulan elaborated that UP faculty becomes more of an aging population with a significant number of professors leaving the University before the age of 25. A simple proof to this argument's reliability is NCPAG, my home college. Many professors such as the Dr. Ma. Concepcion P. Alfiler and Dr. Ledivina V. Carino passed away while Professor Leonor Briones just retired last year. NCPAG's faculty has to revitalize its academic personnel due to it being a college that accomodates a huge population of graduate students compared to other degree-granting units in Diliman. It also offers a bachelor's program, therefore requiring an adequate faculty force for both undergraduate and graduate levels.

As an enthusiast of personnel administration in universities, I've been acquainted with the tenure policy and the faculty positions. There's no doubt that NCPAG's faculty is composed of highly-qualified and competent individuals, most of them being Ph.D. or DPA holders. However, I believe the college needs more faculty members to exhaust the offering of courses especially in the graduate level.

Reference:

• Simbulan, Rolando G. (2006) "The Condition of the U.P. Faculty Today". Address before the First U.P. System-wide Academic Personnel Conference, Vinzons Hall, U.P. Diliman