What Tops the New President’s To Do List? SLSU Staff Find Out in Staff Welcome Party
Main Campus – Facilitative and administrative staff gathered at the Student Center Plenary Hall on January 12, 2015 to welcome new Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) President Dr. Prose Ivy Yepes. The event was also a chance to welcome two new vice presidents – Cecilia Arong, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Francis Ann Sy, Vice President for Research, Development and Extension. The other vice president is Valerio Cabalo, Vice President for Administration and Finance.
Barely two weeks into the presidency, Yepes has already visited all of SLSU’s campuses and met with faculty and staff. She has also already visited several municipal mayors. At the Faculty Welcome Party on January 5, 2014 Yepes revealed to the campus her plans for her first one hundred days in office.
On January 12, 2014 Yepes bared again her plans for the benefit of SLSU’s staff. Topping her list of reforms for the first one hundred days is the review of the university code. The maiden issue of the university code was in 2006, according to Yepes. Since that time, the code has not yet been subjected to any kind of review. The review Yepes plans to undertake will be the first, in eight years. “This is to make it relevant to the present time,” said Yepes. And in revising the code “your participation is always welcome” said Yepes to regular staff and job order employees at the welcome party.
Next on the President’s list is the uniform implementation of the university code. “We need to unify everything and we need to harmonize,” said Yepes. Another item on her list is “the need to review and upgrade the profile of our faculty.” Yepes was referring to opportunities her administration will try to pull off to get qualified faculty in faculty-exchange programs or graduate studies beyond the country.
Her next to-do item brought Yepes her first applause from the audience: a review of the competencies and skills of the administrative staff for the formulation of an administrative staff development program. Briefly drawing a comparison between the NBC 461 scheme of the faculty and the meager three-year salary increment of the staff, Yepes said “It’s a national issue. We cannot have our own way. But I have this opportunity to lobby whatever proposals we have in mind.” Following this, Yepes also announced that she will undertake a revisit of the Five-Year Strategic Development Plan.
Yepes’ next to-do item very likely would have given her a rousing cheer from students as pledged to accomplish “improved frontline services for students” within a hundred days. “They are our most valuable clientele,” she said. “We need to augment our institutional income.”
She pointed to the need “to plan very wisely” to “offset the loss of enrolment.” “Everything will be improved if we have better income,” said Yepes. “I hope you will join me in making the students the champion.”
Yepes final plan is to sustain the research capabilities of the Research, Development and Extension (RDE) unit. “One of the big indicators of any assessment or evaluation is research that is published in journals with high-impact factor.”
Yepes was formerly SLSU’s Vice President for Research, Development and Extension.
(L-R): Vice President for Administration and Finance Valerio Cabalo, SLSU President Prose Ivy Yepes, Vice President for RDE Francis Ann Sy, Vice President for Academic Affairs Cecilia Arong.
Department heads and their staff, clerks, technicians, utility workers, guards and laborers at the Plenary Hall.
Accounting office staff say ‘hello’ to the new President and vice presidents.
Men from the Physical Plant office show themselves to the President and vice presidents.
President Yepes gets applause in the open forum after she invited those who refused to bring their questions in public to personally visit her at the President’s office.