USM R & D 17(1): 103-111 (2009)

ISSN 0302-7937
The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as agents of social change:
the case of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)

Virginia R Cardenas, Evangeline C Sulabo, Virgilio T Villancio, Lorna P Domingo, & Francisca O Tan

Respectively, Project Leader, Co-Project Leader (for correspondence: [email protected]), and Researchers,
Institute of Community Education, College of Public Affairs, UP Los Baños, College, Laguna.

For the HEI, VRC is Project Leader & ECS is co-Project Leader & the rest researchers.

Abstract

Higher education institutions play a major role in the country’s development. Colleges and universities are expected to
produce high-level professionals and generate technologies and approaches aimed at improving the people’s quality of life.
Poverty is a major concern in the Philippines. If colleges and universities will be true to their mission, then their curricula
should reflect preferential love for the poor and powerless. In many developing countries including the Philippines, however,
colleges and universities have so far not been able to fulfill these roles, partly because of the seeming incompatibility of their
multiple missions or functions. Colleges and universities are commonly perceived to be institutions of learning and research
and thus, focusing most of their attention to such functions.

Slowly but increasingly, there has been changes in the universities’ basic functions and this is true for both private and
public universities. Increasingly, they have been sharing in the efforts to improve the lives of the people in impoverished
communities.

It is high time that colleges and universities should aim at genuine service to the poor, the deprived and the oppressed by being
socially aware, concerned and responsible. They must exert effort to contribute to the economic and social cohesiveness of
a nation and as a forum for constructive debates on development. To be responsive to the changing requirements of rural
development, it is imperative for the colleges and universities to reflect on their respective curricula and adjust them to meet
the needs of changing context of agricultural development.

Key words: community-based approach, farmer scientist, higher education institution, nutrition improvement, rural
development, rural learning, social change

Introduction Addressing poverty is a major concern in the Philippines.

This and other problems dawned on the universities which,
Institutions of higher learning have an essential role to traditionally, had been focusing most of their attention to
play in the development of the country’s human and social teaching and research.
capital, including the appropriate approaches, knowledge
and skills for national development. The university has the Slowly but increasingly, there has been significant changes
responsibility to train a country’s high level professional, in the universities’ basic functions and this is true for both
technical and managerial personnel who would generate or private and public universities. Increasingly, they have
adapt new knowledge and information needed for crafting been initiating efforts to improve the lives of the people
development. They will serve as social agents particularly in impoverished communities. It can be noted, however,
in the transfer, adaptation and dissemination of knowledge that there has been changes, locally and globally, not only
with the end purpose of improving the people’s quality of in development perspective but in agricultural structures as
life. The university is especially well-equipped to develop well; hence, the role of universities has reached a critical
the human person, including the social organizations so that crossroad. The challenges and transformations require
it operates for widespread rural learning and development. acknowledging the realities of having more impact and
efficacy vis-à-vis limited resources and existing strengths
or functions.

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The overall objective of the study was to document and Discussion of findings
analyze the contributions of UPLB as a change agent
towards local people’s empowerment, training of rural 1. Philippines (UP) System, is a premier academic, research
development professionals, and stimulating development in and extension institution that offers quality education
the rural areas. and relevant programs in the natural, physical and social
sciences, the humanities, and the arts. As a prestigious
Specifically, the study attempted to: world-class institution of higher learning, UPLB’s curricula
are designed to address the emerging demands of the present
1. describe UPLB as an institutional agent of change in and future generations. Its programs inculcate the values
terms of its vision, mission and goal; legal mandate; of critical thinking and the pursuit of excellence in various
governance; personnel complement; enrolment trend by fields of study. With its modern facilities, highly-proficient
programs; student profiles and geographical distribution; faculty and staff, UPLB strives to meet the increasing needs
fiscal resources; instruction, research and extension and of a developing society.
development programs; and its role and contributions
in human and social capital formation (formal and UPLB begun as a College of Agriculture on March 6, 1909
nonformal) needed towards socio-economic and political and grew into a national and international center of academic
transformation in the rural areas. excellence in agriculture, forestry and related sciences. Its
rose to prominence as center of excellence was attributed to
2. describe and analyze the UPLB’s approaches/ its topnotch faculty and physical facilities. When UP was
methodologies to rural learning and development and reorganized into a University System, UPLB became its first
how it served as UPLB’s instrument for socio-economic autonomous unit on November 20, 1972.
and political transformations;
Continuing efforts are being done towards the following focal
3. determine and analyze the management issues, areas, namely: 1) strengthening institutional leadership, 2)
constraints and implementation problems experienced rehabilitating physical facilities, 3) improving staff morale,
by UPLB and it’s potential impact areas. and 4) uplifting student welfare. As of this writing, UPLB
had earned significant gains in its efforts to provide high-
4. recommend courses of actions to pursue identified quality education, research and development work. It is
potential impact areas where institutions of higher now recognized, nationally and internationally, as a premier
learning could facilitate achievement of the goals of EFA academic, research and extension institution that offers
and national recovery. quality education and relevant programs in the natural,
physical and social sciences, the humanities, and the arts.
Methodology UPLB is now taking the lead in developing technologies
that are expected to contribute to increased productivity
The study focused on three major components. Component and competitiveness. As an agent of social change, UPLB
1 was a description of UPLB as an institution of higher continuously takes significant strides in extension activities
learning and its role in rural learning and development. throughout the country, including marginal communities.
Component 2 focused on the best experiences of UPLB in
outreach or extension projects. Component 3 presented the As the first autonomous campus and constituent university
recommendations and courses of actions to further achieve of the University of the Philippines (UP) System, UPLB
EFA goals. draws historical strength from agriculture, forestry, and
related sciences. To build on its strength and to carry out
Most of the data were taken from secondary sources, its full share in the UP System’s mandate, it aims to evolve
i.e. UPLB’s annual reports, project reports, and others into a university with an institutional identity derived from
papers written on the various projects and activities, to be its distinctive origin and potentials.
supplemented with interviews and focus group discussions
with key people in the University and in the communities Concomitant with its long-term goal to be a major force and
concerned. critic in national life, UPLB’s guiding light is the pursuit of
truth, excellence, ethics, equity and efficiency. Acceleration
of integrated rural development continues to be its overall
thrusts as it strives towards helping realize the aspirations
of the Filipino people and those from the neighboring less-
developed countries.

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UPLB, in its pursuit to continuously develop its teaching, of community organizations in support of agro-
research and pubic service functions, defined the scope of industrial development, and development of livelihood
its mandate as follows: and employment generation programs to bring about
the active participation of the underprivileged into the
• Provide leadership in resident instruction, research and mainstream of the country’s development efforts.
professional training in agriculture, forestry and related
fields as well as the liberal arts, the basic and applied
sciences; • Expanded but focused programs in the basic and social
sciences and humanities with emphasis on upstream
• Enhance its critical influence on national development researches which had consistently proved to yield
policies in the economic, political, social and cultural higher returns; and on interdisciplinary programs
aspects of Philippine life; and aimed at enhancing the full productive potentials of
small business entrepreneurs, farmers, fisherfolk and
• Continue striving to be the premier Asian educational community organizations
institution in agriculture, forestry, rural development
and in the liberal arts and the basic sciences Structure and university governance UPLB is administered
by two bodies – the collegial and hierarchical bodies. The
In the view of developments in the national socio-economic collegial bodies include the University Council (UC) and
and political scene, UPLB should enlarge the scope of the University Research and Extension Council (UREC),
its mandate for it to be significantly in the line with the while the hierarchical bodies consist of the President,
national development agenda and framework, UPLB Chancellor, Deans and Directors, Department Chairs, and
now includes the following in its roster of mandated the heads of units performing support or auxiliary functions.
concerns: UPLB is headed by a Chancellor who is the executive
officer of the University and is responsible to the President
• Greater advocacy and more active role in the formulation of the UP System and the Board of Regents. The Chancellor
and implementation of policies and policy instruments supervises the operations of UPLB as well as its collegial
including developmental plans and programs. For and hierarchical bodies. The planning and conduct of the
a long time now, UPLB has been quite on the major day-to-day activities and the implementation of policies and
issues confronting the country. other administrative matters are the responsibility of the
hierarchical officers.
• Development of applied fields of science that are
responsive not only to the needs of the CALABARZON Internal governance To better allocate and use
but also of the country in general. University’s resources, to streamline activities, to ensure
better accountability and proper checks and balances in the
• Increased emphasis on interdisciplinary instruction, system, as well as to improve and integrate basic services
research and technology assessment and packaging in and functions, the UPLB organizational structure is shown
support of agricultural and agro-industrial development; in Fig 1.
environmental resources enhancement; strengthening

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Fig 1. New UPLB Organizational Structure (February 2000).

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Personnel UPLB’s human resources, as of December 2004, farms, animal and dairy farms, botanic gardens, land grants,
included 844 (27.73%) Faculty, 26 (.007%) REPS-Faculty, research stations, and security personnel.
465 (14.18%) Research, Extension and Professional Staff By educational attainment, 34% of the faculty had Ph.D
(REPS), and 1,945 (59.30%) Administrative Staff (Fig 2). degree, 34% MS degree, 33% BS degree (Fig 4). On the
Of these, 74.40 percent were on permanent status and the other hand, 15% of the REPS had Ph.D degree, 41% MS
rest on temporary status (Fig 3). degree, and 44% BS degree (Fig 5).

Being a research university, UPLB has a large REPS Internal operating budget In 2004, UPLB had an operating
population, the bulk of which were based in non-degree budget of P1,034,126,000.00. Of these amount, 84 percent
granting units of the university such as the Institute of was appropriated for personnel services, 16 percent for
Plant Breeding, National Institute of Biotechnology and maintenance and other operating expenses, and less than one
Molecular Biology, National Crop Protection Center, Dairy percent (0.49%) for capital outlay. Fig 6 shows the internal
Research and Training Institute, Farming Systems and Soils operating budget of UPLB in the last five years by percent.
Research Institute, and Forest Development Center.
For research and extension services, the budget allocation in
The large number of administrative staff may partly be percent is shown in Fig 7.
explained by the need to maintain the land resources and
facilities including seed production farms, experimental

Fig 2. Distribution of UPLB personnel by classification Fig 3. Distribution of UPLB personnel by tenure
(2004). (2004).

Fig 4. Distribution of Faculty by educational degree Fig 5. Distribution of researchers and extensionists
(2004). by educational degree (2004).

Fig 6. UPLB’s internal operating budget in percent (2000- Fig 7. UPLB’s research and extension budget (Avg. for 5
2004). years).

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UPLB’s income come from various sources. The national Enrolment The undergraduate enrolment in the last five
government provides more than 86 percent of the internal years is shown in Fig 9. It can be noted that the enrolment
operating budget of UPLB (Fig 8). The rest came from other in colleges offering agri-related undergraduate programs
sources such as research grants, donations, income from showed a slight uptrend from SY 2000-01 to SY 2002-03 but
income g enerating projects, lease rental of some of its it was slightly declining beginning SY 2003-04. In contrast,
assets and facilities, interests, fines and other miscellaneous the enrolment in non-agri-related colleges was an uptrend.
sources.
By gender, the number of male students in colleges
offering agri-related undergraduate programs seemed to
be not growing, while in colleges not offering agri-related
undergraduate programs slightly increased in the last five
years (Fig 10). The female students, on the other hand,
showed a steady increase particularly in colleges not offering
agri-related undergraduate programs.

By major regions of the country, a great majority of the

Fig 8. UPLB’s sources of budget (2004). undergraduate students of UPLB came from Luzon with 80
percent (Figs 11 and 12).

Physical infrastructure and communication facilities

Land use The UPLB’s land use is divided into zones:

academic, research and development, Mt. Makiling Reserve,
commercial development zones, housing sites, athletic
complex, and culture and arts zones.

Science and technology park The UPLB Science and

Technology Park is a knowledge-based center on agricultural Fig 9. UPLB’s undergraduate enrolment (2000-2004).
biotechnology. It provides a means of technology transfer
and technology incubator support systems to private
industries.

Institutional linkages UPLB maintained linkages with

41 universities and agencies from more than 20 countries
including Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Indonesia,
Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Sri Lanka,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam and the Fig 10. UPLB’s undergraduate enrolment by gender
SEARCA University Consortium member countries. (2000-2004).

Academic programs UPLB has nine colleges and two

schools, namely: College of Agriculture (CA), College
of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Development
Communication (CDC), College of Engineering and Agro-
industrial Technology (CEAT), College of Economics
and Management CEM), College of Forestry and Natural
Resources (CFNR), College of Human Ecology (CHE),
College of Public Affairs (CPAf), College of Veterinary Fig 11. UPLB’s undergraduate enrolment by major region
Medicine (CVM), School of Environmental Science and in percent (2000-2004).
Management SESAM), and Graduate School.

Through these colleges and schools, UPLB offers 27

undergraduate and 94 graduate degree programs to an
average of 11,000 students per semester. These programs
are implemented by 844 faculty, 465 research, extension
and professional staff (REPS), 26 REPS-faculty and 1,945
administrative staff.
Fig 12. UPLB’s undergraduate enrolment by major regions.

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In the graduate programs, the enrolment for both the master’s
and doctoral programs showed a downtrend beginning SY
2003-04 (Fig 13). This was the time when the tuition fee
for graduate students was increased from P225 per unit to
P1,000 per unit.

Of the total graduate students enrolled in 2004, 16% were

foreign students coming from 35 countries, most of which
were from Indonesia followed by Vietnam and India,
Thailand and Bangladesh (Fig 14). Fig 15. Financial assistance granted to students in percent.

Research, development, and extension

UPLB is home to several research institutes and centers

that specialize in areas such as plant and animal science,
engineering, biotechnology, forestry, postharvest, policy
studies, veterinary medicine, and food processing and
technology. These research and development institutions
take the lead in national programs and are recognized both
Fig 13. UPLB’s graduate enrolment (2000-2004). locally and abroad. Through its extension programs and
units, which include training centers that offer quality non-
degree educational programs, UPLB shares its expertise and
extends its services.

By virtue of Presidential Decree proclamations, the following

units were declared as centers of excellence for research in
their respective fields: Institute of Plant Breeding, Institute
of Food Science and Technology, National Crop Protection
Center, National Institute of Biotechnology, Institute of
Fig 14. Distribution of local and foreign graduate students Animal Science, and Farming Systems and Soil Resources
(2004). Institute.

Despite the slow increase in enrolment in the undergraduate UPLB has a long history of agricultural extension in the
programs and the declining trend in the graduate programs, country. As part of its trilogy of functions, the University
the University had consistently delivered curricular extension has its share of contributions to rural development
quality programs, As a testament to these, the Philippine no matter how little understood these are owing to limited
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recognized data on impacts to society’s development.
the excellence of six academic programs of UPLB,
namely: agriculture education, communication education, The UPLB extension program has four key programs such
agricultural engineering education, forestry education, as: a) action-research, 2) non-degree training, c) information
veterinary education, and computer science. On the average, dissemination, and d) specialist support services or technical
more than 90% of its graduates passed the professional assistance. Organizationally, extension is a function of each
licensure examinations conducted by the Professional of the units and departments of UPLB, not of the individual
Regulatory Commission. faculty. UPLB extension is headed by the Vice Chancellor
for Research and Extension which monitors, coordinates
Student welfare Financial assistance is given to students and evaluates extension activities of the different units of
through the Socialized tuition and Financial Assistance the University. A collegial body, the University Research
Program (STFAP), student assitantship, scholarship grants, and Extension Council (UREC) is responsible for providing
the Agricultural and Rural Development Scholarship policy direction and priorities for the University. All levels,
(ARDS) Program, and/or student loans. from the unit/department to college, has a coordinator for
research and extension who reports directly to the head of
In 2004, 22% of the undergraduate students were granted the unit/department and dean, respectively.
STFAP and 0.68 ARDS Scholarship. More than 14% of the
students had availed loans to pay their tuition fees and other Action research is considered the core program of extension
basic needs and 3% got work as students assistants (Fig15). in each of the colleges in the university. UPLB views action

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research as the links to rural sectors in testing innovations, 2. The “Ugnayan ng Pahinungod” (UnP)
techniques, strategies, and approaches related to agriculture
and rural development. The “Ugnayan ng Pahinungod” (UnP) is a volunteer
service program of the university. The name ‘ugnayan’, is a
Since its establishment, the University has undertaken several Tagalog word which means “linkage of the volunteers with
action-researches and extension projects which contributed each other, with the University and with the underserved
significant milestones in rural learning and development communities, and from the Cebuano term ‘pahinungod’,
work. Some of the recent action-research programs that which is the “closest Filipino translation for Oblation, the
gained national and international recognitions are: UP symbol.” To fully implement his vision Dr. Javier
created on September 07, 1993 a volunteer service group
• The Community-Based Participatory Extension which could address the “needs of the underserved sectors
Management (CBPEM) Model in our society” known as the President’s Committee on
• The University of the Philippines (UP) “Pahinungod” Volunteer. Three months later on December 18 of the same
Program year, the Committee had the full support of majority of the
• The Farmers’ Scientist Training Program (FSTP) university bureaucracy.
• The (BIDANI) Program
The Ugnayan ng Pahinungod/Oblation Corps (UP/OC)
was formally launched the following year on February 28,
1. The community-based participatory extension 1994 and was readily accepted by UP constituents. It has
management (CBPEM) model since played an important role in promoting volunteerism,
both inside and outside the University of the Philippines.
The CBPEM’s focus is developing the capability of the Its overarching philosophy is based on “putting UP in the
local stakeholders through varied capability-building service of the nation through volunteerism.”
methodologies on the following areas: planning, decision-
making, control and self-reliance. Guided by the principles The UP/OC has been recognized and commended for their
of relevance, empowerment, peoples’ participation, capacity successful “development of alternative opportunities for
building, networking, the CBPEM approach stands on seven moral education of UP constituents, while providing services
(7) pillars which are: to underserved communities in the Philippines.”

• Community mobilization and building local Success and heart-warming stories have been reciprocally
capacity shared and experienced by both the UP volunteers and
• Community-based participatory action planning the poor communities they have served and been served,
• Legitimization of action plans touched and related with across the different UP units on
• Participatory implementation the significant contributions of the UP/OC program. The
• Participatory monitoring, review and evaluation community benefited from the Gurong Pahinungod program
• Project Re-planning in various community-related concerns such as environment,
• Facilitation finances, education, health, socio-cultural areas, interactions
among community members, the interaction between
Institutionalizing the CBPEM approach community and the GP volunteers, and the ability of the
whole community to function properly. It has received
CBPEM is a knowledge product that evolved over years citations, recognitions and awards from its partners and
of action-research and had been awarded by the University beneficiaries for its recognition of its services to the people.
as Outstanding Extension Methodology in 2002. More
importantly, the CBPEM approach was chosen by the 3. The farmers’ scientist training program (FSTP)
University as its recommendation to the national government
for an adoption to revitalize a “sleeping giant” to push The FSTP aims to develop the technical and scientific
agricultural development and in the Philippines. capabilities of rice and corn farmers through experiential
activities in farm level agricultural research and to strengthen
The most significant act of institutionalization being the research and extension capabilities of the collaborating
undertaken now is the transfer of this technology from agencies. It gives farmers the opportunity to have direct
UPLB research to the Agricultural Training Institute of the contact with agricultural scientists to develop their technical
Department of Agriculture which has the national mandate to and scientific capabilities to grow rice, corn and other crops
train extension workers and farmers at the local government utilizing appropriate farming technologies. It also aims to
units. This is in fulfillment of UPLB’s role as a trailblazer strengthen agricultural research and extension capabilities
in CBPEM technology. of local government units (LGUs) and state colleges and

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universities (SCUs) so they later on render better services in for valuable contribution of BIDANI staff in Nutrition and
their areas of responsibilities. It provides a venue where the Development in the province of Laguna from 1997-2001,
farmers, scientist, extension workers and other stakeholders UPLB’s Outstanding Extension Project of the Year on
in agricultural development are educated in the process. March 6, 1990, Outstanding Extension Award given by the
UP System on the occasion of its 82nd anniversary on June
The FSTP was able to show that farmers have the capacity 18, 1990, and a Plaque of Recognition for its exemplary
to innovate, experiment and decide as to what technology contribution on improving health and nutrition in general
to use. There is wisdom in rural people’s knowledge and well being of the poor in the depressed rural areas.
they can learn from it. On-farm research provided them
formal venues for learning and integrating science into it. Lessons learned from the action-research projects
The values of sharing, honesty, hardwork, and love of God,
country and people are developed through values formation 1. Higher education institutions’ trailblazing roles on
activities not only in the classrooms but in field activities innovative program approaches when given support
as well. Production and income gains are empowering have strong national impact. More support to research
but the improvement in knowledge, attitudes and skills on extension would advance the science of extension
developed self-awareness, confidence, and respect further and explore new relationships with other disciplines
empowered them. As the motto of the FSTP reflects “ We to evolve in an eclectic manner alternative modalities
gather knowledge to scatters”, farmer-scientist is given the suited to specific context of development.
responsibility to share what he knows to fellow farmers and
partner scientists. 2. As an agent of change, the University has a wide sphere
of influence both in the formal degree or non-formal
4. The Barangay Integrated Development Approach degree types of education.
for Nutrition Improvement (BIDANI)
3. It is high time that universities should aim at genuine
BIDANI was initially conceived as a nutrition improvement service to the poor, the deprived and the oppressed
model (NIM) at the College of Human Ecology, UPLB to by being socially aware, concerned and responsible.
accelerate and improve the nutrition of the Filipinos. It They must exert effort to contribute to the economic
enjoins the concerted efforts of LGUs, local residents, and social cohesiveness of a nation and as a forum for
private organizations and academic institutions in addressing constructive debates on development. To be responsive
the malnutrition problem at its roots. Its wide acceptance to the changing requirements of rural development,
paved the way to the establishment of the BIDANI Program it is imperative for the universities to reflect on their
Network nationwide. respective curricula and adjust them to meet the needs
of changing context of agricultural development.
BIDANI’s strategy uses a systematic and community-based
approach of planning involving all actors/stakeholders from References
the communities to prioritize activities. It infuses nutrition
as an objective, a component, an outcome and an indicator Bidani. June/July 1993. Strengthening the BIDANI Network.
of development through community advocacy and sharing The Philippines Appraisal Mission Report. DGIS/FEM
the responsibility for nutrition. It is holistic, comprehensive, Consult The Rague, Royal Tropical Institute Amsterdam
integrated, multi-sectoral and multi-level strategy that /UPLB, College, Laguna.
invites concerted efforts among participant-beneficiaries.
BIDANI operates on a bottom-up approach. It works on Cardenas VR et al. 2003. Evolving Appropriate Extension
the principle that development plans and programs can Methodology for Stakeholders/ Empowerment Towards
only be meaningful and sustainable if they are responsive Sustainable Corn Productivity. Presented during the First
to and reflective of the actual conditions and needs of the PilCorn Annual Symposium and Planning Workshop held at
communities. Moreover, their development projects and Monte Vista Resort, Calamba, Laguna on January 16, 2003
activities must also be suited to their needs.
Davide RG. 2001. Farmer-Scientist R&D/E Training
The BIDANI strategy has been adopted not only nationwide Program in a Corn-based Production System for Sustainable
in the Philippines but in other Asian partner institutions Agricultural Development. Trans.Natl. Acad. Sci. &
as well such as: Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam as a Technology. Philippines 23:79-94.
result of continuous advocacy and linkages and BIDANI
conferences, and Training of Trainers. University of the Philippines Los Baños Ugnayan ng
Pahinungod 2005. Education, Convergence and Partnership.
BIDANI received numerous awards/recognition: 2003 Accomplishment Report 1999-2004. Los Baños, College,
Outstanding Extension Program Award, Gawad Parangal Laguna, Philippines.

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