VICE PRESIDENT for the Loyola Schools (VPLS) Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD announced the LS administration’s Php 2.2-billion budget proposal for AY 2022-2023 on February 14 through the Magtanong sa VP at mga Dekano budget forum.

In the forum, Vilches explained that the proposed budget—which has been approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)—assumes the LS will be returning on-site for classes and other office-related activities next year. The budget also prioritizes the accommodation of more scholars, salary increases, support for research and technology, and other improvements.

With these priorities in mind, the budget proposal indicates a 6% increase in tuition fees and a 35% increase in operating expenses, according to her. Notably, the fees for electricity and development were removed in AYs 2020-2022 due to the online setup but are now expected to be restored in the tuition assessments for the next AY.

This proposal has already been presented to the LS Budget Committee, University Budget Committee, faculty members, and Ateneo Schools Parents Council through different forums. However, Vilches said the Board of Trustees will still need to give their final verdict concerning the budget by June to July.

Ongoing pilot run

Vilches discussed the budget proposal for next year’s on-site setup two days after various LS administrators released updates for the current semester’s pilot implementation of face-to-face activities.

On February 12, Vilches announced the campus reopening, School Registrar Marlene De Leon, PhD published the schedules for Flex, Hybrid, and Online+ classes, and Office for Student Services Director Michael Jacinto Mallillin released the Student Campus Access Request Form for students not enrolled in the select on-site classes.

For the pilot run, students allowed entry to the campus may research in the Special Collections area in Rizal Library and Matteo Ricci Hall, consult with the LS Office of Guidance and Counseling, and purchase school supplies at the LS Bookstore.

Regular students will also have access to classrooms in the PLDT-Convergent Technologies Center (CTC) building, Science Education Complex (SEC) B and C, Schmitt, Faura and Gonzaga Halls, Ateneo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (AMPC) cafeteria, and the chapel.

Another memorandum also stated that all individuals granted campus access should enroll in the Blue Pass system for health monitoring and campus tracing purposes. They will also need to submit the Health Survey Form 24 hours before their pre-approved visit to generate their Blue Pass IDs.

After accomplishing this, students and their parents will have to sign the LS Co-Responsibility and Co-Accountability Undertaking to signify their commitment to all provided campus safety protocols.

That said, Vilches clarified that on-site organizational activities are still prohibited, and that access to the Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) Building and John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center (JSEC) is limited. Nonetheless, CHED already approved athletic training in bubble setups within the campus as long as the athletes are fully vaccinated.

In line with such safety precautions, Vilches said that all visitors must be fully vaccinated and registered with PhilHealth or any equivalent medical insurance that covers COVID-19 medical expenses.

Next steps forward

In an interview with The GUIDON, Office of Health Services (OHS) Director Henrietta Dela Cruz said that OHS teleconsultation lines, as well as the Office of the University Physician, will remain open to all students, faculty, and staff as it had been since the beginning of the pandemic.

Dela Cruz also shared that as of February 2, the student population has an 85% vaccination rate. To promote vaccine efficacy, the OHS has been holding webinars and working alongside the Office of Human Resource Management and Organization Development to obtain booster shots for the University Vaccination Program.

She further stated that the Ateneo Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching has been training faculty on how to engage students in online learning and that the LS administration has begun to revise and create new policies to ensure a safe environment in AY 2022-2023.

“[The administration has] several plans beginning from the creation of a more responsive curriculum, practicums, and innovations in the learning environment and content [and] more safety protocols to provide a safe haven for students to pursue studies with less risk,” said Dela Cruz.

School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) Dean Raphael D. Guerrero PhD added that he is happy that the school adopted a “very scientific approach” for going back on-site. 

“[My] hope is that LS remains open in terms of listening to concerns from our students or faculty members or staff, all the stakeholders in the community, and we find the best way forward. Hopefully, it will be science that guides us, the welfare of each other that inspires us, and it will not be fear that drives our decisions,” he said.

The road ahead

With the city government’s approval of the LS campus facilities, Guerrero cites scheduling as SOSE’s major roadblock in implementing on-site classes. He hopes that SOSE and its students can keep open lines of communication to allow the school to create better schedules for on-site classes and lower the risk of infection among students.

“We are compliant with minimum safety regulations. In fact, we have surpassed the standards of the city local government unit, and that’s not surprising when we tend to surpass everyone else’s standards,” he said.

However, should on-site classes be delayed again, he said that this should not affect the school’s quality of learning because the whole academic year was meant to be held online before the administration took up the opportunity to pilot on-site classes instead.

Although Guerrero mentioned that students have been able to run their laboratory tests successfully at home, he still stressed the importance of the on-site setup for SOSE students.

“What they have at home is nothing compared to what they have access to in our laboratory, so that’s why we do hope to have them back on campus. […] We’re just hoping that they will get a chance to fire up their lasers, conduct experiments in the biology laboratories with the microscopes, and conduct science experiments with their 3D printers and other world-class equipment we have in SOSE,” he said.