Filomeno Aguilar Jr., PhD takes over Fr. Jose Cruz, SJ

AFTER TWELVE years under the helm of Fr. Jose Cruz, SJ, the School of Social Sciences (SOSS) is welcoming a new leader.

Filomeno Aguilar Jr. of the History Department has been appointed as the new dean of SOSS by the Ateneo de Manila University Board of Trustees, with his initial three-year term set to begin on April 1.

Cruz has been serving as the dean of SOSS since the former School of Arts and Sciences restructured into the four Loyola Schools back in 2000.

Aguilar, a native Bicolano, attended the Ateneo de Naga High School after his primary education in his local parochial school. He moved to the Ateneo de Manila for his tertiary education and graduated cum laude with a degree in management engineering in 1977.  Through a scholarship grant, he took his masters in economics degree at the University of Wales and went on to Cornell University for his doctorate degree.

He also worked as a lecturer at James Cook University in Australia and at the National University of Singapore.

Aguilar is currently the chair of the Rizal Library Board. He is in the editorial board of various internationally refereed journals, and serves as the editor-in-chief of Philippine Studies. He is also the president of the Philippine Sociological Society, and holds major positions in related organizations.

Continuing a legacy

Aguilar acknowledges the major responsibility of holding the top post in SOSS, and says that Cruz’s achievements during the past decade serves as a foundation on which he can build upon.

“The School of Social Sciences has already achieved so many great things in the past twelve years under Fr. Joey [Cruz]. We will build on these strengths and then we will carry them forward,” Aguilar says.

Colleague and former student Michael Pante, an instructor at the History Department and an assistant editor for Philippine Studies, said that Aguilar’s appointment is well-deserved. “I believe that Dr. Aguilar will be an effective dean, given that he leads by example,” he says.

World-class caliber

Among Aguilar’s major tasks as the new dean are the improvement of collaboration among the different departments of the school and the promotion of interdisciplinary research and faculty publications.

Aguilar wants teaching and research in SOSS to become more globally competitive. Part of his vision for the school is to strengthen its international studies programs, further develop Philippine studies, and explore the possibility of adding more Asian and international perspectives to all of the courses offered.

He says that this is one way of preparing the Ateneo community for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration in 2015. This integration is an initiative to narrow the development gap between ASEAN members and between ASEAN and the rest of the world through cooperation and mutual assistance.

“It will not just be economic integration; there will also be a lot of cultural and social exchanges,” he says. “One of the movements is to make sure that course offerings across ASEAN would be comparable.”

Aguilar envisions SOSS to be the hub of Philippine studies which can attract other regions to be interested in the country and to be a foundation for the promotion of national identity among the students.

He also acknowledged the potential of the Junior Term Abroad (JTA) program, adding that he seeks for more student participation in the program in SOSS. As JTA for SOSS is relatively more recent compared to the already well-established offering in the John Gokongwei School of Management, Aguilar says the SOSS JTA program is still in need of more fine-tuning.

One particular concern, he says, is ensuring that students can experience an educational and meaningful semester abroad yet still be able to graduate on time.

Sense of community

As the new dean, Aguilar wants to instill a sense of openness and community among the students and faculty of the school.

“I [would] really like the students of the School of Social Sciences [to] have a sense of belonging to the school,” Aguilar says. He adds that he wants the students to perceive the dean’s office as “open and accessible” to all. Obtaining input and feedback from students is an integral part of his plan to make student participation in the school more inclusive.

Aside from promoting a two-way interaction with the students, Aguilar also wants to tap the potential of the school’s faculty by encouraging them to participate in international conferences and to engage in research. “We have a lot of talented faculty who have a track record in publications,” he says. “We would like to see them mentoring younger faculty to participate in research and publication.”

Since the number and quality of faculty-published works is one of the major criteria considered in university world rankings, Aguilar wants SOSS to have clear interdisciplinary research clusters that will utilize the existing research interests of the faculty while instigating the interplay of ideas.

He also says that increased connectivity with other departments and engaging in faculty and student exchanges would help SOSS in improving its standards vis-à-vis the international community.