IN AN effort to strengthen university formation and support administrative services, the former Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (OADSA) and Office of Administrative Services (OAS) have been restructured.

In a memorandum released by Vice President for the Loyola Schools (VPLS) John Paul Vergara to the university on August 6, Vergara explained that the offices of LS formation and administrative and student support had been formally reorganized since August 3.

The OADSA has been renamed to the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Formation (OADSF), while the (OAS) has been changed to the Office of the Associate Dean for Student and Administrative Services (OADSAS).

Former OAS Director Marie Joy Salita is currently the ADSAS, while Roberto Guevara now holds the position of ADSF.

Moreover, the new LS structure involves grouping non-academic offices into two clusters.

The Student and Administrative Services Cluster, headed by Salita, is comprised of the Offices for Student Services, Guidance and Counselling Services, Facilities and Sustainability, Management Information Systems, Health Services, and the LS Bookstore.

Under Guevara is the Student Formation Cluster, which consists of the Office of the Campus Ministry, Placement and Career Services, Student Activities, Social Concern and Involvement, College Athletics, and the Physical Education Program.

The OADSAS is located at Gonzaga Hall Room 205A, while the OADSF holds office at Room 102 of the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership.

According to Vergara, the restructure was made to increase efficiency and coordination among the offices.

Behind the changes

Prior to the restructuring, 19 to 21 offices reported directly to Vergara, which, according to him, made the hierarchy of units look “flat.”

He said that clustering concerned offices helps increase efficiency through the appointment of individuals who can focus more on their respective functions.

“If you want some kind of coordination in a particular way, what you need is a group or appoint a person that can take care of and run with the ball,” Vergara said.

He also said that gathering offices of the same nature provides more opportunities for collaboration and “clearer alignment of activities.”

According to Salita, the information will be more streamlined and work will be more productive now because office transactions will be forwarded to their respective associate deans instead of the VPLS.

Guevara shared the same sentiments, saying that “hopefully, formation efforts would be more synergized because all these different offices come together under a particular umbrella.”

The restructure also aimed to establish tighter coordination, which means increasing efficiency and determining service level agreements.

A service level agreement is an agreement between offices and clients discussing details of nature, quality, and scope of service.

Another objective behind the restructure is to allow a wider representation of non-academic concerns.

Salita explained that the existing associate deans for Academic Affairs, for Graduate Programs, and for Research and Creative Work are all representative of areas of academic concerns.

“[Vergara] hopes to have that [representative] voice for the non-academic needs,” Salita said.

New direct appointments

Aside from major changes in the support and formation clusters, two new individuals have been appointed to report directly to Vergara.

Rene San Andres took on a new role as Assistant to the VPLS for Formation, while Carolyn Natividad assumed the position of Assistant to the VPLS for Student Discipline.

According to Vergara, San Andres will help him complete the formational aspect of the university.

“Formation spans a lot, not just student formation. There are sectors in the Ateneo community that we have not been paying attention to, [including] parents [and] alumni,” he said.

Meanwhile, Natividad will be working closely with the OADSAS in handling disciplinary matters.

“[Natividad] will guide the process with the student services [because] the entry point [of any complaint will be] the ADSAS,” Vergara added.

Post-restructure

Some of the offices that were left unaffected by the restructure include Offices of the Registrar, Admission and Aid (OAA), and the Residence Halls.

Vergara said that while the Office of the Registrar is service-related, its system is being centralized in the university.

He added that the Residence Halls is too big for a unit, and that he “did not want too much on the plate of the student and administrative services cluster.”

Meanwhile, decisions and pertinent matters on admission are under his direct supervision, making the OAA stand on its own.

For the offices included in the restructuring, Vergara will monitor how the interplay among the offices under the two clusters will work.

The review of the VPLS will be the basis for future unit relocations, depending on whether they lean more towards support or formation or outside of the two groups.

Visions

According to Guevara, the ADSF is encouraging better student involvement in formation initiatives.

Guevara stated that “one important thrust of the cluster is to move towards greater and greater and greater empowerment of students.”

To concretize their vision of strengthening student involvement and empowerment, the ADSF plans to invite and coordinate with student representatives to join an established council composed of representatives from the offices under the Student Formation cluster.

“I think what we want to do for the coming year is to intentionally bring in students into the planning [and running] of the programs, and into the very evaluation of the programs,” Guevara said.

Salita stated that the OADSAS aims to uphold a client-centered mindset and envisions itself to be a one-stop shop where the people, processes, and technology are all integrated by systematically processing support services for its clients.

The OADSAS also imagines a virtual concept where student and administrative services can be accessed through a developed website for easier transactions, such as procuring a copy of grades or revising personal information.

“We hope to be seen as a cluster that is really working towards that one-stop service vision when it comes to all the student services, and even administrative services,” Salita said.

Meanwhile, Vergara hopes that through collaboration, greater efficiency can be achieved.

“I think [efficiency] can only happen if they, as a cluster, they coordinate a lot. Otherwise, it can be just [dependent] on whatever their area of jurisdiction will be all about,” he said.