AMID THE eight-month occurrence of protests from the Higher Education Cluster (HEC) faculty, issues still persist due to the administration’s lack of compensation and agency for making various decisions.

During the Faculty Day held on March 22, among the issues tackled were Google storage, North Carpark renovation project, and salary adjustments, with an emphasis on planning for more avenues for dialogue and consultation. 

Notably, Political Science Assistant Professor Arjan Aguirre, MA, MSc explained that expanded consultation and engagement remains paramount to ensure that policies and projects are updated and aligned with the community’s needs and concerns.

Responding to the faculty’s continued issues with compensation and decision-making involvement, the administration sought to develop initiatives striving to address and alleviate these community concerns as shared during the Faculty Day.

Unaddressed concerns

Recalling the faculty’s open letter released last August 2023, Aguirre expounded that concerns regarding one-way communication and the absence of avenues for participation persist. In particular, he said that the admin’s roadshows and meetings are often one-sided and only present information the admin has already decided upon.

“I think the intention here is to make an impression that the admin is serious in having a dialogue, but [it is not a] dialogue. It’s more of a monologue, [an] information session, [a] presentation,” he stated.

During the last Faculty Day, faculty members wore black shirts to support their campaign and call for a solution to the relentless lack of communication and agency in decision-making. Aguirre explained that this initiative was a message saying that the faculty are self-aware of their concerns and are still waiting for more changes.

On that note, Aguirre added how some employment benefits promised to faculty members have remained the same since before the pandemic, citing that current inflation levels have made it “outdated.”

Despite all this, Aguirre still appreciated that the admin has been implementing measures responding to the faculty’s concerns. Namely, he commended the admin’s efforts in addressing the faculty’s limited Google Drive storage. However, he believed that more can be done to alleviate the faculty’s woes.

An ongoing problem

Last March 22, University President Roberto Yap, SJ apologized to the faculty for communication gaps, thus promising to open more lines for consultation. In addition to the recently announced Campus Mobility Forum, Yap also planned to conduct kapihan sessions and small group discussions for further faculty outreach.

To supplement the Office of the President’s communication initiatives, Vice President for Higher Education Maria Luz Vilches, PhD also mentioned during Faculty Day that her office plans to conduct more open forums with the central administration and student leaders.

With regard to faculty benefits and compensations, Vice President for Human Resources Maria Victoria Cortez, PhD explained in an interview with The GUIDON that the office will soon conduct a study to gather faculty perspectives through surveys. Cortez said that the surveys aim to assess whether the current salaries and benefits system requires an update.

“[This study] is a continuing effort to review our compensation and benefits for all employees—a good practice of an employer who wants to be competitive,” Cortez explained. According to her, the study will begin this April as preparations have already been completed.

Supplementing the study, Cortez disclosed that her office is also researching the salary systems of other private and public universities. Despite this, she said that the specific details of Ateneo’s salary policies will remain confidential to avoid competition in the salary and hiring market.

Taking action

While professors such as Aguirre acknowledged the admin’s initiatives, he pointed out possible points of improvement in deepening consultation and representation. Notably, he suggested that the Campus Mobility Forum could be better with more diversity in the people involved.

“Mayroong mga senior, seasoned, [and] respectable social scientists [in the forum,] pero baka naman pwede rin lagyan ng mga [younger faculty] (There are senior, seasoned, [and] respectable social scientists [in the forum,] but maybe we could also have younger faculty involved),” Aguirre remarked.

Regardless, Aguirre hoped that with recent efforts by the admin, various sectors of the Ateneo community will feel represented and heard, especially in policies that affect them directly.

Additionally, Cortez stated the Ateneo administration is open to allowing faculty members to participate in the decision-making process for compensation-related issues.

As such, Cortez said that starting in April, constant faculty focus group discussions will be implemented as a form of open dialogue. According to her, they aim to involve a majority of the community to openly assess what can be done with remaining faculty concerns.

Ultimately, Cortez expressed hopes that incoming initiatives will help bridge communication gaps and resolve the lingering woes brought up by the faculty.