San Beda College: News

Living Academic Leadership
Rev. Father Aloysius Ma. A. Maranan, OSB
Speech of the Rector-President of San Beda College
First Anniversary of the Investiture
Abbot Lopez Hall, San Beda College
July 22, 2011

A year ago at my investiture as the 22nd Rector-President of San Beda College, I began with a quote from the Rule of Saint Benedict which rings true to this day:

“Listen, O my son, to the precepts of your master, and incline the ear of your heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of your loving Father, that by the toil of obedience you may return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience you have gone away.

To you, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up your own will, take up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.”

The Rt. Rev. Father Abbot Tarcisio Ma. H. Narciso, OSB, my dear brother monks in the Benedictine community, Members of the Board of Trustees, Officers of the San Beda College Alumni Association, UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Ramon Arcadio, vice-presidents, deans, administrators, faculty, and staff, friends, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you all for coming. Last year I said that “university and college investitures are rare and bright occasions, awashed in touching rituals, colourful academic regalia, flowing hymns, roaring cheers, and deep symbols. In medieval fashion, it is almost like a prelude to a fight.”

But hindsight is always 20/20 and after a year of reflecting, I now know that leading this 110-year institution cannot be summed up as a “fight” as if there are clear lines of winning and losing and there are winners and losers. Indeed, nothing can be farther from this stereotype.

Academic leadership, I found out, is about living and opening up oneself to the everyday pains and joys, triumphs and struggles, hurts and affirmations, fears and faith within and beyond the walls of this campus. It is the ultimate humbling experience. Although I can say that a part of me is technically prepared for the demands of the job, another part of me, I must admit, continues to be unravelled before myself as well as in the eyes of many as I face daily the many-sided roles I have to play as Rector-President.

I come before you today not to talk about our collective accomplishments in the past year as these may be rather too presumptuous or too early. Allow me instead to share with you my thoughts about this journey of rectorship and how, in my view, these will guide and allow us to frame who we are and accomplish the goals we have in the immediate two years.

Perhaps it may be best for me to use some images to encapsulate how I have approached and seen the job as rector-president of San Beda College.

First, the image of an architect comes into mind. I have heard people say that regardless of who the rector-president is, San Beda College, like a trusted train, will run because it is San Beda College. We don’t really have to lift a finger. No matter what happens, students come because we are somehow always on top of the public mind. Let it be clear that thoughts such as these are unacceptable and not even the unprecedented surge of enrolment in the College of Arts and Sciences should delude us. It is my role as rector-president to shatter this myth and guard against every manifestation of hubris.

As stewards of the legacy bequeathed by the Benedictine fathers before us, we are called to work every day to surpass the flames of passion and commitment that they lit up a hundred ten years ago. False pride, indolence, self-absorption, complacency and a lack of curiosity will find us solitary and bereft as our peer colleges and universities explore new and exciting frontiers.

Over the past twelve months, I have worked periodically with the Vice-Presidents for Academic Affairs, Finance and Services as well as the deans of colleges and the director of the Basic Education Program in reviewing, examining and solidifying the infrastructure of the college and arriving at a blueprint for change. Specifically, we have created the Academic Council which has served as a common platform and space for advocating changes in institutional practices as well as rationalizing rules, roles, procedures, coordinating mechanisms, technologies and policies and aligning these with the school’s mission, vision and purpose.

It has not been an easy task. After all, these blueprints for change magnify to us the layers of issues and problems that have summoned us to the planning table in the first place. Within the next few months, before the second semester of this academic year, we hope to put in synch the operations of the Finance division and Services with those of the Academic Affairs division and start documenting these in an institutional manual of operations.

Amidst these plethora of issues, let it be clear, however, that from my vantage point as architect, I fully acknowledge that central to building a solid educational infrastructure is having a bright and competent corps of faculty—they who are at the frontlines of teaching, conducting research and engaging in community programs.

Faculty development is pivotal to San Beda College’s push for excellence, scholarly productivity, growth and competitiveness. If we are to be the best hospital, as it were, we have to get the best doctors. Within a reasonable and practical timetable, I hope to institute a rationalized faculty recruitment and development program that will allow us to attract the best teachers and researchers from the most respectable universities and colleges and have a share of returning Filipino scholars from abroad. As we place premium on faculty development, particularly through a rationalized ranking and compensation structure, the school benefits from the increasing quality and quantity of faculty research, top-rate instruction and meaningful community engagements that expand frontiers for our students and San Beda College as a whole.

San Beda College needs to be where the whole world is going in basic and higher education and we need a new game plan. I believe that a single-minded focus on faculty development, as a central and integrative component of our infrastructure, handles more than half of the battle for the college, not only in terms of the global expectations for sustained scholarly productivity, quality research and instruction but on the overall student learning outcomes. At a larger scale, it signifies our earnestness in the collaborations and partnerships we have forged in the past year such as with University of Newcastle in Australia, Universitas Wityatama, Universitas Persada, Universitas Pajadjaran and Institut Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia, Manila Observatory of the Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of the Philippines, both in Manila and Diliman. Already there are on-going discussions for international linkages with universities in Vietnam, Malaysia, the Royal Institution of Singapore, National University of Singapore and the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. As we continue to venture beyond our campus and engage the world, we also have to ensure that our scholars can effectively join the global conversations and deliver the goods on behalf of San Beda College.

In light of this, may I ask the Vice-President for Finance, Father Rafaelito Alaras together with the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Professor Ricardo Palo and the Director of the Research, Planning and Development Center, Dr. Napoleon K. Juanillo, Jr., to lead the design of a comprehensive program for faculty development, gleaning adaptable best practices and lessons of leading universities in the country as well as abroad. Part of this mandate is to also identify potential resources that can be tapped to fund scholarships, research projects, laboratories, special libraries, instructional innovations, and possibly an endowment fund for salaries of outstanding faculty.

The second image that I use in living my work as rector-president is that of a community organizer, albeit perhaps on a much larger scale. San Beda College, like many campuses, is a web of complexity and uniqueness. Administrators, faculty, staff, students, and alumni mirror a diversity of values, beliefs, interests, behaviours, skills, goals, and worldviews. In the past twelve months, I have given impetus to the deans to celebrate this diversity, encourage questioning, and reward creativity and innovation. We have had candid conversations with the faculty through the faculty associations as well as the school union through its officers.

To recognize academic diversity, we have expanded the range of grant opportunities to allow faculty to develop and test new instructional methods and materials, attend local and international conferences, and support additional data analysis work for accepted research papers. As well, we have applied for new degree programs on Human Biology, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Sports Science under the College of Arts and Sciences.

Last year, we succeeded in opening up the campus as an arena of free speech as we revived the collegiate paper, The Bedan, and hosted forums on controversial social issues such as reproductive health and the peace talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front. We have seen a flourishing of active student organizations across campus which we supported through the conduct of leadership development programs and witnessed a revitalized and raucous Christmas party and Frolics participated in and enjoyed by all, especially by the non-teaching personnel and their families.

The third image, which is close to my heart, is that of family. One of the hallmarks of the past year, I believe, is the significantly palpable atmosphere of campus peace and harmony. While it is true that we have to constantly check our alignment with the standards of the academic world, it is a remarkable source of pride for any institution to have caring and cooperative environments. I wish to qualify that I am not and will never be solely responsible for this, but it is YOU my dear brothers and sisters who have made it possible and let us all give ourselves a round of applause.

No event of the past year can be more indicative of our life as a family than on that fateful Sunday of September 26, 2010 when several of our students from the College of Law got seriously hurt when a bomb was hurled on innocent supporters of bar examinees. Bedans, old and young, stepped up to the plate. We all came as ONE to aid the victims and their families. It was, indeed, one of the proudest moments of our lives as Bedans.

A few weeks later on October 19th, we were united this time in euphoria as the school clinches the NCAA Basketball Championships for both the senior and junior teams, and made history for the 18-0 sweep.

On the academic side, we honoured our topnotchers in the CPA licensure examinations and proved to our peers that we have always been deserving of the PAASCU accreditation of our Accountancy program. Our College of Law proved once again its notable constancy and national renown in delivering high passing marks in the bar examinations. Our College of Nursing, even amidst a national downturn in enrolment, held on to quality as exhibited by the above national average passing marks of its licensure examinees, and is gearing up for a move towards accreditation.

Our Basic Education Department has strengthened the Math, Science and Reading programs through strategic partnerships with resource and training providers. Our Graduate School of Business recently graduated top MBAs, with two summa cum laudes and five magna cum laudes which demonstrates for us its thrust for excellence in business education. Our Graduate School of Liturgy continues its active public engagement through the Asian Liturgy Forum and the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Liturgy. Experiencing a historical rise in enrolment, our College of Medicine continues to attract some of the country’s best applicants to medical schools.

Our beloved alumni have never failed to look back home. They worked with us tirelessly with donations for classroom renovations, building of lecture halls, professorial chair grants, community advocacies, academic scholarships for our top students, and financial support to our athletes. Bedan alumnus and UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Ramon Arcadio has moved levers of influence that enabled San Beda College to enter into a comprehensive program of collaboration in teaching and research with the Manila and Diliman campuses of the University of the Philippines.

These stories are the stuff of an institution living and throbbing as a family, and it is, for me, an indispensable frame through which to view and understand San Beda College. It is what enables me to love San Beda College.

Lastly, I live the image of a theatre coach immersed in a stage of imagination to get everyone create meaning, context, culture, commitment, and possibilities. It is one thing to get the San Beda College infrastructure running. It is a totally different story to get all of us to empathize with, feel, inspire one another, and continue to play our unique parts everyday with energy and soul. Part of our job, then, is to engender a culture that provides a symbolic bond to all our diverse contributions.

We do not have to start exactly at ground zero. By God’s grace, San Beda College is connected to over a thousand years of Benedictine tradition of prayer and work. We are heirs to a tradition of excellence—to communities around the world that have produced great art, music, poetry, literature, science, philosophy, architecture, and other legacies that now provide joy and inspiration to many.
In the past year, we have identified twelve key areas where each of us is called to demonstrate and enrich this culture of excellence such as in Benedictine identity and mission, Leadership, administration and governance, Curriculum and program offerings, Instruction, Productivity, Assurance of Learning, Instructional Resources, Quality and relevant research and intellectual contributions, Engagement of faculty and academic support personnel, High involvement in extension services, Efficient student services, Value-adding linkages, and Recognition and accreditation.

We have tasked the RPDC to help us track our performance in each of these areas, the results of which form a basis for collegial consultations and conversations that should challenge our versatility, bring us out of our comfort zones, and discover new paths towards achieving our goals.

Like any theatre, San Beda College will have to be constantly animated and engaged with the world. Neither the popular marquee of the school itself nor its illustrious alumni will save the day for us. Moreover, running the school does not rest on me alone. I am part of the team and we have to work together seamlessly--breathing life on those who seem tired or discouraged, taking on the cudgels for peers when they seem unable, keeping the faith even if from time to time we make mistakes or fall flat on our faces.

The challenges of basic and higher education in the Philippines are already upon us—the competition for the best and the brightest students and faculty, the long marathon towards meeting national and global educational standards, the urgency to be a part of discourse on emerging trends in assurance of learning, thought leadership, performance excellence, and, sadly for us, the reality of meeting even the basic minimum wage for some of our non-teaching staff. We have not much choice but to do parallel and time-bound moves to address all of these because we can be overtaken by events if we slow down or make a different turn on any of these, as we had done so in the past.

As I share with you now the frames I used to live and define academic leadership in San Beda College, I invite you to do the same—the technical frame of the architect, the social frame of the community organizer, the caring frame of family, and the inspiring frame of the theatre coach. And when you live through our your own experiences of leadership in San Beda College, you may want to add your own frames and when you do, let me know about it and how it has helped you.

We are all in this together. Certainly, we do this for San Beda College, but the good work we do here in campus must now resonate in the whole archipelago and throughout the world just as we sing:

“Bring out the challenges, we'll win them all;
And fear neither fire nor blood;
Bedans will answer the clarion call
For San Beda, our country, and God.”

Go San Beda Fight!

May God bless all of us. God bless the Philippines. Maraming salamat po at magandang umaga sa inyong lahat!