The UPLB College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) marked the beginning of its External Quality Assurance (EQA) Assessment with an opening program on Sept. 11, 2023.

Dr. Myra G. Borines, director of the UPLB Quality Assurance Office, explained that EQA is anything related to quality assurance that is driven from outside the institution and which evaluates or assesses the institution as a whole or regarding a certain topic.

The UP EQA is based on the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) framework and has six types, from A to F. 

Type A is EQA by external reviewers within the constituent university (CU), while Type B is by external reviewers from another CU. Type C combines Type A and B, while Type D is by external local or international reviewers from outside UP. Type E is by a local assessment or accreditation body, while Type F is by an international assessment/accreditation body.

The CAS EQA is a Type A assessment. Its BS Biology program is also preparing to undergo a Type F assessment in 2024.

Dr. Maribel L. Dionisio-Sese, CAS dean, welcomed the faculty and assessors who had assembled for the opening program. She talked about the importance of quality assurance as well as the readiness of the college to undergo EQA.

UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho Jr. said in his message that quality assurance was of “paramount importance” and “very high in our agenda.”

He also acknowledged that QA was a very rigorous and laborious process, relating his own experiences in QA during his time as the UPLB Graduate School dean.

Camacho expressed his belief that QA was not a task delegated solely to administrators and deans but something that should be made a regular and integrated part of university operations and practiced even by individual faculty members. He also said that with UPLB offering more new programs, QA was more important than ever.

The assessment will run from Sept. 11 to Dec. 15, 2023. It will involve 20 undergraduate programs and two graduate programs of UPLB. (Albert Geoffred B. Peralta)