To be a Vice President: Inside the Mind of New VP for RDE Francis Ann Sy
Francis Ann Sy assumed the office of the Vice President for Research, Development and Extension (RDE) on Jan.12, 2015. Since then, Sy has held meetings with academic department heads, RDE directors and academic RDE coordinators to discuss her thrust on the implementation of the revised RDE Manual and additional new guidelines related to research and extension.
Weeks after she assumed her new office, Sy reveals her views on her new assignment.
“When I came to this campus, I saw a lot of opportunities as well as challenges,” said Sy who holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of San Carlos, a Masters degree in Teaching Mathematics from the University of Cebu and a PhD in Research and Evaluation from Cebu Normal University. “I held meetings not knowing the people I would be meeting. I learn that there are RDE-related problems in departments, and that tackling them seemed to take a while.”
“But I view it differently. I see it as a mindset. They had a mindset of encountering difficulty and that’s what persisted. I had a mindset of accomplishing what I needed to do.”
“Some may find the new reforms somewhat challenging, but they are necessary. For one, accreditors will demand to see records of student researches, even a student research journal. The idea also of an RDE director as a panelist in a student presentation may be difficult to absorb, but this is needed to elevate the quality of our student researches.”
“And then we need to come strong in the next accreditation from every angle of evaluation.”
Sy was previously the director for RDE at the SLSU-Tomas Oppus campus.
New Rules
Since January, after meetings with department heads and RDE coordinators, the Vice President has undertaken the RDE Manual Orientation for SLSU’s campuses – Feb. 17 at SLSU-Bontoc, March 11 at SLSU-San Juan, and a coming faculty orientation of the RDE Manual will be held at the Main Campus this March.
Here’s a sampling of the changes already at hand.
|
Area |
What’s New |
|
Student Research Evaluation |
Degree programs will involve research subjects as part of the curricular offering of the laboratory high school, undergraduate and graduate programs. RDE director or R&D Unit Head of the campus will serve as Chairperson in the Students’ Research Committee (SRC) evaluation The SRC will be composed of: · The RDE Director or R&D Head as Chairperson · Student’s Adviser who will act as Secretary · Dean of Undergraduate Studies or Department Head as members · Statistician as member · An expert as member |
|
Conduct of Research, Development and Extension Activities |
Research, development and extension projects, studies and activities shall not be implemented unless they have been duly reviewed and evaluated by the Research, Development and Extension Review and Evaluation Committee (RDEREC) and approved by campus administrators (for external campuses) or by the President (main campus). Approved research and extension projects already given funding and ready for implementation shall be numbered accordingly by Accounting for easy tracking of funds No research, development and extension activity shall be recognized by the RDE office if the aforementioned requirements are not complied. |
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Proposal Presentation |
Proposals to be submitted one week before the RDEREC evaluation. Late submissions will not be considered for presentation on the scheduled date but can be accommodated in the next RDEREC session in other campuses. |
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Claims for Overload |
For one research or extension proposal approved by the RDEREC, an equivalent of 3 workload units will be given to a faculty member after submission of a progress report with about fifty per cent completion of the approved workplan. Completed research and extension will also be given another equivalent of 3 workload units provided it is presented to the Research, Development and Extension Review and Evaluation Committee (RDEREC) and has complied with the suggestions of the committee. |
|
External Research Presentations |
Faculty members who wish to present their research in an external research congress or fora shall submit to the RDE office the copy of their paper to be presented. RDE will then submit to the sponsoring organization or agency the research paper before the researcher can avail of travel and registration funding from the university. The proper process in the application for travel in external research presentation shall be followed. Travels to be approved by the Office of the President should pass through RDE for countersigning. Endorsement by the RDE office shall be secured first before application for external paper presentation can be done. The RDE office will not endorse researches for presentation in organizations that require exorbitant registration fees. |
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Rating for RDE Activities |
The RDE directors of the five campuses, shall undertake the rating of faculty members in evaluations that involve performance on research, development and extension. The faculty member’s role in the extension activity must be clearly defined. He will also be rated according to the number of beneficiaries in the extension activity. |
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Nature of Extension Activities to be Undertaken |
Faculty members shall undertake both PRAISE and institutional extension activities. Extension activities without a research component will not be allowed. Extension activity must be related to expertise of the department. |
Newsletter
RDE will also be releasing starting March a monthly newsletter of research, development and extension activities of the Main campus.
Plans in the Pipeline
Various plans for the year have also been assembled consisting of trainings to amp up the research capabilities of the university’s faculty. Incentives are also asked for the editorial board of SLSU’s two journals – the Journal of Educational and Human Resource Development and the Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology.
RDE will be sending again this March a group of instructors to continue the training on Fractal Statistical Inference.