A future-ready university

Sprawled at the foothills of the famed and enigmatic Mt. Makiling, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) campus is perhaps the most relaxing UP campus around the country.

Here, the air is crisper, too; the grass is greener and the sound of chirping birds seems louder than usual. Time also seems to move more slowly in this place with an elevation of 1,090 meters; perhaps the young Albert Einstein, as the writer and physicist Alan Lightman imagined in his novel “Einstein’s Dreams,” was right – that the farther time is from the center of Earth, the slower it moves.

But it’s not to say UPLB is letting time pass it by.

On the contrary, under the current leadership of its chancellor Dr. Jose ”Dong” Camacho Jr., the university is actually racing against time to make UPLB future-ready.

I recently had the chance to visit UPLB on the occasion of its 105th Loyalty Day and it was my honor and pleasure to sit down with Chancy Dong, as the community calls him. What a stimulating and educational interview I had as I learned about his bold agenda for UPLB.

AGORA

Chancy Dong calls it the AGORA, which stands for Accelerating Growth Through One Research & Extension in Action.

It is, in a nutshell, a research agenda which is all about making UPLB the country’s agora or marketplace for pioneering innovation, through systems thinking, solutions-making and future-proof paradigms.

“We envision a future-proof UPLB – a university that has relevance and pride of place in national development and international dialogue, one whose human resources are not only at par with, but also even exceed, those of other global institutions,” Chancy Dong said.

If this sounds too scientific which, in Filipinospeak, would make your “nose bleed,” it actually isn’t.

On a practical level, AGORA is really all about responding to the times through, say, digitalization, prioritizing research & development and allocating or sourcing more funds for such initiatives.

It’s about staying relevant in this fast changing world. The goal is to be a better institution that is at par with the world; one that produces graduates who are ready to face global challenges, and one that can help solve the country’s present and future problems through research and innovation – from food security to health issues.

In agriculture, for instance, these problems include low productivity, unprofitability and lack of competitiveness.

AGORA has four development thrusts: food security & sovereignty; one health; resilience & sustainability; and future communities.

Digital transformation

Chancy Dong, who had just been given a fresh new mandate by the Board of Regents last Oct. 5, commenced work for AGORA during his first term on Nov. 1, 2020.

“We were the first campus in the University that did digital transformation. We came up with new learning systems and processes including enrollment and registration and also future training for conducting classes online, especially during the pandemic,” he said, adding that those from the lower income brackets were given free laptops.

It was an honor to listen to Chancy Dong discuss his blueprint for UPLB’s development. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Decades ago as a student in Diliman, I had this wrong impression that UPLB was this faraway campus that focused only on rural development. Of course, I was wrong.

UPLB is actually trying to solve our problems including low food production, and so much more. Asst. to the Chancellor Dr. Eileen Lorena Mamino, during an earlier visit to UPLB last May, showed me around the campus; I saw the school’s modern laboratories filled with students cracking their brains to come up with new food products and other innovations. 
This is taxpayers’ money put to good use and it’s more than enough reason to allocate a bigger budget for our state universities.

As for Chancy Dong, I also confirmed what I heard about him long before we actually met – that he is quite a passionate and tireless leader. I jested that he is like an Energizer bunny.

But for this homegrown UPLB boss, it’s not hard to find energy for the very same university that molded him and gave him so many opportunities. An economics graduate of UPLB, Chancy Dong pursued post graduate studies in Kyoto, Japan and The Hague, Netherlands with the support of UPLB.

It was in Japan where he imbibed the values of hard work almost to the point of exhaustion, the karoshi which means something like “work to death.”

His amiable and supportive wife Roderica, also an educator, who was beside him during our interview, nods in agreement, stopping short of rolling her eyes and laughs with a tinge of helpless surrender, confirming how busy her husband can be.

It’s no surprise that Chancy Dong already accomplished so much during his first term, such as crafting and jumpstarting AGORA.

“He accomplished in three years what others could not accomplish in six years,” said Dr. Resty Collado, president of the UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science Alumni Association.

Chancy Dong, however, said this could only be possible with the support of UPLB stakeholders, including its alumni members.

After more than an hour, our interview is done. I am grateful for the opportunity and I was blown away and excited by the endless possibilities.

I am looking forward to seeing UP lead the way in helping this country achieve food and health security and create better communities for the future.

Time, as Einstein’s Dreams theorized, may be moving a few seconds slower in places like Los Baños, but the Camacho-led UPLB is certainly not wasting time. Congratulations to Chancy Dong and his indefatigable team!

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on Facebook.