CHED releases list of centers of excellence, dev’t

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has released the list of higher education institutions that have been recognized as centers of excellence (COE) or centers of development (COD) in various disciplines.

CHED chairman Patricia Licuanan recently signed a memorandum identifying the institutions that have been designated as COEs or CODs in the fields of Agriculture Education, Business and Management, and Criminology.

Also covered by the memorandum were Engineering Education, Health Professions Education, Humanities, Information Technology Education, Science and Mathematics, and Social Science and Communication.

There are a total of 47 academic disciplines under the fields that were covered by the memorandum.

COE status is granted to institutions “which continuously demonstrate excellent performance in the areas of instruction, research and publication, extension and linkages and institutional qualifications.”

CODs are those that demonstrate potential for becoming a COE.

Licuanan said the designation is valid until Dec. 31, 2018 unless terminated, revoked or cancelled for non-compliance with the implementing guidelines of relevant CHED orders.

“The designated COEs and CODs may avail themselves of financial assistance on a project proposal basis geared toward the development or improvement of the programs, particularly cutting-edge technology in different disciplines,” she said.

Based on the memorandum, the different campuses of the University of the Philippines have the most COEs.

UP Los Baños was designated COE in the fields of Agriculture, Forestry, Veterinary Medicine, Information Technology, Statistics, Development Communication, and Environmental Science.

UP Diliman was designated as COE in Chemical and Geodetic Engineering, English, Foreign Language, Literature, Library and Information Science, Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geology, Marine Science, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, Anthropology, Broadcasting, Communication, History, Journalism, Political Science, Psychology, and Social Work.

UP Manila was designated a COE in Medicine and Nursing, and UP Visayas in Fisheries.

CHED has yet to release the COEs and CODs for Teacher Education and the Agricultural, Aeronautical, Civil, Electrical, Electronics, Industrial, Mechanical, Metallurgical, and Sanitary Engineering programs.

It earlier released a memorandum extending the current COE and COD designations in those programs up to March 31.