My HAPI Agenda for USMFAI

 As a gesture of gratitude to my fellow faculty members for the trust,  I am reiterating our HAPI agenda. 

House in order

Let us put our house in order. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I recognize that my election is not an absolute majority. For me, there is a meaning to that. We need to listen. To be the voice, we need to listen first. That is why, we shall conduct massive consultations and FGDs to revisit our vision and mission as an organization as it navigate the intricacies of the university. What services do we intend to give to our members given the statutes and limitations set by oversight agencies such as SEC, DOLE and CSC? We need to gather thoughts and aspirations of our members. We need to review, and if needed, revise our constitution and by-laws. A CBL that embodies our collective aspirations, an organizational structure that enables efficient services to our members. WHO ARE WE IN USM?

Advocate of rights and welfare

We need to review our role in the workplace. We need to reflect upon different CSC and internal rules. We need to review workplace rules such that it enables a work environment for creativity to flourish. We need to see the contracts entered into by individuals and make sure that it will not be grossly disadvantegous to each faculty in the long run. We need to conduct periodic advocacy campaigns to remind us of our social contract with our clients. WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS AS A FACULTY MEMBER OF USM?

Partnership for Strength

We need to establish meaningful partnerships with various actors in the university to position our association in a strategic advantage. With the administration, we need to maximize our participation in its operations and make sure that our ideals are mainstreamed. We need to capacitate our org representatives to actively pursue people-oriented programs during policy making, planning, budgeting, procurement, recruitment, promotion, learning and development, rewards and recognition, performance management, CNA negotiation, etc. Representation will not be centered around the FA President. We will field specialists on each administrative processes and reflect upon its impact to faculty. We will also make dialogues with USMASSA, USMECCO, USG, MIT-USMAAI and other non-affiliated groups (COS, JOs) whom we view as essential partners in faculty advancement. You will expect that the FA Board meetings will concentrate on current issues and anticipate future challenges.  If there is a need to make new policies, we will bring it to the BOR. HOW ARE WE GOING TO CO-MANAGE USM AS A FACULTY?

Incentives for Productivity

We will review current incentives structures. Beyond the monetary consideration, we shall maximize the availment of non-monetary incentives such as health and wellness, learning and development opportunities, flexiplace, flexitimes, step increments, etc. An engaged workforce is not only about money, it is about knowing that USM values its people. HAPPY FACULTY HAPPY UNIVERSITY. 

This agenda is not yet perfect. Same as we cannot do it alone. We need your help in building a better association. 

(My campaign platform during the Dec 18, 2024 USM Faculty Association Elections)

A culture of extraction

I pitied the status of student organizations nowadays. I do not know if they realize their importance. I do not know if they realize their responsibilities to their members. Current online debates point towards officers demanding obligations from their members but setting aside their responsibilities to them. My impression is that student organizations nowadays have become a victim of a culture of extraction.

Leading is not about forcing others to follow you but it is about you being a natural magnet for others to follow. Is there freedom when you force others to be free? I still maintain my position that membership in student organizations should be free (see previous article). But the current status of student organizations led me to another perspective on looking at them. What I see are organization who are extractive. I see organizations who look at members as cash cows. It is not just milking the cow but peeling the leather out of them.  

During the enrolment time this school year, the administration was criticized initially because of their decision to demand full miscellaneous fees. But others failed to see is that organizations have their own enrolment demands. In some colleges, one cannot proceed enrolment unless they paid up their "obligations" to these organizations. We ask them to pay outright but delay provision of their needs. And when members demand services, officers would reply, "Kayo na lang ang mag-officer. Akala niyo madali ang maging officer?" It is where there is deadlock. Officers do not clearly see their responsibilities. That they have the responsibility to be creative in the financial management. That funds does not always come from members. And only the best leaders can see this. I dream of organizations which conduct activities without contribution from members. Your schoolmates are not richie rich kids and every centavo is important.

Sometimes student organization are being used by some faculty to perform tasks in the name of student development when they cannot provide these services. When we cannot provide an equipment, we let them contribute for themselves. We say that they have provided a little so they need to provide more by themselves. Since we cannot just impose higher tuition and matriculation fees because of the restrictions imposed by the government, we insinuate our student leaders to perform by forcing their members to contribute. The burden was pass on to student organizations. I remember one time that a faculty member would organize a seminar about his subject and invite external speakers. Using an organization, students would contribute for this seminar. What I do not understand is that the seminar was about his subject which he could lectured on in the class in the first place. If he do not have the capacity to deliver the lecture, then at least he should have financed the seminar. Afterall, the students have paid the tuition fee for that particular subject. This is where a student organization become an accomplice of a faculty's waterloo.

This is where state universities fail. We lament the inadequacies of the government and so we turn our attention to our students. But to what extent? There should be a limit or else we find ourselves delivering mediocre service to students who are paying more fees than when they should have been in a private school. Giving more than the expense of an individual student is the essence of a state university.