Neve Dy, a first-year student from BA Political Science expressed her discontent during the enlistment period owing to UP’s sudden announcement of new academic policies just days before the semester began.

“Our program wasn’t clear in their instruction on which curriculum we should be following,” said Dy, adding that during the preenlistment there was confusion within her department whether they should take 12 or 15 units.

The Office of the Vice President on Academic Affairs on August 29 implemented Memorandum No. 2022-127, removing the academic easing policies in effect since classes shifted to remote mode in 2020. The order lifted policies such as the no-fail policy, and suspension of the maximum residency rule (MRR). The OVPAA also reverted the minimum load for an undergraduate student to 15 units.

“After due deliberation, the PAC approved the following policies, affirming its position that as the national university, UP is committed to exerting every effort to ensure that its [students] … possess the competence, grit and agility to overcome adversities … while giving due consideration to the difficult circumstances of individual students on a case-to-case basis,” the memo stated.

“We only found out about these guidelines after we registered. I asked a lot of people in the [Office of the University Registrar] about it and even they were confused. It’s good that I got full units, but I’m a freshman and I have overheard from my seniors that a lot of them are underloaded,” Dy said.

It is not just students who were caught by surprise with the new policy. Speech 30, one of the required general education courses, was noted to have 46 sections this semester, each with 20 to 21 students, totaling to 922 slots. This is opposed to the first semester of AY 2021-2022, which offered 49 sections, each with 20 to 21 students, totaling 981 slots. Still, many students are demanding additional slots through the teacher's prerogative or “prerog.”

“It was our main concern that the minimum load was back at 15 units, as it meant that the demand for slots [in all classes] would be increased,” said Sherie Ponce, program head for Speech Communication of the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts.

While the department considered increasing the number of slots for the course, Ponce explained that it was set aside as the proposal would take a toll on the wellbeing of teachers. As a solution to the demand for this semester, the department opted to have faculty members, both full-time and part-time lecturers, teach an extra class. But still, the quick fix was not enough to cover the course demand that reached over a thousand during the peak of enlistment.

Regular faculty in the university may only teach a total of 24 units per academic year. Increasing class slots will force faculty members to overload, much to their detriment.

For next semester, the department plans to release course demand sensing forms to prioritize graduating students for Speech 30. However, their main concern remains that the demand for Speech 30 far exceeds the number of teachers that can handle students in the online setup. “Rest assured, the department is doing everything we can to satisfy the demand,” Ponce said.

Though academic easing remains a short-term fix, a number of groups in UP Diliman have called for the institutionalization of all academic easing policies. One of these policies focuses on institutionalizing the 12-unit minimum load of all students. By reverting to a 12-unit minimum, the demand for highly sought-after classes will lower, at least for now.

“UP has to consider the units and subjects the students involved [in face-to-face classes] are taking, as not all classes have transitioned to the face-to-face set-up, while some only have face-to-face exams,” said Angela Mistranza, a member of the College of Social Science and Philosophy Freshie, Shiftee and Transferee Council.

On Thursday, the UP System announced that it will allow 100 percent in-person classes for undergraduate courses for the next semester. UP, however, said that the implementation of the 100-percent in-person courses is still being “finalized.”

But even before the announcement, and before the semester even began, the UP Diliman University Student Council already emphasized their call for the continuation of academic ease policies. 

“The council continues to fulfill its mandate to protect the welfare of the student body by joining the fight for upholding genuine academic ease, along with ensuring a safe reopening of classes,” the council stated in a Facebook post in August 2022. ●

With reports from Kenli Rey Diaz.