THAT’S NOT CLICKING UNC!

The University of Nueva Caceres is known for its mantra, “Non-Scholae Sed Vitae” which means “Not of school but of life” that aims to hone its students to be well-rounded citizens of this country who are ready to serve the Filipino people using their talents, skills, and learnings. For years, the university became an education ally, especially for every Bicolano, particularly through its wide range of scholarship grants from the Academic Achievement Scholarship, President Jaime Hernandez Scholarship, Sports Scholarship Program, and Student Assistantship Scholarship Program allowing students who don’t have enough means to afford private education an opportunity to pursue their dreams.

However, a commotion on social media especially on Facebook happened when a student raised concern about not being granted a discount despite being qualified under the rules of the Academic Achievement Scholarship Program. The post sparked a conversation where a lot of students shared the same sentiment and were confused as to why they haven’t received the scholarship grant that they worked hard for. In order to shed light on this matter, the publication immediately consulted the Scholarships and Grants Office headed by Mrs. Matet Fajardo where she then confirmed that there’s a new policy in order to be a grantee of the said scholarship wherein this policy was approved by the University President as advised by the finance department. The new policy imposes a new cut-off where it highly depends on the population of each department however the SGO failed to provide the main basis of the new cutoff. This news brought justified sadness and outrage from the students, especially since this policy is made without student consultation and utmost consideration.

The sudden imposition of this new policy is evidently contrary to the university’s core value of respecting each other and working as a team and an outright disrespect to student’s rights which is to be involved in genuine consultation on tuition and miscellaneous fee increases, as well as on all material changes in policies and rules directly affecting students’ rights and welfare as stipulated in the University Student Government Constitution specifically under Article III Section I.

In the administration’s defense, according to SGO, they failed to inform the student body because their office was not invited during the Orientation Seminar or the SIKHAY 2022. This excuse is absurd to its core since there are so many ways to inform the students about this matter, especially during the planning stage like coordinating with the University Student Government (USG), college councils, and the publication to name a few. This excuse will definitely not bury the fact that they failed to consult and inform one of their key stakeholders— the students. It’s also gut-wrenching to hear such an excuse from the administration given that the matter at hand involves money, something that everyone is having difficulty putting up with brought by the pandemic.

Another thing, this newly imposed scholarship policy is truly questionable, not only because this is imposed without explanation but also because this year, the university had its 5% Tuition Fee and Other Expenses Increase (TOFI) stating that there is a need for additional funding to cater more scholars this academic year. After failing to provide a valid basis for the said policy, the administration also failed to live up to its promise of making sure that everybody makes it.

Some may be in deep shock after hearing the news but for most UNCeans who have been in the university for years, this is not the first time that the university failed to do the bare minimum– to consult and inform the students. During the peak of the pandemic, it can be remembered that some Student Assistants (SAs) were dispersed without prior explanation or notice removing them from the opportunity to finish their studies. Let us also not forget the time when the university imposed the 50% payment of tuition fee policy in order to view grades in the portal. Also, let us not forget the recently imposed i-Hire calendar where student activities for the first semester are already calendared that only provides organizations a week per month to conduct activities. This resulted in activity congestion among organizations and burnout among student leaders, especially since most professors still do conduct class activities such as examinations and quizzes when ideally there should not be as stipulated in the i-Hire memorandum. Alarmingly, the practice of