UP in the next 100 years

Last Tuesday, the University of the Philippines (UP) launched its Centennial year celebration with a mammoth kickoff at the Diliman campus.

UP takes great pride in its past, having produced the most number of national artists (36 out of 57) and national scientists (30 out of 31), 7 out of 14 Presidents, and 12 Chief Justices of the Supreme Court.

After 100 years of producing the best scientists, engineers, and artists, UP must continue to push on towards excellence in science and technology and in the humanities.

On its second century, UP must position itself to produce a creative workforce which generates the new wealth. It must find its niche in a highly complex, competitive and innovation-driven world, and respond to the idealism and talent of the Filipino youth.

Science and technology and innovation (STI) is the direction of the future. The proven key to today's prosperity is a well-educated, technically skilled workforce producing high value goods and services. Globally, jobs and income are created through STI. Educational institutions must respond to these changes – even more so for UP, as the national university.

Recently, The Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS) World University Rankings placed UP at 398th out of 500 universities around the world, down from last year's 299th place. Attributes such as the quality of its research, research training, teaching and employability are considered significantly in the rankings.

UP's challenge is to bolster its position as the country's leading research university, firming up its science and technology programs, as well as strengthening its arts and humanities, comparable to those of the best universities in the world. To achieve that, UP must be able to develop and retain top faculty and staff.

UP's 100 years had helped shaped the nation. Now, the University finds itself in a world of rapid globalization. In its next century, UP should focus on making its academic courses internationally acceptable, its research output worthy of international recognition, and its faculty and staff ingrained with a world view. It should also forge academic tie-ups with other institutions, similar to what top universities Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Oxford and Cambridge are doing.