To streamline and strengthen the research efforts in the
University, the Ateneo de Zamboanga University underwent major revamps in its
different research units in the university. This is in line with the university’s thrust
towards increased quality research and publication under the five-year strategic plan, also known as the ADZUSTRATPLAN17/22.
First of the two major reforms is the renaming of the
former Ateneo Research Center (ARC). More than just a change in its name, the
new University Research Office (URO) was restructured to fine tune AdZU’s
research activities, expanding and strengthening its role in cultivating a
culture of research in the University.
Father President Karel S San Juan SJ appointed Dr Robert
V Panaguiton Dean for Research last November 2018 to head URO and coordinate
all research matters across the different units in the University. The Dean for
Research is also responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring the
university’s research initiatives as stipulated in the University’s Strategic
Plan.
The second major reform in research is the
reconstitution of the University Research and Publication Council (URPC), the
highest policy-making body for all university engagements in research and
publications. Among the URPC’s functions include setting the University
Research Agenda, crafting policies for research and publication, promoting
research through mentoring, supervision and training; reviewing and approving
research proposals, and supervising the new URO, Asia Mindanaw Journal and
Research Ethics committee. Under the new set-up, URO serves as the secretariat
of the URPC, providing clerical, logistic and technical support.
The URPC is composed of men and women “built for the
purpose,” stated newly-appointed Assistant to the Dean for Research, Gerald
James Ebal. He describes the people behind URPC as academicians equipped with
the necessary expertise and experience needed to better the community’s research
efforts. URPC is chaired by Dr Panaguiton. Its members
include Fr San Juan, Fr Marcos Louis D Catalan Jr SJ, VP for Higher Education;
Fr Stephen T Abuan SJ, VP for Basic Education; John Mayo M Enriquez, Assistant
to the President for Social Development; Dr Robin A Delos Reyes, Dean, School
of Liberal Arts; Dr Dorothy Joann Lei O Labrador, Faculty, School of Education;
Dr Jocelyn D Partosa, Faculty, College of Science and Information Technology; and Ebal.
Together, the URPC and the URO expand the scope and
raise the level in generating research projects. Within and beyond AdZU, URPC
and URO recognize their responsibility to keep the academic community in touch
with its internal and external realities and direct all their research
endeavors towards knowledge building within the Zamboanga Peninsula and the
entire Mindanao.
