Oldest Journalism program in Southeast Asia now has first full professor

FOR THE first time since its establishment in 1929, the Journalism program offered by Asia’s oldest University has gotten its first full professor.

Prof. Jeremaiah Opiniano, also a director of one of the University’s research centers, made history as the first faculty member of the UST Department of Journalism to earn the highest academic rank.

“[Jeremaiah] Opiniano is the first to reach Professor level in the Journalism Program,” Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) secretary Asst. Prof. Louie Ignacio told The Flame.

“Although, the system and process is a University-wide process, and that the Faculty of Arts and Letters is tied when it comes to incentives, AB encourages even part-time faculty members of all programs, not only Journalism, [to highlight] the benefits of acquiring tenureship in an educational institution like UST,” he added.

Full professors are senior academic positions granted to faculty members who have shown excellence in teaching, scholarly outputs and service in the University.

Most faculty members of the Journalism department are part-time instructors as they work as practitioners in the field.

Opiniano has been teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in journalism and research in UST for over two decades. He is also the program lead of the Master of Arts in Journalism at the UST Graduate School.

Opiniano obtained his bachelor’s degree in Journalism in UST in 1997. In 2001, he earned his Master of Professional Studies in Development Communication at the University of the Philippines – Open University in Los Baños, Laguna. He later received his Doctor of Philosophy in Human Geography from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2021.

Recognized for his expertise in research throughout the years, Opiniano received the John Lewis Medal for Excellence for Doctoral Research in Geography in 2021, which was awarded by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. He was also among those who were named the first prize winners of the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research in Development in 2010.

Before earning his full professor title, he served as the coordinator of the Journalism program from 2013 to 2017. He also worked as an assistant director of the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education from 2021 to 2022 before becoming its director up to the present.

Outside of the University, Opiniano assumed the position of corporate secretary at the Economic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos from 2003 to 2015. At present, he is the president and a reporter at the Overseas Filipino Workers Journalism Consortium and a steering committee member of the Philippine Migration Research Network.

The UST Journalism program, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, was first offered in 1929. The degree was called Bachelor of Literature major in Journalism before the establishment of AB through the merger of the College of Liberal Arts and the defunct Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.

UST was named a Center of Development in Journalism by the Commission on Higher Education in 2013. The program also received a Level III accreditation from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities’ Commission on Accreditation.

In 2022, it obtained the certification of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations University Network Quality Assurance. For seven years beginning in 2013, the Journalism program clinched the School of the Year title from the Philippine Student Quill Awards.

The Journalism program was elevated to department status last year. It used to share a department with the Communication program under the Department of Communication and Media Studies.

The following are the faculty members who were also promoted:

AB Assistant Dean Assoc. Prof. John Manuel Kliatchko – Department of Behavioral Science
Asst. Prof. Jose Justin Mojica – Department of Communication
Prof. Joselito delos Reyes – Department of Creative Writing
Prof. Chuckberry Pascual – Department of Creative Writing
Asst. Prof. Ederliza Magpantay – Department of Economics
Prof. Carlos Manapat – Department of Economics
Asst. Prof. Anna Corinna Pizarro-Uy – Department of Economics
Prof. Alain Jomarie Santos – Department of Economics
Prof. Evalyn Abiog – Department of English
Assoc. Prof. Raequel Jimenez – Department of English
Prof. Rodrigo Litao – Department of English
Assoc. Prof. Pia Patricia Tenedro – Department of English
Asst. Prof. Royce Randall Lim – Department of Modern Languages
Prof. Raniel Reyes – Department of Philosophy
Assoc. Prof. Frederick Rey – Department of Political Science
Asst. Prof. Ramil Sasi – Department of Political Science

Turingan, Ignacio, 22 others reclassified

Meanwhile, Ignacio and AB Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan were among the 24 members of the academic staff who were reclassified within their respective ranks.

Reclassification refers to a change in the title, level or salary of an existing position due to a substantial change in the duties and responsibilities.

Aside from Ignacio and Turingan, five more were reclassified, namely Prof. Alejandro Bernardo of English; Prof. Jeanette Grajo and Prof. Luciana Urquiola of Literature; and Prof. Rhochie Avelino Matienzo and Prof. Ian Raymond Paequing of Philosophy.

Department of History Assoc. Prof. Janet Atutubo and Assoc. Prof. Archie Resos was reclassified within the second-highest academic rank alongside the Department of English Assoc. Prof. Maria Corazon Sauz.

The following were reclassified as assistant professors:

Economics: Asst. Prof. Aurora Cristina Bermudez
English: Asst. Prof. Abigail Deabanico and Asst. Prof. Joram Kim Corcuera
Journalism: Department chair Asst. Prof. Felipe Salvosa II
History: Asst. Prof. Edelberto Bunquin and Asst. Prof. Tristan Miguel Osteria
Literature: Asst. Prof. Allen Dave Arboleda and Asst. Prof. Jezzamie Ong
Modern Languages: Asst. Prof. Abigail Pagalilauan
Philosophy: Asst. Prof. Darlene Demandante
Political Science: Asst. Prof. Glenda Feliprada

Literature instructors Vae Ann Dadia, Jan Raen Ledesma and Philosophy instructor Franz Giuseppe Cortez were likewise reclassified within their ranks. F