ELEVEN DEPARTMENTS under the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) have moved to strengthen their academic standing by applying for Center of Excellence (COE) recognition from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), according to Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan.
Turingan said the faculty is seeking to sustain and expand its COE and Center of Development (COD) designations across its programs, as she expressed optimism about the outcome of the applications.
“All departments, except Creative Writing and Modern Languages, submitted their application for Center of Excellence last December 31, 2025,” Turingan told The Flame.
“We hope that we will be granted: for [the] Philosophy program maintaining [its] status, for Literature, Journalism, and Communication to upgrade from COD to COE, and for the rest of the other departments to be qualified for recognition,” she said.
COE designation is a title conferred to tertiary-level schools’ departments or degree programs within institutions that show excellent performance in instruction and research.
This is granted if a degree program consistently demonstrates high standards in instruction, research, and service, based on CHED’s six-point framework covering innovation, research and creativity, international outlook, staff development, learner and graduate quality and service orientation.
Turingan clarified that the Modern Languages department was unable to apply for COE status because it is not yet a degree-granting unit.
“Modern Languages is a department [that] is not degree-granting yet, so they could not apply for the Center of Excellence [designation],” she said.
Meanwhile, the Creative Writing department also did not apply for COE recognition due to a lack of accreditation, according to chair Prof. Joselito delos Reyes.
“We cannot join that (application for COE) yet because we still do not have an accreditation because the department is still new,” he said.
He added that the program is first aiming to secure a CHED level II recognition so it may apply for COD status in the future.
Turingan added that departments set their academic priorities through internal planning processes submitted to the dean’s office.
At present, Philosophy remains the only COE under the Faculty of Arts and Letters, while Communication, Journalism, and Literature hold COD status.
The University’s other CODs are in the Faculty of Engineering: Civil, Electrical, Electronics, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering. Also part of the list are Information Technology, Library and Information Sciences and Physical Therapy. F – with reports from Nitya Aku
