SANGGUNIAN

SECRETARIAT

#AteneoAtTheCore
Date: 10 February 2016

Room 200 MVP Student Leadership Center

Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights
sanggusecgen@gmail.com

Venue: Faura AVR

Time: 6:30PM 8PM

AGENDA (underlined = to be continued, italics = postponed/deferred):

1) Proposed Revisions to the Core Curriculum c/o Dr. Josefina D. Hofilea
2) Question and Answer Portion c/o Curriculum Committee
MINUTES
1) Proposed Revisions to the Core Curriculum c/o Dr. Josefina D. Hofilea
a. We are going back to the English department to discuss the concerns and there is a possibility of
increasing the language by three units.
b. How does the CHED GE look like in other universities?
i. In UP, they are discussing a 21 unit GE. In DLSU, they are working on a 45 unit GE.
c. What was presented to the faculty (https://www.scribd.com/doc/298525636/2-Feb-2016Faculty-Day-Minutes) is not final yet. It will still be refined and hopefully will be finished by the
end of the semester.
d. If the school council approves the proposals, the LS will present this to the Board of Trustees for
final approval. We hope to present to the board in their meeting this May for approval.
2) Question & Answer c/o Curriculum Committee
a. What is the goal of CHED by having art appreciation by the required GE courses?
i. Theyve devised a GE curriculum that they hope will equip students with 21st century
skills. To be able to have critical thinking, synthetic skills that are necessary for a rapidly
changing world.
ii. Art Appreciation is part of the liberal arts orientation.
iii. We have to distinguish whats a major course. This course will be for the general
student body.
1. Fine Arts will have to revise their curriculum knowing that there will be an Art
Appreciation course in the core.
b. Yung Integrative Course, how will this be handled? One of my fears is that it seems like a very
holistic course, but the way it might be handled might vary very greatly with the different courses.
It might turn into like how there will be many complaints like with Sci10.
i. We are proposing an office for the core curriculum. There will be oversight by this
office and the plan for now is that this will be developed by a small team that will
involve some teachers from Philo or Theo. The course will not belong to Philo or
Theo, but to the office. They will develop the syllabus together and they will develop
the delivery.
c. Whats going to happen to our General Psychology course since it wasnt mentioned.
i. Theres a course called understanding the self, the base is under Psychology under the
context of society and culture. Kind of like Psychology but with Sociology and
Anthropology.
ii. SA21 will be involved in the design and the delivery.
d. I heard in Th141 that when were having immersion, my prof said it was a logistical nightmare.
Will it be a logistical concern?
i. The retreat is not required.
e. I attended this FGD about gender mainstreaming. I was wondering why gender studies was not
included in the core curriculum?
i. When we speak of social issues, its probably going to be addressed in Economy and
Society and Understanding the Self.

SANGGUNIAN SECRETARIAT

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Room 200 MVP Student Leadership Center

Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights
sanggusecgen@gmail.com

ii. It tends to marginalize it in a way by pursuing a specific course. It can be perceived as

an elective instead.
The change will be effective in 2018-2019. As a freshman, are we still going to have Discerning
Life Questions?
i. It will be effective for the incoming freshmen of 2018-2019.
How will this revision affect the INAF courses? Will we still have NSTP? When will the
immersion take place?
i. Were working closely with INAF team because part of what needs to be done is to
revise the INAF program to this new core. For example, one of the questions were
trying to address is if Catholic Social Vision, which requires immersion, what year level
should it be? How will it affect immersion?
ii. NSTP is a requirement of law, but it might not be in second year anymore. Were
moving towards an NSTP that is discipline-based. It might be assigned to a year level
where students will have more of their major subjects.
Since mababawasan yung core units, madadagdagan po ba yung major subjects?
i. Part of the core will go to senior high school. Part of the core is the CHED GE. The
CHED GE is not our core. The implication for K-12 is when we transfer the content
to grades 11 and 12, what can we assume that will be tackled in high school because we
will need that in planning our courses.
ii. Were going from 63 units to 36 so the question if that which subjects in the core will
cover these subjects. Which additional subjects are needed to support our institutional
mission?
iii. There are PSGs (Policies, Standards and Guidelines) for every single undergraduate
degree program for the majors curricula. The possibility is that some of the technical
panels may want to increase the number of major subjects.
iv. Will there be more major subjects? Possibly. It depends on what will happen in CHED
1. We will ask for more autonomy from CHED but in general we have always
attempted to comply. Were left with little choice, but we will argue for space.
Kung mag-iiba yung subjects, paano po nito maaapektuhan yung tuition fee?
i. Its an opportunity for us to revisit our tuition fee structure. Were trying to review the
structure so were closer to the per unit charging.
Would the profs be at a disadvantage?
i. Three years ago, we knew these things were happening already (K12, calendar change,
core curriculum). We made the decision to increase our student population by 2020.
Thats a 25% increase in students. All of the reduction is no more that 25-30% per
department. Professors will not be hit in that sense in terms of load. That 25%
reduction is compensated by a 25% increase in students.
ii. Were prepared for the consequences of our faculty.
The proposal isnt final but how do you decide which subjects will be finalized?
i. With regard to content, were working with departments already, at least the ones that
are clearer. The CHED GE courses will surely be part of the new core. The proposal
has to be approved first by the school council.
As a freshman, can we take Discerning Life Questions as an elective once its offered?
i. That course will be assigned to senior year, so it wont be offered in school year 20182019.
ii. Interdisciplinary teaching is a fairly new animal. Were on it. We have people working
on it. All the other courses are interdisciplinary.
Will we still have the remedial courses?
i. We will most likely still need remedial courses. We are preparing for the real likelihood
that K-12 will not work as well in the first few years so we need to provide remediation.
Ano ibig sabihin ng faculty retooling? Maaapektuhan ba yung number ng teachers?

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Room 200 MVP Student Leadership Center

Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights
sanggusecgen@gmail.com

There are a number of interdiscplinary courses especially in the social sciences courses.
The faculty that will teach this course will need to train themselves -- thats what we
mean by retooling.
ii. Hindi mababawasan. Mababawasan ang load sa curriculum pero yung faculty load will
not change.
Assuming there are K-12 students that are not taking strands in math. How will Ateneo make
sure that the freshmen are prepared?
i. Thats part of the majors curricula already. We will have more math there.
Gaano ka-handa ang professors para dito?
i. For example with Sci10, were reviewing (material and how to orient faculty) that, and I
expect that to be replicated with the faculty. We will take it one at a time but we need to
be ready for the freshman courses. We need the faculty come together to make this
work.
ii. Sa ibang school, mawawalan ng load ang ibang teachers. CHED will provide grants to
these teachers, so that they can teach these new courses. Im hoping Ateneo will take
part in that role.
Yung curriculum is under the school council, then another under the ADAA. Saan po
magrereport ang Office of the Core Curriculum?
i. Will report to ADAA, but were considering a permutation where theyre part of the
VPLS.
Wala pong PE?
i. PE is required. Its a separate CMO. There will still be 8 units of PE required.
What about merit English and Filipino?
i. The committee is still studying both remediation and advanced placement.
How will the proposed revised curriculum affect cross-enrolling (getting units from other
universities)?
i. Those kinds of details we havent worked yet. The requirement now is you cannot
cross-enroll a core curriculum course, but we havent gotten that far yet.
Will the core affect the minor?
i. Were still going to be reviewing the majors and minors curricula.
With interdisciplinary electives, will some classes have two or more professors?
i. Team-teaching is a possibility. Thats why faculty retooling is needed.
During faculty day, did the faculty bring up any issues when this was brought up? How were they
addressed?
i. The English department brought up an issue with a significant reduction in units.
1. It was addressed with the representatives of the core curriculum committee
meeting with the outgoing and incoming chair to see what adjustments can be
made.
ii. The was a question about who will teach the Discerning Life Questions if it can be
someone outside Theo/Philo.
1. Were open to that.
Sci10 used to be a pre-requisite for Ph101. If thats true is there a move to put a philosophical
aspect back to Sci10?
i. It wasnt strictly a pre-requisite. But the way Sci10 was originally envisioned was that
there are certain questions science can answer and certain questions science could not
answer, so thats where Philosophy comes in.
Has the problem of adding SOM subjects in the core curriculum be addressed?
i. The question whether there can be subjects like financial literacy in the core. Were
hoping that can be addressed in Math in the modern world. SOM can participate in the
interdisciplinary electives.
I was wondering if Sci10 will not be included in the other courses?

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Room 200 MVP Student Leadership Center

Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights
sanggusecgen@gmail.com

Sci10 will be required of all students now. The question now is will the course be
different from science majors to non-science majors?
Will science majors have to take Sci10?
i. Sci10 is a CHED GE course.
ii. One is the compliance part. There are aspects of science you do not know even if you
are a science major.
What is the strategy of the university for the common students to better understand and
appreciate it?
i. Part of the reason why your parents send you to Ateneo is because they know. They
know its all about holistic education.
Will you consider a Theo course for non-Catholics?
i. The way we are looking at it now is that Theo courses will be part of the inner core, so
it will be required for all our students.
For the Contemporary World subject (which is a mix of other subjects), who will be the
professor teaching this?
i. Weve created working groups. For all the Social Sciences core subjects, they really are
interdisciplinary.
ii. You will probably have faculty interested in these courses and agree on common
readings and common syllabi. There will still be slants and nuances that depend on the
faculty. Students still have a range of choices. Something like Contemporary World will
be very interdisciplinary.

PREPARED BY:
Neicy Marie F. Pilarca
2 SOSE Executive Officer
SOSE School Board
Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga
Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila