Mindanao State University - General Santos (MSU-GenSan) will have barely three weeks of break as the enrollment for the second semester of the academic year 2024-2025 begins on January 8, 2025, following the end of first-semester classes on December 20, 2024.
This is according to the letter from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) responding to the Supreme Student Council's (SSC) request to move the enrollment period from January 6, as per the campus calendar, to January 13.
© Ashley Louisa Loyloy
SSC's request
The rationale of the SSC for its request to move the enrollment period is “in consideration with the extension of the end of classes for the 1st semester, which shortened the holiday break of the students as well as the faculty and school administrators,” according to the SSC’s letter.
Additionally, the SSC said that rescheduling the enrollment period to a later date would provide student organizations sufficient time to prepare for collection processes and plan projects for the upcoming semester.
However, the OVCAA announced in their letter that the requested adjustment of the enrollment period to January 13 cannot be accommodated.
The office, however, granted a slight adjustment, rescheduling the enrollment to January 8—two days later than the original January 6 date.
The decision was reached after deliberations with various deans and academic heads during a meeting on December 19, 2024.
The OVCAA described the adjustment given as a “compromise that balances the interests of the students with the operational and academic requirements of the University.”
MSUAns’ reactions
Leonard Tucjayao, SSC President, expressed sadness about the received decision, noting that while there was an adjustment to the date of the enrollment, it still fails to address the fundamental challenges faced by student organizations during the enrollment period.
“Student orgs are integral actors in the University. They represent and serve the student body the same way the admin does, and we are compelled to go back to the University for our semestral planning during the holiday break—or at best, a day or two after the New Year,” Tucjayao said.
Furthermore, Zyrex Cortez, a Councilor from the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, voiced similar sentiment, saying that the extension that was given only aggravates the problem of the student officers and their organizations.
“Hindi naman napagaan ‘yung burden sa pagchange ng enrollment dates from the 6th to the 8th. Would've hoped that the VCAA considered na the student orgs themselves facilitate groundwork sa enrollment, and with the current sched, we're forced to prep as early as the 29th of December for sem plans” Cortez stated in an interview.
Muhammad Farhan Akil, President of the Institute of Islamic, Arabic and International Studies (IIAIS) Students’ Organization, also expressed that, while they do not celebrate Christmas and New Year, the schedule is still not appealing for them.
“Both the Administration and College kay ga work for [the] student body and we, in the College Organization, is student gihapon. Late na gani nahuman ang first sem tapos karon need pa mag balik ug early ang mga officers for preparation sa Semestral Planning” Akil shared.
Moreover, the SSC announced to MSUans that further announcements on the adjusted dates are to be expected.
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