REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4449 - AN ACT
CONVERTING THE ILOCOS SUR SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE MUNICIPALITY
OF VIGAN, PROVINCE OF ILOCOS SUR, INTO A UNIVERSITY TO BE KNOWN AS THE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES, AND AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION
OF FUNDS THEREFOR
Section 1. Conversion. — The Ilocos Sur School of Arts and
Trades in the Municipality of Vigan, Province of Ilocos Sur, is hereby
converted into a university which shall be known as the University of
Northern Philippines, hereinafter referred to as University, the same
being organized as a corporation under that name.
Sec. 2. Purposes. — The University shall primarily
give technical and professional training, advanced instruction in
literature, philosophy, the sciences and arts, besides providing for
the promotion of scientific and technological researches.
Sec. 3. Powers of the University. — The following
are the powers of the University:
(a) It shall have the general powers as set forth in
Section thirteen of the Corporation Law;
(b) It shall have the power to acquire public lands
for its expansion and/or beneficial use; and
(c) It shall be authorized, through its college of
engineering, to undertake the construction of its buildings and other
permanent improvements and such sums as may be necessary for this
purpose shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act for
the University. All public works appropriations in the name of the
Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades are hereby transferred to the
University as provided for in this Act: provided, that the construction
of its buildings and other permanent improvements as authorized in the
Public Works Acts of the Government shall be undertaken by the college
of engineering as herein provided.
Sec. 4. Governing board; compensation, manner of
appointment; compensation; meetings; performance of functions. — The
government of the University is vested in a Board of Regents. The Board
of Regents shall be composed of the President of the University, who
shall be ex-officio chairman of the Board, and, as members, the
Executive Vice-President, the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, the
Vice-President for External Affairs, the President of the Alumni
Association, and three other persons to be appointed by the President
of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Of the three additional members first appointed, one shall serve for
one year, one for three years, and one for five years. Thereafter,
persons appointed to succeed such members shall hold office for a term
of five years and until their successors are duly qualified. In case of
a vacancy among the three additional members of the Board of Regents,
such vacancy shall be filed by appointment by the President of the
Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, and
such appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term only. All
members of the Board of Regents shall be residents of the Philippines:
provided, that no person in the employ of the University or of any
other educational institution in any capacity whatsoever, whether as
dean, professor, instructor, lecturer, or otherwise, shall be eligible
for appointment by the President of the Philippines to the positions of
the three members of the Board of Regents.
The President of the Philippines, in the selection of the three members
of the Board of Regents, shall give preference of residents of the
Province of Ilocos Sur.
In case of vacancy in the office of the President of the University,
the Executive Vice-President shall act as chairman until one is
regularly elected in accordance with this Act.
Members of the Board of Regents who are officers of the University
shall serve without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed for
necessary expenses incurred either in attendance of meetings of the
Board or in the other official business authorized by resolution of the
Board: provided, that members of the Board who are not employed in the
University shall be entitled to per diems not exceeding twenty-five
pesos per actual attendance of board meetings: provided, further, that
the Board of Regents shall have one general meeting and such number of
special meetings a month as may be necessary in the interest of the
University.
Sec. 5. Powers of the Board of Regents. — The
Board of Regents shall have the following specific powers and duties:
(a) To receive and appropriated to the ends specified
by law such sums as may be provided by law for the support of the
University;
(b) To provide for the establishment of one or more
Colleges of Liberal Arts, a College of Social and Political Science, a
College of Veterinary Science, a College of Commerce and Business
Administration, a College of Engineering, a College of Agriculture, a
College of Nursing and Midwifery, a School of Fisheries, a School of
Surveying, a Conservatory of Music, a School of Fine Arts, a School of
Graduates Studies, and such other colleges and schools as the Board of
Regents may deem necessary:
(c) To confer the usual honorary degrees upon persons
in recognition of learning, statesmanship, or eminence in literature,
science or art: provided, that such degrees shall not be conferred in
consideration of the payment of money or other valuable consideration;
(d) To establish chairs in the colleges and schools
mentioned in paragraph (b) of this section and to provide for the
maintenance or endowment of such chairs;
(e) To approve the courses of study and rules of
discipline drawn up by the University Council as hereinafter provided;
to fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as matriculation
fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses, and all special
fees;
(f) To provide fellowships for faculty members and
scholarships to students showing evidence of special merit;
(g) To contract for technical services, under certain
conditions;
(h) To prescribe rules for its own government; and
(i) To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and
donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer
the same for the benefit of the University, or of a department thereof,
or for aid to any student or students, in accordance with the direction
or instructions of the donor, and, in default thereof, in such manner
as the Board of Regents may, in its discretion, determine.
Sec. 6. Administration. — (a) The administration
of the University shall be vested in the President of the University,
who shall render full time service. The President of the University
shall be elected by the Board of Regents, which shall also fix his
salary not to exceed twenty-four thousand pesos per annum.
(b) The President of the University shall be assisted
by three vice-presidents; one Executive Vice-President, one
Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and one Vice-President for
External Affairs, who shall be appointed by the Board of Regents upon
the recommendation of the President of the University and whose
compensation shall be fixed by the Board.
Sec. 7. Powers of the President. — The powers and
duties of the President of the University, in addition to those usually
pertaining to the office of the president of a university which are not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, are the following:
(a) To appoint, with the prior approval of the Board
of Regents, professors, associate professors, assistant professors,
other members of the teaching staff, and all other employees; to fix
their compensation, hours of service, and such other duties and
conditions as he may deem proper; to grant to them in his discretion
leave of absence under such regulations as he may promulgate and to
remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have
been had; and
(b) To promulgate for the government of the
University such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to
law, as are consistent with the purpose of the University.
Sec. 8. Admission. — No student shall be denied
admission to the University by reason of age, sex, nationality,
religious belief, or political affiliation.
Sec. 9. Quorum; service of process. — A quorum of
the Board of Regents shall consist of a majority of all the members
holding office at the time the meeting of the Board is called. All
processes against the Board of Regents shall be served on the President
of the University or the Secretary thereof.
SECTION 10. Report. — On or before the fifteenth day
of August of each year the Board of Regents shall file with the
President of the Philippines a detailed report setting forth the
progress, condition, and needs of the University.
SECTION 11. University Council; composition; powers.
— There shall be a University Council, consisting of the President of
the University and of all instructors in the University holding the
rank of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor. The
Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to
be receipt of degrees. Through its president or committees it shall
have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed
by the rules of discipline approved by the Board of Regents.
SECTION 12. Appointment of deans; limitations. — The
body of instructors of each college or school shall constitute its
faculty, and as presiding officer of each faculty, there shall be a
dean elected from the members of such faculty by the Board of Regents
on nomination by the President of the University. In the appointment of
professors or other instructors of the University, no religious
opinions or affiliations of the instructors of the University shall be
made a matter of examination or inquiry: provided, however, that no
instructor in the University shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of
the teachings nor attempt, either directly or indirectly, under penalty
of dismissal by the Board of Regents, to influence students or
attendants at the University for or against any particular church or
religious sect.
SECTION 13. Exemption from civil service examination.
— Professors and other regular instructors in the University shall be
exempt as such from any civil service examination or regulation as a
requisite to appointment.
SECTION 14. Appointment of Secretary of University. —
There shall be a secretary of the University appointed by the Board of
Regents. He shall be the secretary of such Board and also of the
University, and shall keep such records of the University as may be
designated by the Board.
SECTION 15. Accounts and expenses. — The Treasurer of
the Philippines or his representative shall be ex-officio treasurer of
the University, and all accounts and expenses thereof shall be audited
by the Auditor General or his representative and all disbursements
shall be made in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed
by them.
SECTION 16. Board of Visitors. — The President of the
Philippines, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives shall constitute a Board of Visitors of the
University, whose duty it shall be to attend the commencement exercises
of the University, and to make visits at such other times as they may
deem proper, to examine the property, course of study, discipline, the
state of finances of the University, to inspect all books and accounts
of the institution, and to make a report to Congress of the Philippines
upon the same, with such recommendations as they favor.
SECTION 17. Abolition and transfer. — The Ilocos Sur
School of Arts and Trades is hereby abolished and all its personnel,
unexpended appropriations, real and personal properties, and other
assets are transferred to the University.
SECTION 18. University Town. — The university
reservation shall henceforth be known as the University Town, Ilocos
Sur, with a ruling body composed of school officials and employees who
shall be selected in accordance with the rules and regulations
promulgated by the President of the University.
SECTION 19. Appropriations. — The sum of one million
pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any funds in the
National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the conversion,
maintenance and operation of the said university during the fiscal year
nineteen hundred sixty-six, in addition to the present appropriation
for the Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades. Thereafter, the sum of
one million pesos shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act as aid to the university, to be expended at the
discretion of the Board of Regents for the establishment of a college
or colleges as authorized by this Act and for other legitimate purposes
in accordance with this Act: provided, that the sum of one hundred
thousand pesos shall be utilized for fellowships and scholarships as
hereinbefore provided.
Sec. 20. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect
upon its approval.
Approved: June 19, 1965
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