[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5923, June 21, 1969 ]
AN ACT CONVERTING THE MOUNTAIN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF LA TRINIDAD, PROVINCE OF BENGUET, TO A STATE COLLEGE TO BE KNOWN AS THE MOUNTAIN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate arid House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section 1. The present Mountain Agricultural College in the Municipality of La Trinidad, Province of Benguet, is hereby converted into a state college to be known as Mountain State Agricultural College effective upon availability of funds.
Section 2. In addition to its present four-year secondary agricultural homemaking courses, one-year farm mechanics course, and four-year teacher education courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Bachelor of Science in Home Technology, the College will offer the following collegiate and graduate courses:
a) Four-year technical curriculum leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture;
b) Graduate course leading to the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Education;
c) Graduate course leading to the degree of Master of Science in Home Technology; and
d) Graduate course leading to the degree of Master of Science in Agriculture.
Section 3. The aim of the said College shall be to provide Professional, technical, and special training and promote research, extension services, and progressive leadership in the field of agriculture and home technology.
Section 4. The head of the institution shall be known as the President of the Mountain State Agricultural College. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Board of Trustees as hereinafter provided. The powers and duties of the President of the College, in addition to those specifically provided in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the President of a college.
Section 5. The Mountain State Agricultural College shall have the general powers set out in Section thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, as amended, and the government and administration of said College and the exercise of its corporate powers are hereby vested in the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall be composed of the Secretary of Education, who shall be ex-officio Chairman of the Board, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, the Director of Vocational Education, the Director of Public Schools, the President of the College, and the President of the Mountain State Agricultural College Alumni Association. In the absence or the inability of the Secretary of Education, or in the event that there is no incumbent Secretary of Education, the Undersecretary of Education shall act as ex-officio Chairman of the Board of Trustees. When both the Secretary and the Undersecretary of Education are unable to exercise the powers of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the members of the Board may elect among themselves a temporary Chairman who shall act as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Members of the Board of Trustees shall serve without compensation, other than actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution of the Board.
Section 6. The Board of Trustees shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to its general powers of administration:
a) To receive and appropriate to the end specified by law such sums of money as may be provided by law for the support of the College;
b) To confer the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education, Bachelor of Science in Home Technology, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Master of Science in Agricultural Education, Master of Science in Home Technology, and Master of Science in Agriculture;
c) To appoint, on the recommendation of the President of the College, professors, instructors, lecturers, administrative and supervisory officials, and other employees of the College as may be necessary for the effective implementation of the college program; to fix their compensation, hours of service and such other duties and conditions as it may deem proper; to grant to them, in its discretion, leave of absence under regulations as it may promulgate, other provisions of law notwithstanding; to prescribe rules of academic discipline for the educational and professional growth of faculty members and other personnel; and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been held;
d) To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the College Council as hereinafter provided;
e) To fix the tuition fees, as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses, and all special fees, and to remit the same on special cases;
f) To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to students showing special evidence of merit;
g) To provide rules for its government, and to enact for the government of the College such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of the College, as defined in Section three of this Act;
h) To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of and personal property of all kinds and to administer the sum for the benefit of the College or for aid to any student, in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and, in default, thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may, in its discretion, determine;
i) A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a majority of all its members holding office at the time the meeting of the Board is called.
Section 7. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year, the Board of Trustees shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, conditions, and needs of the College.
Section 8. There shall be a College Council consisting of the President of the College as presiding officer and of all professors and instructors of the College as members. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the College, as well as for graduation and the receiving of a title or a degree. The council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of titles or degrees. Through its president or committee, it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline approved by the Board of Trustees.
Section 9. The body of professors and instructors of the College shall constitute the faculty of the College. In the appointment of professors or instructors of the College, no religious test shall be applied nor shall religious opinions or affiliations of the faculty of the College be made a matter of examination or inquiry: Provided, however, That no professor or instructor in the College shall inculcate sectarian teachings, nor attempt either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to influence students attending the College for or against any particular church or religious sect.1âшphi1
Section 10. Professors and other teaching personnel of the College shall be exempt from any civil service examination or regulation as a requisite to appointment.
Section 11. There shall be a Secretary of the College, appointed by the Board of Trustees. He shall be the secretary of such Board and also of the College.
Section 12. To help the Mountain State Agricultural College achieve its educational, research and extension aims, the College Council is hereby empowered to negotiate or make arrangements with sister government colleges or universities, private colleges and universities, other government agencies, and private or semi-private organizations for cooperative projects in instructions, research, and extension; and to seek the assistance of educational foundations in promoting the programs of instructions, research, and extension.
Section 13. Subject to the approval by the Board of Trustees, the President of the College, upon the recommendation and by authority of the College Council, is hereby authorized to negotiate and contract financial loans, for and in behalf of the College, from the Government Service Insurance System, Development Bank of the Philippines or Philippine National Bank, to finance self-liquidating construction projects such as dormitories and cottages of students faculty and employees cottages, and housing and other physical improvements for income and non-income producing projects of the College: Provided, That the total yearly amortization of such loans, including interests will not exceed seventy-five per cent of the total expected yearly production net income of the College.
Section 14. Heads of bureaus or offices of the National Government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of the President of the College, equipment, apparatus, or supplies as may be needed by the College, and to detail employees for duty therein, when in the Judgment of the head of the bureau or office such supplies or employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service.
Section 15. The College, by arrangement with the Director of Vocational Education and Director of Public Schools, may use one or more vocational or general public schools as training or laboratory schools of the College.
Section 16. The present faculty of the college, as well as the administrative and supervising officials and other personnel of the former college as well as the present buildings, equipment and facilities and other properties, real and personal, shall be absorbed by the new College. Salaries of these personnel shall be adjusted at the discretion of the Board of Trustees within the amount available for appropriation.
Section 17. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Enacted without executive approval, June 21, 1969.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
