UPLB, Where Has All Your Extension Gone? Gone To Flowers Everyone! When Will They Ever Learn?
What is known as “UPCA’s Golden Age of Extension” is 1959 to
1969, when Dioscoro L Umali was
Dean of UPCA – that is according to Louise
Sigrid Antonio et al writing 25 May 2014, “Dioscoro L Umali,” in their
blog The Heat Ray Of Archimedes). I
was Freshman at UPCA when he became Dean in 1959; later, I remember UPCA
agronomists really busy with national extension projects involving rice and
corn. (top image[2] from Philippine Science Heritage Center, Facebook)
On 20 November 1972, through Presidential Decree 58, the UP
System was created, with UPLB as one of the universities in the system. Unfortunately, while the college UPCA grew into
the university UP Los Baños, the Extension
function grew out of the university until it disappeared! (education-research-extension
image[3] from FAO.org)
Never out of contact with the university over the years, I
believe such disappearance was not by design but by the absence of an extension
leader like Dean Umali.
From the OVCRE webpage[4], even as I remember it as an UPCA student 1959-1964 (I stopped for 1 year),
UPCA/UPLB has a tripartite function: Instruction,
Research, and Extension. To quote:
Though instruction was
considered as UPLB’s major function, research was also recognized as an equally
important function. Extension… was viewed as a function that showed UPLB’s
relevance in the development of the countryside. Knowledge gained through
research, imparting it through instruction, and applying it as public service
are all efforts, directed towards the development of the whole man.
Yes,
“Extension” is still mentioned, such as in the above – but there is not one Extension project extant!
Oh, I just found that there is an office called “Office of
Extension Coordination” – but it is under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs! That explains why Extension is no longer given equal emphasis
as Instruction (Academic Affairs) and Research (Research & Development).
On the website https://uplb.edu.ph/,
the tabs that show are:
[Home] [About] [Admission] [Academics] [Research] [On
Campus] [Downloads]
Do you notice what is missing in that UPLB list? It is
missing because it is hardly/not performing that function when it should!
[Extension]. The 3 functions of UP Los Baños, or any of the constituent
universities of the UP System are: Instruction, Research, and Extension.
Everyone connected any which way with the University of the
Philippines Los Baños has forgotten the university’s role in Extension. Let me
repeat here Dean Umali’s Rule:
When
a farmer visits your office, stop everything you are doing and give him his due
attention, for he is the primary commitment of your being in this institution.
UPLB,
sorry to say this, but in forgetting to do your Extension, you are forgetting
the farmer who is your ultimate student!@517
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