I. Background

The Professorial Chair Program of SEARCA started in June 1974 with the granting of the SEARCA Professorial Chair Awards to faculty members of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), the host institution of SEARCA and one of the autonomous universities under the University of the Philippines System.

The program seeks to give recognition to highly competent faculty and research staff of the university for excellence in their respective fields. The program, covered by a memorandum of agreement between SEARCA and UPLB rationalized that the establishment of professorial chairs would undoubtedly help boost the morale of the UPLB staff and greatly improve the competitive ability of UPLB and SEARCA to retain highly competent staff members who might be drawn away by attractive offers from other government agencies as well as the private sector.

The agreement further stressed that success in maintaining a strong faculty especially those with professorial ranks would certainly enhance UPLB’s total capabilities as an institution of higher learning and specifically SEARCA’s capability to successfully pursue its programs of graduate study and research, specialist training, and advisory and consulting services for the SEAMEO member countries. This is so because, by the very nature of the partnership between UPLB and SEARCA, the Center taps the UPLB faculty in the implementation of its projects in agriculture and rural development.

The program initially started with the allocation of 16 professorial chairs in a given academic year among the following divisional areas: physical sciences, plant sciences, animal sciences, crop and animal protection, forestry, food science and technology, socioeconomics, and development communication.

When SEARCA launched the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) in 1989, the SEARCA Professorial Chair became one of the Center’s counterpart contributions to the UC, which then made it one of the major component activities of the UC. Thus, the professorial chair was then made available to other UC members in Southeast Asia. As of school year 2006-2007, a total of 218 SEARCA Professorial Chairs have been awarded to UPLB.

II. Rationale

Through the years, SEARCA maintained relations with several other academic institutions, which also served as the study posts of SEARCA scholars. In 1997, SEARCA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) for academic collaboration including the hosting of SEARCA scholars whose fields of studies are in fisheries and aquatic resources. In 2004, SEARCA signed an MOU with UP Diliman for the academic collaboration and hosting of SEARCA scholars in other fields including economics, statistics, social sciences, marine sciences, and governance.

While SEARCA feels that it is her moral obligation to UPLB to sustain the professorial chair grants as part of its commitment to the institution, it also believes on the need to recognize the contribution of other members of the UP System in the pursuit of academic excellence in the region by bestowing the same SEARCA Professorial Chair to highly competent staff members of the UP System. SEARCA has therefore established the SEARCA Professorial Chair for the UP System effective school year 2006-2007.

III. Priority Focus and Objective of the Professorial Chair for UP System

SEARCA’s priority thrusts within the current five-year plan (2004-2009) are Agricultural Competitiveness and Natural Resource Management. SEARCA recognizes that these two focal thrusts are the major avenues where concerted efforts to address concerns of poverty and food insecurity in Southeast Asia could be made. In view of this, SEARCA ensures that its research and capacity-building activities are focused on those two broad priority thrusts that will stimulate development-oriented efforts toward food security and poverty reduction.

The objective of the Chair is to give due recognition to experts among UP staff in specific fields of discipline under the broad themes of Agricultural Competitiveness and Natural Resource Management. Preference shall be given in the areas of social sciences, marine and fishery sciences, environmental sciences, economics, and rural development-oriented fields.

IV. Guidelines

1. The awardee must meet the following criteria:
   
   
   • Must hold an academic rank of not lower than Assistant Professor;
   • Must have proven excellence in academic and/or research work performance in his/her chosen field of specialization with the broad priority thrusts of SEARCA; and
   • Must have the official endorsement of the UP President.


2. The following are the Terms of Reference of the awardee:
   
   
   • Teach at least one graduate course in his/her area of specialization at the university during the year of award;
   • Deliver at least one public lecture on the subject of his/her research during the period of award at SEARCA’s Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) at SEARCA, College, Laguna; and
   • Submit a hard and a soft copy of his/her public lecture to SEARCA upon culmination of his/her professorial chair award.


3. Remuneration
   
   The awardee shall receive a lump sum amount of P60,000. Payment of the first half of the amount shall be made upon receipt of the endorsement from the UP Board of Regents, a copy of the awardee’s curriculum vitae, and 2x2 colored photo. The second half shall be made upon delivery of the public lecture and submission of requirements to SEARCA.

For inquiries, please email gsd_at_agri.searca.org.