BANGA, AKLAN. The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) Program of Aklan State University (ASU) under the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) is Center of Development (COD) in Agriculture. This was disclosed by the Committee from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) who come over to ASU to validate the documents submitted by the COE/COD Committee of CAFES to the CHED in March 2008

The CHED Committee who come to ASU on November 10 – 12 was headed by Dr. Candida Adalia of UPLB, Ms. Jocelyn Canato of the Office of Programs and Standards (OPS) of CHED Central Office and Dr. Allan Lena of CHED Regional Office VI. The three officials made an ocular validation of the documents submitted by CAFES in four areas namely: Instructional Quality – 45%; Research Activities – 35%; Extension Activities – 10%; and Institutional Qualifications – 10%.

After three days of evaluation, the CHED evaluators declared ASU’s Agriculture Curriculum as COD in Agriculture during the exit conference held at the University’s Board Room on November 12, 2008. The information gave a dose of relief to the Committee who spent sleepless nights during the preparation of the documents for the said evaluation.

As COD, the BSA Program will be awarded a 1M additional budget for three years to be used in research, development and extension activities on the cutting edge technology (CET) submitted by CAFES to CHED. Incidentally, ASU’s BSA Program have chosen Aklan Piña, natural dye and “Darag” native chicken as its CET. According to the evaluators, Aklan Piña is the most appropriate CET for ASU’s BSA Program because the commodity is unique to the university in particular and Aklan province in general. Natural Dye complements with Aklan Piña as it is used to dye piña fabrics to add value to the cloth. “Darag” native chicken is indigenous to Panay Island and is catching the attention of chicken farmers in the province of Aklan.

Meanwhile, the CAFES family headed by its Dean, Dr. Marilyn E. Romaquin will be waiting for the formal awarding of the title as COD in Agriculture of its BSA Curriculum in January 2009. Once again, this award is another feather added to ASU’s cap in its quest for academic pillar of excellence (APEx) for sustainable development. With this recent development, Dr. Benny A. Palma, the President, beams with pride on this new achievement attained by ASU.