During the term of UP President Onofre D. Corpus in 1975, an interdisciplinary team within the University conceived of an autonomous unit which would become the country's premiere institution for fisheries and marine science education and research. Its establishment was embodied in the Philippine Five-Year Development Plan of 1978-1982, which also provided that Region VI would be the site of this new unit.
On May 31, 1979, the Board of Regents (BOR) during its 114th meeting approved the establishment of an autonomous University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV). Executive Order No. 628 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 30, 1980 operationalized UPV, with its main campus in Miagao, and with the College of Fisheries as its flagship college.
On May 31, 1979, the Board of Regents (BOR) during its 114th meeting approved the establishment of an autonomous University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV). Executive Order No. 628 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 30, 1980 operationalized UPV, with its main campus in Miagao, and with the College of Fisheries as its flagship college.
Originally, UPV consisted of only two colleges – the College of Fisheries (CF) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), formerly UP College Iloilo. Now it has five colleges and a school in four campuses – Miagao, Iloilo City, Cebu City, and Tacloban City. The additional colleges and school are the College of Management (CM), formerly the School of Development Management (SDM), UP Cebu College, UP Tacloban College and the School of Technology (SOTECH) formerly the School of Technology and Environmental Resources (STER). The Graduate School was established by the Board of Regents in 1984. It was phased out in 1991 and became the Graduate Program Coordinating Office (GPCO). It was renamed Graduate Program Office in 1995. Its main function is to monitor and standardize the graduate program offerings of the colleges and school of UPV.
The main campus of UPV is in 278-year-old Miagao located about 41 kilometers from Iloilo City. It is built on a 1.294–hectare area of rolling hills and lush greenery with a spectacular view of the sea on one side of the campus and the distant mountains on the other. It covers twelve barangays and is one of the biggest in the country today.
The development of the site and construction of facilities began in September 1981, made possible through the Sixth Educational Loan of the Philippine Government approved by the World Bank. The loan proceeds of about $17.63 million were used for site acquisition, construction of buildings. procurement of equipment. and the transfer of the CF personnel and other property from Diliman to Miagao. Today, a two-lane concrete road on the campus connects the wide expanse of fields. beaches. and forest hills with modern laboratory complexes, lecture and audio–visual halls. administration offices, the library – museum, infirmary, student dormitories, faculty and staff houses and apartments, all providing a fascinating contrast to the rural setting.
Two degree–granting units remain in the Iloilo City Campus. They are the College of Management and College of Arts and Sciences' Division of Professional Education which maintains the UP High School in Iloilo (formerly UPV High School).
The High School is an experimental laboratory for innovative teaching strategies designed to provide academic training for underprivileged students in order to better prepare them for access to tertiary education in the University of the Philippines.
Some units have remained in the Iloilo City campus: 1) the Center for West Visayas Studies (CWVS), to make it more accessible to those interested in the study of Visayas culture; 2) the Office of Extension Services and Continuing Education (OESCE); 3) the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (SWF); 4) the Graduate Program Office (GPO), which caters to clientele who are mostly working professionals in the city; 5) the Language Program; 6) the School for Distance Education, Visayas; 7) the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod / Oblation Corps; and 8) the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Women's Desk.
The transfer of CF to the Miagao campus in 1988 was spearheaded by Chancellor Rogelio Juliano and Dean Efren Ed C. Flores. In June 1990 Chancellor Francisco Nemenzo effected the transfer of the CAS Division of Humanities and Division of Social Sciences. The School of Technology followed soon after. The existing CF library collection was transferred to the Library – Museum and enriched with titles in the Liberal Arts. In May 1993. the transfer of the Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics and the Division of Biological Sciences along with Office of the Dean completed the transfer of the College of Arts and Sciences.
source: University of the Philippines, Visayas
