REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4449 - AN ACT CONVERTING THE ILOCOS SUR SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF VIGAN, PROVINCE OF ILOCOS SUR, INTO A UNIVERSITY TO BE KNOWN AS THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES, AND AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS THEREFOR

Section 1.    Conversion. — The Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades in the Municipality of Vigan, Province of Ilocos Sur, is hereby converted into a university which shall be known as the University of Northern Philippines, hereinafter referred to as University, the same being organized as a corporation under that name.

Sec. 2.    Purposes. — The University shall primarily give technical and professional training, advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences and arts, besides providing for the promotion of scientific and technological researches.

Sec. 3.    Powers of the University. — The following are the powers of the University:

(a)    It shall have the general powers as set forth in Section thirteen of the Corporation Law;

(b)    It shall have the power to acquire public lands for its expansion and/or beneficial use; and

(c)    It shall be authorized, through its college of engineering, to undertake the construction of its buildings and other permanent improvements and such sums as may be necessary for this purpose shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act for the University. All public works appropriations in the name of the Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades are hereby transferred to the University as provided for in this Act: provided, that the construction of its buildings and other permanent improvements as authorized in the Public Works Acts of the Government shall be undertaken by the college of engineering as herein provided.

Sec. 4.    Governing board; compensation, manner of appointment; compensation; meetings; performance of functions. — The government of the University is vested in a Board of Regents. The Board of Regents shall be composed of the President of the University, who shall be ex-officio chairman of the Board, and, as members, the Executive Vice-President, the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, the Vice-President for External Affairs, the President of the Alumni Association, and three other persons to be appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. Of the three additional members first appointed, one shall serve for one year, one for three years, and one for five years. Thereafter, persons appointed to succeed such members shall hold office for a term of five years and until their successors are duly qualified. In case of a vacancy among the three additional members of the Board of Regents, such vacancy shall be filed by appointment by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, and such appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term only. All members of the Board of Regents shall be residents of the Philippines: provided, that no person in the employ of the University or of any other educational institution in any capacity whatsoever, whether as dean, professor, instructor, lecturer, or otherwise, shall be eligible for appointment by the President of the Philippines to the positions of the three members of the Board of Regents.

The President of the Philippines, in the selection of the three members of the Board of Regents, shall give preference of residents of the Province of Ilocos Sur.

In case of vacancy in the office of the President of the University, the Executive Vice-President shall act as chairman until one is regularly elected in accordance with this Act.

Members of the Board of Regents who are officers of the University shall serve without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred either in attendance of meetings of the Board or in the other official business authorized by resolution of the Board: provided, that members of the Board who are not employed in the University shall be entitled to per diems not exceeding twenty-five pesos per actual attendance of board meetings: provided, further, that the Board of Regents shall have one general meeting and such number of special meetings a month as may be necessary in the interest of the University.

Sec. 5.    Powers of the Board of Regents. — The Board of Regents shall have the following specific powers and duties:

(a)    To receive and appropriated to the ends specified by law such sums as may be provided by law for the support of the University;

(b)    To provide for the establishment of one or more Colleges of Liberal Arts, a College of Social and Political Science, a College of Veterinary Science, a College of Commerce and Business Administration, a College of Engineering, a College of Agriculture, a College of Nursing and Midwifery, a School of Fisheries, a School of Surveying, a Conservatory of Music, a School of Fine Arts, a School of Graduates Studies, and such other colleges and schools as the Board of Regents may deem necessary:

(c)    To confer the usual honorary degrees upon persons in recognition of learning, statesmanship, or eminence in literature, science or art: provided, that such degrees shall not be conferred in consideration of the payment of money or other valuable consideration;

(d)    To establish chairs in the colleges and schools mentioned in paragraph (b) of this section and to provide for the maintenance or endowment of such chairs;

(e)    To approve the courses of study and rules of discipline drawn up by the University Council as hereinafter provided; to fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses, and all special fees;

(f)    To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to students showing evidence of special merit;

(g)    To contract for technical services, under certain conditions;

(h)    To prescribe rules for its own government; and

(i)    To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the University, or of a department thereof, or for aid to any student or students, in accordance with the direction or instructions of the donor, and, in default thereof, in such manner as the Board of Regents may, in its discretion, determine.

Sec. 6.    Administration. — (a) The administration of the University shall be vested in the President of the University, who shall render full time service. The President of the University shall be elected by the Board of Regents, which shall also fix his salary not to exceed twenty-four thousand pesos per annum.

(b)    The President of the University shall be assisted by three vice-presidents; one Executive Vice-President, one Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and one Vice-President for External Affairs, who shall be appointed by the Board of Regents upon the recommendation of the President of the University and whose compensation shall be fixed by the Board.

Sec. 7.    Powers of the President. — The powers and duties of the President of the University, in addition to those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a university which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, are the following:

(a)    To appoint, with the prior approval of the Board of Regents, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, other members of the teaching staff, and all other employees; to fix their compensation, hours of service, and such other duties and conditions as he may deem proper; to grant to them in his discretion leave of absence under such regulations as he may promulgate and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been had; and

(b)    To promulgate for the government of the University such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purpose of the University.

Sec. 8.    Admission. — No student shall be denied admission to the University by reason of age, sex, nationality, religious belief, or political affiliation.

Sec. 9.    Quorum; service of process. — A quorum of the Board of Regents shall consist of a majority of all the members holding office at the time the meeting of the Board is called. All processes against the Board of Regents shall be served on the President of the University or the Secretary thereof.

SECTION 10.    Report. — On or before the fifteenth day of August of each year the Board of Regents shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report setting forth the progress, condition, and needs of the University.

SECTION 11.    University Council; composition; powers. — There shall be a University Council, consisting of the President of the University and of all instructors in the University holding the rank of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be receipt of degrees. Through its president or committees it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline approved by the Board of Regents.

SECTION 12.    Appointment of deans; limitations. — The body of instructors of each college or school shall constitute its faculty, and as presiding officer of each faculty, there shall be a dean elected from the members of such faculty by the Board of Regents on nomination by the President of the University. In the appointment of professors or other instructors of the University, no religious opinions or affiliations of the instructors of the University shall be made a matter of examination or inquiry: provided, however, that no instructor in the University shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of the teachings nor attempt, either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Regents, to influence students or attendants at the University for or against any particular church or religious sect.

SECTION 13.    Exemption from civil service examination. — Professors and other regular instructors in the University shall be exempt as such from any civil service examination or regulation as a requisite to appointment.

SECTION 14.    Appointment of Secretary of University. — There shall be a secretary of the University appointed by the Board of Regents. He shall be the secretary of such Board and also of the University, and shall keep such records of the University as may be designated by the Board.

SECTION 15.    Accounts and expenses. — The Treasurer of the Philippines or his representative shall be ex-officio treasurer of the University, and all accounts and expenses thereof shall be audited by the Auditor General or his representative and all disbursements shall be made in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by them.

SECTION 16.    Board of Visitors. — The President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall constitute a Board of Visitors of the University, whose duty it shall be to attend the commencement exercises of the University, and to make visits at such other times as they may deem proper, to examine the property, course of study, discipline, the state of finances of the University, to inspect all books and accounts of the institution, and to make a report to Congress of the Philippines upon the same, with such recommendations as they favor.

SECTION 17.    Abolition and transfer. — The Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades is hereby abolished and all its personnel, unexpended appropriations, real and personal properties, and other assets are transferred to the University.

SECTION 18.    University Town. — The university reservation shall henceforth be known as the University Town, Ilocos Sur, with a ruling body composed of school officials and employees who shall be selected in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the President of the University.

SECTION 19.    Appropriations. — The sum of one million pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the conversion, maintenance and operation of the said university during the fiscal year nineteen hundred sixty-six, in addition to the present appropriation for the Ilocos Sur School of Arts and Trades. Thereafter, the sum of one million pesos shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act as aid to the university, to be expended at the discretion of the Board of Regents for the establishment of a college or colleges as authorized by this Act and for other legitimate purposes in accordance with this Act: provided, that the sum of one hundred thousand pesos shall be utilized for fellowships and scholarships as hereinbefore provided.

Sec. 20.    Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 19, 1965