By: Thea Divina
Students are back to F2F modality as many await their Deans Lister certificates. Photo courtesy of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran- Manila.
Four weeks into the academic year’s second semester, Letranites have yet to know if they are one of the dean’s list (DL) grantees.
Qualified DLs enjoy a discount privilege based on their general weighted average for the semester. Unlike previous semesters, dean’s list results are still unavailable leaving students unsettled and concerned.
As of Feb. 10, the College of Education (COED) and College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT) have already posted and disseminated their notice for the DL beneficiaries, with six COED students and 35 CEIT students, respectively.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and College of Business Administration and Accountancy (CBAA) are still halfway through the processing of their DL screening and endorsement.
The process for Dean’s List
The processing of the dean's list requires meticulous management. It begins with the registrar's office outlining the official record of student candidates to be reviewed and calculated by the dean’s office.
The computation of the general weighted average (GWA), which is the basis of DL, is done manually. It is headed by the dean and the management staff of student affairs. Unqualified individuals prescribed by the student handbook are automatically removed from the initial record to be endorsed and checked again by the registrar’s office.
After the registrar’s assessment, it will then be endorsed to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) followed by the Vice President for Financial Affairs (VPFA). Once the document is approved and signed by the VPFA, it goes back to the dean’s and registrar’s office, and from there follows the deduction or recalculation of the student’s matriculation.
Responses from the Deans
According to Dean Darwin Rungduin of CLAS, they have reviewed and computed the records of the DL candidates. They will submit it to the registrar’s office for double-checking.
Dean Darwin also explains the conflict brought by the limited window time between the first and second semesters.
“Every second semester kasabay niyan ang enrollment. All the adjustments both faculty loading, assignments, hiring kasabay niyan… Ma’am Verna, the management staff for student affairs, also being in charge for the computation of the DL is very much preoccupied with the enrollment. It was really slow also because of the accommodation of the students enrolling, adjustments and everything,” Dean Darwin says.
Some aspiring DL students have raised concerns regarding the slow release of DL results. They also hope to acquire the applied tuition fee discount in time for their scheduled enrollment. However, Dean Darwin states that immediacy is impossible given the long and hectic process.
“Hindi possible yon kasi dikit ang enrollment at submission of grades ng teachers, so wala kaming macocompute na DL. So talagang aantayin natin na matatapos ang enrollment at magbabayad si student bago pa mailabas ang DL,” Dean Darwin says.
The student population from each department is also a factor to consider during the process. In the current academic year, there has been an increase in the DL grantees, triple the usual minimum of 35 individuals evaluated in the previous years.
Faculty errors are also a conflicting point, wherein some faculty members input the wrong grade or status by mistake. Upon rectifying the situation, the configuration of candidates changes once again.
4.8% or 125 of the estimated 650 population in the CLAS are currently shortlisted for the DL.
The announcement for the CLAS Dean’s List is expected to be released by the end of the second week of February.
The LANCE was unable to get an official statement from CBAA Dean Virginia Salonga. However, the dean’s office staff reports their DL record is submitted for approval by the VPAA and VPFA.
Given the recurring issue of the slow release of the DL, Dean Darwin expresses he believes there are still ways to improve the system, which remains to be seen.