Despite a memorandum from the Office of the Dean initially mandating a full return to Palma Hall on April 15, Associate Dean for Administrative and External Affairs Darlene Gutierrez said that delays in renovations of certain classrooms and procuring the building’s electrical breaker will continue to leave several classes without classrooms after the reading break.
“Kung kami lang, gusto na rin talaga naming bumalik. Pero may mga proseso kasi na wala na sa kamay namin,” she said in an interview today, April 17.
Memorandum No. CSSP-OD 2023-01 originally ordered a full return after the reading break, Gutierrez said, because the administration originally estimated that the facilities would be usable by the second week of April.
READ: https://tinyurl.com/ElectricityProblemsPalmaHall
Until now, however, the Office of the Campus Architect (OCA) has not cleared the smart classrooms in Palma Hall for use as the contractors still have to make certain renovations specified by the OCA.
Moreover, the replacement breaker is still being procured, bogged down in many legal processes that she says are out of the college of administration’s hands.
Without a new electrical breaker to replace the temporary one currently in use — a used breaker that was only borrowed to power the first and second floors — classrooms on the third and fourth floors will either have to be used completely without electricity or remain totally unused.
“Araw-araw nang fino-follow up itong problema sa breaker,” the Associate Dean said, adding that she, too, is frustrated by the delays in returning to Palma Hall.
Though still uncertain, they hope that the facilities will be available by the end of the month.
But as long as these facilities are not turned over, everyone in AS — not just social science majors, but many students of General Education classes offered in Palma Hall, as well as those in need of additional student spaces for other activities — will have to look elsewhere for their needs.
Bureaucracy bogs down Balik PamantASan hopes
“Sa ngayon, 17 yung natanggap naming request ng classes na walang classroom,” Gutierrez said, explaining that to make up for the unavailable rooms, they are trying to borrow surplus classrooms from other colleges.
But borrowing classrooms remains difficult because other colleges are also expanding their face-to-face capacities as students return to the campus.
Departments and even individual professors, she added, are already contacting nearby colleges to look for other classrooms as well.
In the Philosophy Department, for example, while most major classes after the break have been assigned to Pavilion 2 where there are no electrical problems, Assistant Professor Marielle Zosa said that the Philosophy Department was also able to borrow classrooms from the College of Arts and Letters.
These classrooms, however, are still not enough, forcing some philosophy professors to either use the third and fourth floor rooms without electricity, or remain online until the breaker is fixed.
Philosophy Instructor Miguel Quitain – whose assigned rooms are on the fourth floor – says that he and his students might just try to make do with their classrooms without ventilation despite the summer heat.
Meanwhile, History Department Assistant Professor Francisco Guiang, who has also been assigned to the floors without electricity, is still trying to negotiate classrooms for his GE and major classes.
“Ako kasi, hindi naman classroom ng Kas yung ginagamit kong room ngayon. Syempre, gagamitin na siya ng ibang department, so nalipat ako sa classrooms ng Kas na nasa third and fourth floors. Nagpo-projector ako, so hindi talaga pwede dun,” he said.
But when asked what would happen if he is unable to find a classroom, he said that it would be unacceptable.
“Hindi pwede. Sabi ng mga estudyante ko, ayaw na nila online. Ako rin, ayaw ko nang online. Kailangang gumawa ng paraan,” Guiang said.
Other departments, on the other hand, are yet to release guidelines moving forward.
Anthropology Department Representative Chito Arceo and Linguistics Department Representative Emmanuel Baldonaldo both said that they will have to confirm their respective departments’ post-reading break plans.
Students have also reported differing experiences, with some professors saying that they plan to stay online, while some professors saying that they will proceed face-to-face.
One political science major, for example, said that one of his major classes already canceled their face-to-face session this week. A sociology major said that his professors canceled classes as well.
Another political science student, on the other hand, reported that his professors planned to continue their initial plan to return to AS after April 15.
Aside from the shortage of classrooms, delays in facility turnovers also mean less student spaces for extracurricular activities.
According to the Office of Student Affairs, aside from common areas like the AS steps and the lobby, they have no other rooms to offer students in need of venues for their events.
This means that organizations in need of venues for activities like the upcoming Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) on April 25 cannot be accommodated.
The college administration assured the students that they are trying their best to fully return to Palma Hall.
“Hindi lang kayo ang may gustong bumalik. Kami rin,” Associate Dean Gutierrez emphasized.
This call for a return to Palma Hall comes alongside the calls of many students, especially in CSSP, who have, in several dialogues and consultations, consistently reiterated their need for full face-to-face classes as well as student spaces within the college.
