Bicol University

Bicol University
Bikolanong Unibersidad
Established	June 21, 1969
Type	State University
President	HON. Fay Lea Patria M. Lauraya, Ph. D.
Location	Legazpi City, Philippines
Campus	Legazpi City, Daraga, Guinobatan, Polangui, Tabaco City and Gubat, Sorsogon
Colors	Blue and White
Nickname	BUeños; Iskolar ng Bayan
Affiliations	ASAIHL
Website	Bicol University

Bicol University (BU) is a state university in Legazpi City, the Philippines. The administrative center of Bicol University is in the City of Legazpi while its colleges are in separated campuses of Polangui, Guinobatan, Daraga, Legazpi City and Tabaco of Albay province. The university's 60 curricular offerings are broken down into 7 doctoral, 17 master and 36 undergraduate programs.

History

Formation

Bicol University was created as a state university in the Bicol Region on June 21, 1969 by the Republic Act 5521 and formally organized only on September 22, 1970. Section 2 of the Republic Act 5521 formalized the existence of the university through the merging of the following schools to form integrated units of the university:

• The Bicol Teachers College (BTC) with its Laboratory School at Daraga, Albay, now the BU College of Education (BUCE) with its Laboratory School
• Daraga East Central School (DCES) also at Daraga, Albay, now fused with the BUCE Laboratory School
• Albay High School also at Legazpi, now BUCE Laboratory School
• The Regional School of the Arts and Trades (BRSAT) also at Legazpi City, now the College of Industrial Technology
• The Roxas Memorial Agricultural School (RMAS) at Guinobatan, Albay, became the College of Agriculture and now the College of Agriculture and Forestry
• The School of Fisheries at Tabaco, Albay became the College of Fisheries, now the University Tabaco Campus.

These public schools and colleges which are now part of Bicol University had trained and educated the people of Bicol for more than half a century prior to their integration as component units of Bicol University.

Expansion

The College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Engineering were organized in 1971 while the College of Nursing was opened in 1973. The university has expanded from the core of six schools in 1969 to eight independent colleges and units spread over six campuses in two provinces in Bicol Region. In addition to the seven colleges, six institutes and centres were created:

• The Institute of Communication and Cultural Studies, now the College of Arts and Letters (CAL)
• The Computer Science Institute
• The Institute of Local Governance (ILG)
• The Institute of Physical Education, Sports and Recreation (IPESR)
• The Regional Science Teaching Center (RSTC)
• The Sentro ng Wika.

Until the integration of the Peace and Security Studies programs in the relevant college of the University, there existed for a short while an Institute for Peace and Security Studies with five curricular programs corresponding to the five educational levels- elementary, secondary, baccalaureate (BAPSS), master's (MAPSS), and doctoral (PASA) levels.

A Bicol University Gubat Campus was constructed and inaugurated one June 13, 1996 after a resolution of the Board of Regents and a People's Petition led by the town mayor. By virtue of another Board of Regents resolution, Gubat Campus was converted into one of Bicol University's extension programs to pave the way for Sorsogon State College and the local government of Gubat to take over.

In 2000, the School of Philippine Craftsmen was integrated into Bicol University and is now its Polangui Campus. In 2008, the BS Mining Engineering course was first offered at the College of Engineering.

Campuses

College of Arts and Letters, M.P. Building.

Arcilla Hall, Daraga Campus.

• Daraga Campus is located in Daraga, Albay. Inside this campus are the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) and College of Business, Economics and Management (CBEM). This campus was formerly called College of Arts and Science (CAS).
• Bicol University main campus is in Albay Legazpi City. In this campus are the College of Education (BUCE), College of Nursing (BUCN), College of Arts and Letters (BUCAL), College of Science (BUCS), Graduate School (BUGS), Institute of Physical Education, Sports and Recreation (IPESR), Bicol University Integrated Laboratory School (BUILS) High School Department. The BAdministration Building, the Bicol University Research Extension Program Center (BUREPC), the Amphitheatre and the Little Theater are also in this campus.
• Legazpi East Campus is located in Legazpi City. The College of Engineering and College of Industrial Technology are in this campus.
• Guinobatan Campus is in the town of Guinobatan, Albay. In this campus is the College of Agriculture and Forestry.
• Tabaco Campus is in Tabaco, Albay. Courses offered in this campus are Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Food Technology, Social Work, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Marine Fisheries, Fish Technology, Coastal Resource Management, Secondary Education, and Business Administration.
• Gubat Campus is located in Gubat, Sorsogon. Bachelor's degrees in Agricultural Technology, Secondary and Elementary Education, Fisheries, Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, Peace and Security Studies and Computer Science are offered in this campus.
• Polangui Campus is in Polangui, Albay. This was formerly known as the School for Philippine Craftsmen and offered vocational courses. It was integrated into Bicol University on December 14, 2000. From the five courses offered in 2000, it now offers fifteen courses including BS in Nursing, BS in Computer Engineering and BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering.

Facilities and services

Campus safety and security

The Civil Security Office is responsible for campus security. It is assisted by security officers from a private security agency.^{[citation needed]}

Sport and recreational facilities

There are basketball courts, facilities for track and field events, a volleyball court, a soccer field, and a swimming pool available for use by students and personnel.

The Bicol University Little Theater (BULT).

External links

• The Bicol Universitarian (The Official Student Publication of Bicol University)
• Bicol University Polangui Campus Web Based 3D GIS (BUPC3DGIS)
• Bicol University High School Batch 2007 Official Website
• Information from "4Internation Colleges and Universities"
• Executive summary of an audit by the government of the Philippines