UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao issued landmark administrative orders in March 2026, appointing student representatives to three university Joint Management Committees (JMC) and one merit award committee. These appointments of student representatives are among the results of continuing sectoral consultations and the chancellor’s thrust for transformative education and a regenerative UP Mindanao.
“The three JMCs are the first of their kind in the UP System,” wrote Special Assistant to the Chancellor Mr. Allan Villanueva. “I think we are the only UP Constituent University having this shared governance arrangement,” he stated.
The Joint Management Committee on Academic Stewardship also known as Administrative Order 38 Series of 2026 names College of Humanities and Social Sciences Student Council chairperson Rachelle Anne Baldonasa (BA Communication and Media Arts), College of Science and Mathematics Student Council representative Nathalie Moreno (BS Applied Mathematics) and School of Management Student Council representative Noelle Angeli Lago (BS Agribusiness Economics) among its members.
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Maria Stella Salazar chairs this JMC, which “shall co-manage the university’s academic development through policy and pedagogy, the learning environment, and faculty welfare.”
These functions include: review of the implementation of curriculum policies and recommend strategies to enhance teaching effectiveness; assess the adequacy of facilities and recommend improvements; and evaluate and strengthen mechanisms for faculty development.
The other committee members are the deans, representatives from the faculty, non-teaching, and Research, Extension, and Professional Services (REPS) sectors, the assistant to the vice chancellor for academic affairs for instruction, the quality assurance director, the interactive learning center director, the university librarian, and the human resources chief.
The Joint Management Committee on Campus Sanctuary (AO 39, s. 2026), chaired by VC for Administration Leo Manuel Estaña, has student Bella Javerez (BA English) as a member. The committee is mandated “to ensure that the university remains a safe, sovereign, and academically conducive sanctuary,” with functions related to security and risk management, infrastructure and land use, and community relations.
The committee membership includes sectoral representatives and representatives from campus planning and physical plant, security, legal, and human resources units, the animal welfare committee, and the solid waste management committee.
The third, the Joint Management Committee on Student Services and Welfare (AO 40, s. 2026), names Karylle Trishia “Kai” Mañacap (BS Anthropology) as a member.
The committee is tasked to perform the functions for: Student Welfare, such as “to evaluate and strengthen programs on mental health, inclusive spaces, and student protection”; Service Accessibility, namely, to “monitor and improve access to internet connectivity, transportation, and scholarships”; Process Improvement, namely, to “streamline frontline services such as ID issuance and clearances”; and Athletics and Extracurriculars, namely, to “review and support systems for student athletes and campus organizations.”
The committee is composed of the University Registrar, the college secretaries, focal persons of student affairs sections, representatives from the three sectors, and from the units of gender and development, anti-sexual harassment, information technology, the Department of Human Kinetics, and the transportation committee, with the student affairs director as chair.
Finally, Administrative Order 41 constitutes the Amuma Awards Committee of which Francine Abigail Cajano (Associate in Arts, Sports Studies) is a member alongside sectoral representatives, and chaired by HR chief Lynda Buenaobra with Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Fronteras as co-chair. The awards committee is tasked to design and operationalize an award system that recognizes the spirit of “Amuma” nurturance and shared stewardship as a cornerstone of institutional excellence.
The committees were enjoined “to be guided by a vision of a regenerative UP Mindanao, to bridge institution leadership and community experience, ensuring that policies are responsive, inclusive, and grounded in the needs of students, faculty, and staff.”
The committees are “encouraged to serve as a primary venue for collegial deliberation” and resolution of … concerns, while elevating only those matters that require higher policy-level direction.”
The committee appointments are in effect from March 17, 2026, to February 28, 2028.
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[Top photo: The student leaders and administration officials at the February 9, 2026, “Dissent Forum”]
