West Visayas State University - History

History

West Visayas State University (WVSU) was founded on June 16, 1902, forming part of the early Philippine school system under the American regime.

Known as the Iloilo Normal Institute and later the Iloilo Normal School, WVSU was one of the five tributary schools created to address the need to train Filipino teachers under the tutelage of the Thomasites. In 1916, it was a secondary school (with Iloilo High School) complete with elementary and training departments. In 1924, with the completion of its main building (now Quezon Hall) and laboratory school building, INS became a distinct educational institution itself. It was also when a secondary normal school program, which eventually became a four-year normal college course, was established.

In 1954, the Bachelor of Science in Education major in Elementary Education was offered, pioneering teacher-training institution in Western Visayas. It was named a Center of Excellence (1994) by the late Sen. Blas P. Ople and Center of Excellence for Teacher Education (1995) by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The INS became the West Visayas State College by virtue of R.A. 4189 on May 4, 1965, and commenced the offering of the bachelor’s degree in education for both elementary and secondary teaching, bachelor of arts; and master’s in education. Also established were the Graduate School and the College of Arts and Sciences, (and consequently the Secondary Laboratory School) offering courses in the university level.

The period from 1974 to the early 1980s was one of marked growth, witnessing the establishment of the School of Medicine (1975), School of Agriculture (1976), and School of Nursing (1977).The doctoral program of the Graduate School was likewise, introduced in 1977. The B.S. Biological Science, AB Mass Communications, and B.S. Forestry programs took off in 1981.

On January 27, 1986, the College became the West Visayas State University, integrating the Iloilo National College of Agriculture (INCA) into its system. In 1987, the University acquired the Don Benito V. Lopez Memorial Hospital which became the WVSU Hospital, a 150-bed tertiary, teaching and training hospital. The University further established in 1993, the Sports, Athletics, and Cultural Arts Center which later became the degree-granting PESCAR Institute and later PESCAR College in 2000. In 1993, the Department of Mass Communications became the degree-granting Institute of Mass Communications, which was later converted into a College in 2000. In 2001, the Board of Regents and the Department of Health (DOH) approved the conversion of the WVSU Hospital to WVSU Medical Center that it is now.

The enactment of the Higher Education Modernization Act (1997) brought more developments in the University. In 2000, four CHED-supervised schools in Calinog, Janiuay, Lambunao, and Pototan were integrated into the WVSU System. The University Distance Education program through the Diploma in Teaching (DIT) course began in Summer 2003. By 2005, The Local Government Unit of Himamaylan entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the WVSU for the establishment of the WVSU Himamaylan Campus. Meanwhile, two new degree-granting units were also opened in the University: the Institute of Information and Communications Technology (IICT) in 2002 and the Institute of Management (IM) in 2006 which later became the College of Business and Management (2010).

In February 2008, the university hosted an international research conference in Iloilo City, in conjunction with its year-long centennial celebration.