Uenian - History

History

The history of the University of the East starts in September 1946, in a rented room on Dasmariñas St., Manila, where 110 students enrolled in Certified Public Accountant (CPA) review classes. The group of business teachers led by Dr. Francisco T. Dalupan, Sr. that started the sessions made it their objective to help the country, which was still reeling from the war. Of the 110 students, four made it to top spots in the 1947 CPA board Examinations.

On September 11, 1946, five people — namely Francisco Dalupan, Sr., Herminiglio Reyes, José Torres, Enia Mapa and Santiago de la Cruz — established the Philippine College of Commerce and Business Administration (PCCBA) along R. Papa St. in Sampaloc, Manila. The PCCBA admitted 350 students in the summer of 1947. The following year, more students enrolled and more academic units were organized, and the PCCBA moved to what is now UE's main campus on 2219 Claro M. Recto Avenue.

PCCBA alumni performed successfully in the government's accountancy examinations. Because of this success, the government granted the PCCBA permission to establish other colleges, leading to the establishment of the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Dentistry, and the Graduate School of Business Administration.

The PCCBA was granted university status on July 4, 1951 and was renamed the University of the East. Dalupan became UE's first president and chairman of its Board of Trustees. The first members of the Board were Herminigildo B. Reyes, a businessman, scholar, and former Vice President of the University of the Philippines; Santiago F. de la Cruz, a CPA and business executive who later succeeded Dalupan as UE president; José L. Torres, a soldier, businessman, and accountant; and Jaime Hernández, former Secretary of Finance.

The succeeding years saw the opening of the colleges of Law, Medicine, and Engineering, as well as the Graduate School of Education. The Graduate School later merged with the Graduate School of Business Administration.

In June 1954, UE opened a new campus, then known as UE Tech, on a 4.86-hectare lot along Samson Road in Caloocan. UE Caloocan, which is now academically autonomous, is headed by a chancellor. The new Tan Yan Kee Academic Building houses the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Fine Arts, whereas the College of Engineering has its own building. The UE Caloocan grounds have been used for ROTC and CAT instruction since 1986.

In 1955, the UE purchased a one-hectare lot along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City, where it established the College of Medicine. On May 17, 1957, the College was converted into a Foundation and named the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC).

In 1962 the University acquired a 5,850-square meter lot across UERMMMC. This became the Research Center for Sciences, Humanities and Culture, which is home to two buildings. One housed the School of Music and Arts and the Ballet School while the other housed the College of Dentistry and research laboratories. The School of Music and Arts, now the College of Fine Arts, moved to the Caloocan campus in 1981. On the mid 1960s Dalupan commissioned the National Artist Guillermo Tolentino to create the symbol of every UEian, the Lualhati from the figure of CBA student Ophelia Salas. The College of Dentistry moved to the Recto (Manila) campus in school year 1988-1989.

In 1967, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, father of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, decided to teach part-time in the College of Business Administration and branded UE as the "People's University."

Together with the expansion came rapid growth in enrollment. From the original 110 students in 1946, the student population steadily grew each year until 1960, when UE became the first Philippine university have an enrollment of over 60,000. The highest enrollment record was achieved during the first semester of school year 1975-1976, with 67,443 students registered. Today, the body of UE alumni is over 250,000 strong.

The economic crisis and recession that hit the Philippines in the 1980s did not spare UE. The devaluation of the peso, rising inflation, the high cost of wages, coupled with faculty, personnel and student strikes affected UE. Enrollment declined. This period intensified into a crisis that almost led to the school's being sold to a foreign religious group. Financial trouble and academic decline continued to burden UE throughout the 1980s. For a brief period in 1984, a controlling interest in the university was held by an entity of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation movement. Students boycotted classes and held protests against the takeover, and in short time control was returned to stakeholders.

Dr. Isidro D. Cariño, who became UE president in 1984, began applying measures that included personnel reduction, cost-cutting measures, and renting out of school premises and facilities on short- and long-term leases. UE began offering a ladderized curriculum, a special course for executives, programs from the Institute for Computer Studies and Systems, and scholarships for accounting and engineering students. The lease of facilities enabled UE to hold back tuition fee increases in 1986-1987 and 1987-1988.

When Cariño was appointed Secretary of Education of the Philippines in 1990, Panfilo O. Domingo, former President of Philippine National Bank, took over as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and became Chief Executive Officer and Acting President of the University.

Domingo immediately worked to cure the financial ills of the University by retiring its short-term debts and instituting fiscal and operational reforms. Within five years, the University's loans were substantially reduced and the long-accumulated operating deficit was eliminated from the books. At the same time, Domingo began a massive rehabilitation of UE's infrastructure and academics.

University of the East is one of the most financially stable universities in the Philippines in terms of assets. Realizing that education is the only way to escape poverty, Dr. Lucio C. Tan heavily invested in education. He bought the University of the East in 1990, which he considers his biggest feat in promoting education in the country.

In 1992, former Treasurer of the Philippines Rosalina S. Cajucom became UE President. After she retired in mid-1995, Domingo reassumed the presidency until the appointment of Dr. Josefina R. Cortes to the position in 1997. She was succeeded by Mr. Baltazar N. Endriga following her 2003 retirement.

UE's programs have seen success from its inception up to the early 1980s, when UE graduates were among the topnotchers list of the CPA board exams. The University has likewise yielded topnotchers in other licensure board exams in Dentistry, Engineering, Education, Medicine, Nursing and Physical Therapy.

To date, UE Manila has been granted Autonomous Status by the Commission on Higher Education, while many of its Colleges have each been given Level II accreditation by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA). The UERMMMC Colleges, for their part, have been accredited by the Philippine Accrediting Agency of Schools, Colleges and University(PAASCU). The College of Medicine and Nursing has level II and level III respectively.

Recently the University was labeled as "One of the Most Wired Universities in the Country" by the Computer World Magazine and Enterprise Magazine. Featured in the 2006 Computerworld Premier 100 of Computer World Magazine, the university ranked 15 among the top 100 corporations and companies in the use of Information Technology and is the only educational institution on the list.

The University migrated from ATM to Gigabit Ethernet to support growing online requirements, expanding online learning capabilities and improving administrative functionality at its Manila campus with an Ethernet networking solution from Nortel Networks. The upgrade will significantly improve speed and performance of student and faculty access to online learning resources and academic records. The upgrade will also support the University’s plan for a unified communications network ultimately linking the Manila facility with campuses in Caloocan and Quezon City.

Presently the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has identified the University of the East as a Center of Development in Information Technology Education. The Information Technology Department was identified as a Center of Development in Information Technology Education from March 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010.

In October 6, 2009, the Commission on Higher Education granted the Autonomous Status to the UE-Manila campus. This is CHED's highest recognition of UE's accomplishments, adherence to quality assurance and commitment to public responsibility and accountability.

In September 2011, the University of the East celebrated its 65th Foundation Anniversary. 65 years of Nurturing the minds and Touching the Lives of the Filipino Youth with a theme of RIZAL: Nasa Puso ng UE. Also on that year, The University of the East College of Computer Studies and System will offer the Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Game Development, The UE CCSS’ new course is expected to produce future, globally competitive generations of website developers, graphic designers, desktop publishers, role-playing games and other computer games developers, audio-visual editors and producers, digital imaging experts and others.

To maintain academic excellence, the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC). have sought voluntary accreditation in all its program offerings, with PAASCU. The College of Medicine is Level III accredited, the College of Nursing has been recertified Level III and the College of Physical Therapy was also granted Level III accreditation.

The UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC) is labeled as one of the highest passing percentage school in the Philippines in the recent 2011 licensure examinations. The College of Medicine has 96.03% passing rate as of August 2011 Licensure Exam The College of Nursing has 98.13% passing rate as of January 2011 Licensure Exam. While the College of Physical Therapy has 100% passing rate as of January 2011 licensure exam.'