Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) successfully hosted the institutional accreditation conducted by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) from November 17 to 19, 2025. Marking a historic milestone, WMSU became the first state university and college (SUC) in the ZAMBASULTA to undergo institutional accreditation.
The accreditation activities included program presentations and interviews held at the Dr. Juanito Bruno Gymnasium, while site validation was conducted across various offices and colleges within the main campus.
The evaluation covered nine critical areas essential for university development and quality assurance:
1. Governance and Management
2. Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation
3. Faculty and Staff
4. Research
5. Extension, Consultancy, and Linkages
6. Support to Students
7. Library
8. Infrastructure and Other Learning Resources
9. Quality Assurance Culture
The accreditation team was led by Dr. Milabel Enriquez Ho, AACCUP Executive Director, and included distinguished accreditors from higher education institutions nationwide:
Area I โ Dr. Anthony M. Penaso, President, Bohol Island State University, and Chairperson, AACCUP Board of Trustees
Areas II & III โ Dr. Erwin P. Lacanlale, Dean, College of Education, Tarlac State University
Areas IV & V โ Dr. Arnel B. Millesca, President, Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology
Areas VI & VII โ Dr. Liza M. Tamargo, Director for Library Services and Museum, Ifugao State University
Areas VIII & IX โ Dr. Suzette B. Lina, Dean, College of Agriculture and Food Science, Visayas State University, Member, AACCUP Board of Trustees
The opening program featured remarks from Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Nursia M. Barjose, who emphasized “๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.”
WMSU President Dr. Ma. Carla A. Ochotorena delivered a comprehensive institutional profile, highlighting WMSUโs 121-year history, beginning with the founding of the Zamboanga Normal School in 1904, which became the cradle of teacher education in Mindanao.
Dr. Ochotorena recounted the universityโs resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, adapting to online and flexible learning, and maintaining academic traditions virtually. Under her leadership, WMSU has transformed into a Smart Campus with UNIFI-WiFi connectivity, the Human Resource Information System (HRIS), and the Online Employment Gateway among others. The university has also expanded academic offerings, upgraded laboratories, and strengthened international partnerships.
“๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ,” she stated.
A video presentation prepared by the Public Affairs Office showcased the universityโs accomplishments over the past five years, emphasizing its commitment to excellence in academics, research, extension, and governance.
The accreditation visit concluded on November 19, with accreditors expressing positive impressions of WMSUโs programs and services. Dr. Ochotorenaโs closing message addressed the way forward. “๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด.”
The official results and level of the institutional accreditation are expected to be announced by AACCUP during the first quarter of 2026, marking a significant step in WMSUโs continuous pursuit of quality assurance and institutional excellence. (LMP, PAO)
