By Haidee C. Pineda

(MAR. 17)— Which course should I enroll in?

Incoming freshmen who have yet to decide on which degree program to pursue got a better idea on UPD’s various academic degrees in the first university-wide Open House on Mar. 7 and 14.

The freshmen included UPCAT passers who qualified to the college of their choice and those who qualified under the Degree Program with Available Slots (DPWAS).

Organized and facilitated by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (OVCSA) in cooperation with the colleges, the UPD Open House aimed to provide UPCAT qualifiers general information on UPD’s various colleges and degree programs.

Over a thousand UPCAT qualifiers and their parents attended the orientation.

Eighteen degree granting units participated in the said event, namely: College of Arts and Letters, College of Fine Arts, College of Human Kinetics, College of Mass Communication, College of Music, College of Education, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, College of Social Work and Community Development, Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business, Asian Institute of Tourism, School of Economics, National College of Public Administration and Governance, College of Architecture, College of Home Economics, College of Science, School of Library and Information Studies, School of Statistics and various departments of the College of Engineering (CoE).

The academic units conducted a 3-hour program comprised of various activities such as a teaching demo, college facilities tour, career talks and orientation about their various courses, curriculum and scholarships offered.

Prior to the UPD Open House, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA), through the Office of the University Registrar (OUR), invited the DPWAS qualifiers, their parents and/or career guidance counselors for an orientation at the University Theater on March 2 to provide information about the DPWAS and assist the students in determining the degree programs to which they would like to apply.

According to the UPCAT website, DPWAS are students who qualified to enter a campus and were screened for acceptance into one of the degree programs they had chosen but did not make it to their first and second choice of degree program. They remain qualified for that campus but they must find a program that will accept them.

Deans of the colleges offering DPWAS participated in the said orientation and conducted a 5-minute presentation highlighting undergraduate degree programs with available slots, the general curriculum of these programs and career paths of graduates from these programs.

At the orientation were Chancellor Michael L. Tan, who delivered the welcome remarks, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Benito M. Pacheco and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Neil Martial R. Santillan.

The last open house will be conducted by the CoE Department of Civil Engineering on Apr. 11 at the GE Theater.

For the 2015 UPD Open House photos, click here. –Images courtesy of the OVCSA