During the opening ceremony of the inaugural UP Diliman QAhusayan Fair 2026 held on September 7, 2026, Dean Dina C. Magnaye, presented the transformative journey of the School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) as a world-class academic unit of the University of the Philippines. Her keynote address, titled “Strengthening Systems, Uniting People, Reimagining Processes, and Propelling Impact: SURP Quality Journey from Commitment to Excellence,” detailed how SURP actively operationalized its strategic vision to position itself as a globally recognized and quality-assured center for graduate education, research, and governance across Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Central to the School’s transformation was the implementation of the Enterprise Performance and Evaluation Scorecard (ePES), a numerical assessment framework that monitored SURP’s operational milestones, consistently exceeding annual performance targets and rising from an 80% rating in 2022 to a 93% achievement rate in 2025.
School of Urban and Regional Planning Dean Dina C. Magnaye delivered the keynote address during the opening ceremony of the QAhusayan Fair.
A central theme of the keynote address was that true quality extends far beyond regulatory compliance, audit checklists, and static paperwork. Dean Magnaye emphasized that achieving sustainable excellence requires moving past records maintenance to instill a proactive culture centered on evidence-based continuous improvement. To operationalize this mindset, UP SURP grounded its strategy in its core values—Selfless Service, Unity, Respect, and Passion for Purpose and People—while executing the six foundational principles: leadership, academic program integration, evidence-based practices, continuous learning, people-centricity, and public engagement. The School standardized its internal administrative systems by aligning Individual and Office Performance Commitment Reviews (IPCR/OPCR) with its multi-year business plans, restructuring core course syllabi under Outcome-Based Education (OBE) frameworks, establishing standardized thesis, job, and competency manuals, and maximizing previously underutilized institutional data.
This collective approach enabled the school to attain the Level I of the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) entirely through internal alignment and capacity building without relying on external consultants. This distinction made SURP the first degree-granting unit in the entire UP System to earn PQA recognition, awarded on July 17, 2024 at the Heroes’ Hall, Malacañang Palace. SURP’s journey offers a concrete and highly replicable blueprint for academic units across UP Diliman, demonstrating that high-level quality assurance standards are achievable while maintaining academic independence and relying on native talent.
Rather than treating accolades as a final destination, UP SURP views its quality milestones as stepping stones toward broader global impact. Looking ahead, SURP is directing its strategic priorities toward full curricular revisions for all graduate programs, building retrofitting, and qualification for international benchmarks such as the Global Performance Governance Systems Recognition and the Global Performance Excellence Awards (GPEA) under the Asia Pacific Quality Organization. Moreover, its Master of Arts (Urban and Regional Planning) program is poised to undergo assessment through the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) in June 2027.
By framing quality as an everyday working standard rather than a temporary demonstration for evaluators, SURP sets an inspiring precedent for the broader university ecosystem. Its success serves as both a roadmap and a call to action for other colleges to move past bare-minimum compliance, harness their own internal data, and cultivate a shared culture of excellence across Ultimately, SURP’s journey stands as a powerful reminder that honor and excellence are not static ideals to be evaluated, but daily practices to be lived.
UPD QAO Director Evangeline C. Amor and UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II presented the Certificate of Appreciation to School of Urban and Regional Planning Dean Dina C. Magnaye for her keynote address during the opening ceremony of the QAhusayan Fair.
Know more about the QAhusayan Fair here: https://qa.upd.edu.ph/the-up-diliman-qahusayan-fair/.
To strengthen the engagement of various quality assurance stakeholders in the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), the UPD Quality Assurance Office held a two-day QA General Assembly last March 3 and March 10, 2025 at the Bulwagang Tandang Sora, College of Social Work and Community Development, participated by 248 members of the UPD community across the 87 academic and administrative units.
To reinforce the foundational knowledge gained from the series of onsite training for the Phase 1 of the ISO 21001:2018 EOMS Certification Project, the UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office (UPD QAO) successfully conducted multiple sessions of Process Mapping and Risk Management Coaching from November 2024 to February 2025.
7 undergraduate degree programs from UP Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga, College of Fine Arts, and College of Social Work and Community Development completed two batches of external review visits last November 20-22 and November 27-29, 2024, with external quality reviewers hailing from UP Diliman and UP Los Baños. This brings the total of undergraduate degree programs that have undergone external quality assurance to 27 in 2024.
The UP Diliman Office for the Advancement of Teaching (OAT) and Quality Assurance Office (QAO) held two Outcome-Based Education (OBE) workshops in September and November 2024. The workshops focused on aligning learning outcomes and syllabus design to support academic units in revising curricula and developing Self-Assessment Reports (SAR).
To strengthen UP Diliman’s commitment to quality assurance and integrate risk management principles in facilitating the attainment of the University’s core purpose, the UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office and Macro Vision Consultancy (MVC), launched the Risk Management Training on October 14-16 at the Conference Hall, Balay Kalinaw.
The UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office held the 4th quarter QA Clinic on October 28, 2024, with 24 QA Officers. Discussions included year-end reviews, strategic planning, aligning with UP programs, rankings, and QA tools like PESTEL and SWOT to enhance implementation and improvement.
