From Compliance to Culture: UP SURP’s Journey to Global Excellence
October 21, 2026
Culminating a week of collaborative learning and unit showcases, the inaugural UP Diliman QAhusayan Fair concluded on September 11, 2026 with a celebratory closing ceremony. Bringing together university administrators, heads and members of academic and administrative units, the event formally recognized the diverse contributions of offices and individuals in actively translating UP Diliman’s quality assurance framework into everyday practice.
Notable attendees included Vice Chancellor for Administration Adeline A. Pacia, CSSP Dean Ruth R. Lusterio-Rico, College of Engineering Dean Maria Antonia N. Tanchuling, and UPD QAO Director Evangeline C. Amor.
Vice Chancellor for Administration Adeline A. Pacia and UPD QAO Director joined the deans, directors, unit heads, and staff of academic and administrative offices for a group photo during the closing ceremony of the QAhusayan Fair.
During the program, certificates and citations were presented to units that participated in various QAO-led initiatives, including the conduct of External Quality Assurance (EQA) activities, the timely submission of the Post-Institutional Assessment and Development System (Post-iAADS) Report, and other activities supporting UPD QAO programs and initiatives. Moreover, all participating poster presenters also received certificates.
Special citations were conferred on seven (7) poster presentations that demonstrated distinct strengths in advancing quality within their respective contexts.
Vice Chancellor for Administration Adeline A. Pacia and UPD QAO Director presented Certificates of Recognition to representatives of poster presentations that received special citations.
Beyond the special citations, three posters received the highest overall scores from the panel of judges:
Vice Chancellor for Administration Adeline A. Pacia and UPD QAO Director presented Certificates of Recognition to representatives of the three top-scoring poster presentations.
Each of the three best poster presentations will receive a PhP 10,000.00 cash prize.
The poster presentations were evaluated throughout the four-day exhibit by a panel of judges selected by the UPD QAO based on the established criteria for the fair. The evaluation recognized the varied approaches through which participating units applied quality principles to their respective work.
In her closing message, Vice Chancellor Pacia reflected on what the QAhusayan Fair revealed about quality assurance across the University. She emphasized that “there is no single way to pursue quality,” noting that it can involve rethinking a long-standing practice, improving a service, responding to students’ needs, strengthening an academic program, improving a system, or simply recognizing that something can be done better.
For Vice Chancellor Pacia, bringing these initiatives together also created an opportunity for units to look beyond their own work and learn from one another. As she noted, “Bringing these initiatives together allows us to see that others may be asking the same questions, navigating similar challenges, or developing solutions from which we can learn.” She encouraged the community to carry these exchanges beyond the fair by bringing useful ideas back to their own units, starting conversations around practices that can be improved, and continuing to share and refine the work featured in the exhibits. She also expressed that the initiatives documented through the poster presentations can be showcased in other rewards and recognition platforms in the University to motivate and inspire other units and individuals to conceptualize innovative solutions.
The QAhusayan Fair’s exhibit continues beyond the four-day showcase at Palma Hall Lobby with a display at the University Food Service in the Student Union Building on October 5-9, 2026, bringing the featured initiatives to another part of the campus and giving more members of the UP Diliman community an opportunity to encounter the work, ideas, and practices shared during the fair. In extending the exhibit to a new space, the UPD QAO aimed to keep the conversations going and encourage further exchange beyond the fair itself.
The posters were exhibited at the University Food Service from October 5–9, 2026, giving more members of the UPD community an opportunity to explore the ideas, initiatives, and practices showcased during the fair.
As Vice Chancellor Pacia reminded the community, “The first QAhusayan Fair ends today. The work it celebrates does not.” The inaugural fair may have come to a close, but the initiatives it brought together and the conversations they sparked continue as part of UP Diliman’s ongoing pursuit of quality and continuous improvement.
The UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office culminates its Internal Quality Assurance activities with its Quarter 4 QA Clinic, bringing together 42 participants across 29 degree-granting units (DGUs). Held on November 17, 2025 at the UP Diliman Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI), the QA Clinic was attended by academic unit heads, faculty members, research and administrative staff, and QA officers across the academic clusters.
Dr. Maria Aura Teodora C. Matias, Director of the UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office, was invited by the Office of Quality Assurance (OQA) of the Central Mindanao University to orient specific stakeholder groups about the conduct of assessment site visits, specifically in the format of the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA).
In order to train SAR Writing Teams for the graduate program offerings of UP and align with the UP System target to further promote SAR submission, the Paghahanda: 2025 UPD QAO Self-Assessment Report (SAR) Preparation Workshops brought together 79 participants across 18 degree granting units in UP Diliman.
As a follow-up to the benchmarking activity last year by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) with UP Diliman (UPD) academic units, another collaboration was held between the UPD Quality Assurance Office (UPD QAO) and the PUP Quality Assurance Center (PUP QAC), this time through a webinar on the ASEAN University Network – Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) Programme-level Assessment Requirements, focusing on Criteria 3 to 8 last October 27, 2025.
Five academic programs from the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) and the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business (VSB) successfully completed the 3rd External Quality Review Visit held from October 13 to 15, 2025 in the University of the Philippines Diliman.
To wrap up the third quarter of the year, the UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office (UPD QAO) conducted the Quarter 3 Quality Assurance (QA) Clinic last September 23, Tuesday via Zoom Conference Meeting, gathering 52 participants from 16 degree-granting units across the UPD academic clusters.