Pres. Yepes swears in new Vice Presidents; retains VITA campuses Chancellors

The VSU community welcomes five new strong officials to work under the administration of President Prose Ivy G. Yepes to continue with the university’s pursuit of greater academic excellence and research relevance.

Today, May 6, 2024, the five Vice Presidents were officially sworn into their office in an austere ceremony held at the Administration Building with President Yepes administering their oath-taking. 

For the role of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Rotacio S. Gravoso succeeded Dr. Beatriz S. Belonias who served the said office for 8 years.

Dr. Gravoso is a distinguished professor and a multi-awarded social science researcher from the Department of Development Communication (DDC). He formerly served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Center (QAC), and the International Affairs Office (IAO). 

He is one of VSU’s most prolific social scientists and one of VSU’s most cited researchers according to the AD Scientific Index. He worked on projects on educational communication technology, environmental communication, science communication, and other community development initiatives.

Dr. Gravoso recently received the Outstanding Viscan Award for the category Community Empowerment and Human Development conferred to him during the Centennial Anniversary of VSU. 

In 2020, he was awarded by the University of the Philippines Los Baños with the Distinguished Alumni award for his research leadership and service as prime mover of the national organization of development communicators in the Philippines.

For the Vice President for Research, Extension, and Innovation, Dr. Santiago T. Peña, Jr. of the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) takes the helm in lieu of Dr. Dennis P. Peque of the College of Forestry and Environmental Science (CFES). 

Dr. Peña recently finished his special training as one of the 10 Filipino Fellows of the Faculty Exchange Program (FEP) - Southeast Asia Veterinary Medicine in the United States.

He is VSU’s Outstanding Researcher of the Year in 2023 and currently leads the project on establishing the first Boar Semen Laboratory Applications and Biotechnology (SemenLAB) facility to provide a dedicated service center for sperm freezing as well as a collaboration hub among researchers engaged in similar research.

The VSU Boar SemenLAB is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) which is among the many research strategies adopted to prevent the further spread of African Swine Fever (ASF).  

Dr. Peña previously served as Dean of CVM and was once the Executive Secretary of former President Edgardo E. Tulin who co-led the VSU administration in the response and recovery initiatives of the university during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Elwin Jay V. Yu, the Chief of Hospital and Head of the University Services for Health, Emergency and Rescue (USHER) is appointed as the new Vice President for Administration and Finance. He succeeded the role from Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin and Dr. Daniel S. Leslie from the immediate past administration.

Dr. Yu together with his COVID-19 response team in the university won the regional Civil Service Commission Pagasa Award in 2021. 

His team was composed of VSU key officials who worked on key areas and special projects to keep the university safe and responsive to the needs of VSU constituents including its neighboring communities during the onset of the pandemic.

Dr. Yu is a graduate of a Master of Public Management degree at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila in 2021 and earned some units for the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) program at DVOREF Tacloban. 

He is concurrent President of the Administrative Personnel Association (AdPA) of the university and is currently working on a national legislation that will give a seat to administrative personnel in the Board of Regents (BOR).

He was also recently elected as President of the VSU Credit and Development Cooperative (VSUCDC)—a local credit union exclusive for VSU employees that has recently been elevated into a large cooperative by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) of the Philippines.

Dr. Moises Neil V. Seriño, the Dean of the College of Management and Economics is now the Vice President for Planning, Resource Generation and Auxiliary Services. He succeeded Dr. Dilberto O. Ferranen who served this office for 4 years. 

Like Dr. Gravoso, Dr. Seriño was also awarded as an Outstanding Viscan under the Education Leadership and Management category during the Centennial celebration of VSU. 

In 2023, he received the Outstanding Young Scientist award from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines.

In 2022, he served as one of the members of the Technical Panel for Economics of the Commission on Higher Education. He is the concurrent Director of the Visayas Socio-Economic Research and Data Analytics Center (ViSERDAC) and the Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Socio-Economic Research and Development Studies (ReSERDS). 

ReSERDS is VSU’s newest journal that has been cataloged in many university libraries in the United Kingdom. 

Dr. Seriño is a promising young economist whose current research work is on the various applications of circular economy in agriculture and rural development initiatives. He recently completed a prestigious exchange program being one of the cohorts of the Scientific Exchange Program (SEP) Fellowship administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

To complete the key officials is a woman and sports leader in VSU and in the whole Eastern Visayas region, Dr. Aleli A. Villocino. She has been re-appointed as the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services by President Yepes because of her many pioneering works in improving student services in the university. 

She served as the former Regional Sports Director of the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) and Director of the Institute of Human Kinetics. Dr. Villocino has been actively involved in helping the university host the 37th Regional SCUAA last year.

Prior to becoming Vice President, she was also the Dean of the College of Education.

She is a recipient of the Good Samaritan Award from the Department of Education Baybay City Division for her initiatives on Special Education in 2021. She also served as the Quality Management Representative (QMR) of the university.

Dr. Villocino is considered one of the pillars of regional tertiary sports competitions who also advocated for greater inclusion and participation of women in many local sporting events here in Region VIII. 

Aside from the oathtaking of the new Vice Presidents, the Chancellors of the four Component Campuses namely Dr. Maria Jehan Libre (Villaba), Dr. Luzviminda Tajos (Isabel), Dr. Quenstein Lauzon (Tolosa), and Dr. Judith Jomadiao (Alangalang) also took their oath of office for being re-appointed as caretakers of the branch campuses of VSU.

Additional designations are expected to be released by the VSU administration in the coming days to complete the key officials of the Visayas State University.

With this strong force of new university leaders, VSU is hopeful to witness unhampered growth and development in the coming years.

The current VSU administration is also extending its heartfelt gratitude to the previous Vice Presidents of the university who contributed to the many present successes and accomplishments of our beloved institution.

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