BUENAVISTA, Guimaras — Guimaras State University (GSU) welcomed the Sultan Kudarat State University Faculty Association, Inc. (SKSU-FAI) on September 29, 2026, hosting the first stop of the association’s institutional benchmarking tour.
The discussion took place at the Office of the University President, where GSU President Lilian Diana B. Parreno, PhD, academic officers, faculty and staff received the eight-member SKSU-FAI delegation. The delegation is composed of Dr. Rosita T. Rizaldo, Director for Resource Generation; Evora H. Dioneza, Business Manager; and Leonard Ibot, FA Committee Chairperson on welfare and development. Also present were the FA campus presidents: Dr. Christine P. Abo of ACCESS, Samuel Salvador of Lutayan, Donald Cogo of Kalamansig, Hessan Talapas of Palimbang, and Cresencio Antonio of Bagumbayan.
A key lesson centered on program planning. GSU officials explained that its campuses do not compete with one another. Programs are arranged so they do not overlap, a practice the university calls “niching.”
On faculty workload, the delegation learned that faculty report to work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, they work from home and handle National Service Training Program (NSTP) classes. Overload is granted but charged to personal services rather than local funds, subject to available savings. It is compensated partly through payment and partly through compensatory time off, following an institutional policy on conversion.
GSU also discussed how it handles the ROSS 2 arrangement. Under its setup, auxiliary services fall under research, along with the intellectual property office, the journal and printing. Monitoring and impact assessment sit under extension, while resource generation and the auxiliary unit are under finance. Officials stressed the need to request ROSS 2 positions early to secure the budget.
On finances, GSU said budget cuts are common among state universities, although negotiations are ongoing. Reserve funds cannot be used within the year. At year-end, unspent funds, including those of athletics, are pooled and presented to the Board for approval of priority projects. The university also reported about ₱6 million in savings from internet, power and water costs, which fund Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) benefits.
Communication allowances are granted only to certain divisions.
The delegation also noted GSU’s university-wide and per-campus organizational structures, as well as its approach to merit promotion.
The visit ended with a thank-you speech and the presentation of certificates and tokens for GSU and its faculty association.
