Isabela State University


Isabela State University is a public university in the province of Isabela, Philippines. It is mandated to provide advanced instruction in the arts, agricultural and natural sciences as well as in technological and professional fields. Its main campus is located in Echague, Isabela.

Milestone

The Isabela State University traces its beginning in December 1918 to a farm school – the Echague Farm School, constituting a four-room academic building and a home economics building established through the efforts of an American supervising teacher, Mr. Horatio Smith, under the provisions of the Compulsory Education Act.
With ten teachers to run the school, it accommodated 100 pupils from grades five to seven to take up elementary agriculture. Soon after, growth was gradually seen when the 100 enrollees increased to 300, necessitating the hiring of more home economics teachers and a farm manager as was provided by the same provision. Subsequently, more infrastructures were gradually constructed in 1925 to include a modest library building, a granary, a poultry swine building, garden houses and a nursery.
More developments soon followed with the conversion of the farm school into a rural high school in 1928. This progress provided for the opening of higher academic levels – the first and second-year classes, and the third and fourth-year classes thereafter. In response to increasing demands for appropriate higher education programs, the secondary agricultural education and home economics courses were made fully operational.
The year 1935 brought in another development for the Isabela State University when the Municipal Council of Echague, Isabela withdrew its support from the gradually progressing rural high school. Consequently, the school was transferred to Jones, Isabela where it saw the reverting of its status to a farm school again until World War II.
When the liberation period came in 1946, the farm school was named Isabela Agricultural High School and was relocated to Echague, Isabela. In 1952, it was renamed Echague Rural High School. As the course in forestry was integrated into the agricultural courses of the school in 1960, it was deemed appropriate to rename it as Echague Agricultural and Forestry School. Soon, the school began to gain recognition when in 1963 it earned the status of an agricultural school in the region. With the status came a broader sphere of responsibility as it was then expected to respond to the needs of its clientele not only in the provincial but also in the regional level. This seemed to have served as the cue for more innovations to follow.
More academic programs were offered as demanded by its regional school status supported by the timely reorganization of the administrative advisory structure of the newly created Bureau of Vocational Education which gave greater freedom to the agricultural, trade and fixture schools to plan and implement their educational programs. Concurrent with the agricultural school status, in 1970, the Echague Agricultural and Forestry School was also designated as the Manpower Training Center for the region.
The filing of House Bill 2866 during the Seventh Congress of the Philippines continually elevated the status of the school. The bill made possible the conversion of the Echague Agricultural and Forestry School into a state college. The conversion move was approved by the Lower House on April 17, 1972 and was subsequently passed by the Senate on May 30, 1972. However, its presidential approval was made pending. But shortly after the declaration of Martial Law, the bill was finally signed and the now state college was named Isabela State College of Agriculture. With its new status, the programs in agriculture, forestry and home economics were expanded and engineering, agri-business and post-secondary two-year courses were opened.
The Educational Decree of 1972 promulgated on September 20, 1972 set another direction for the educational system. The decree declared a government policy to re-orient the educational system for an accelerated national economic growth and social development. During this time, the province of Isabela was also experiencing growth in many aspects. As the province saw the need to accommodate the results of its growth and respond to the call for national development through education, it felt the need to integrate and convert the institutions of higher learning into one effective and efficient state university. Presidential Decree 1434 then emerged two state colleges- the Isabela State College of Agriculture in Echague and the Cagayan Valley Institute of Technology in Cabagan to become the Isabela State University. This also transferred the college level courses of the Isabela School of Arts and Trades in Ilagan; the Jones Rural School in Jones; the Roxas Memorial Agricultural and Industrial School in Roxas; the San Mateo Vocational and Industrial School in San Mateo. As likewise provided in the same decree, Echague campus is the seat of the administration. PD 1437 complemented PD 1434 by defining the composition, powers, and functions of the governing board which was amended by RA 8292.
In 1999, the CHED Memorandum Order No. 18 s. 1999, which provides the guidelines for the integration of CHED Supervised Institutions to SUCs, was enacted. Pursuant to this order, the first CHED supervised institution that was integrated into the University is the Cauayan Polytechnic College at Cauayan Isabela in 2000. In 2002, another three CSIs were integrated into the system, namely: the Roxas Memorial Agricultural and Industrial School with ISU Roxas Campus; the Delfin Albano Memorial Institute of Agriculture and Technology in San Mariano, Isabela; and, the Angadanan Agro-Industrial College in Angadanan, Isabela. With the enthusiasms of the Palanan and Santiago City Local Government Units, the ISU and the said LGUs had entered into a memorandum of agreement to establish extension campuses to their respective places. Palanan campus was established in 2004 while, Santiago City ISU campus last June 2008. To date, the university has 11 campuses grouped into four clusters strategically located in the four congressional districts of Isabela.

Past administrators

The adoption of the new organizational structure is an initiative to implement better university management. Adhering to the principles of organization and management, the overall purpose of changing/revising the university organizational structure is to keep it attuned with recent developments and to streamline the institution to become more efficient, effective and economical in responding to the needs of its clientele.
The significant changes in the organizational structure are highlighted by the clustering of the university campuses. The eleven campuses were grouped into four constituent clusters in which component campuses are placed under each constituent campus, namely: Echague Campus with Jones, Angadanan and Santiago City as component campuses, Cauayan City Campus with Roxas and San Mateo as component campuses, City of Ilagan Campus with San Mariano as its component campus and Cabagan Campus with Palanan as its component campus. The constituent campuses are headed by Executive Officers while the component campuses are headed by Campus Administrators.
The organizational structure shows the different levels of management both in the administrative and academic levels. The Board of Regents is the policy-making and governing board of the University under which is the University President, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the University.
Two major councils support the President – the Administrative Council and the Academic Council. The President chairs both councils. The ADCO reviews and recommends to the BOR for appropriate action policies governing the administration, management and development plans of the University while the ACO reviews and recommends the curricular offerings and rules of discipline of the university subject to appropriate action of the BOR. It fixes requirements for the admission of students as well as for the graduation and the conferment of degrees, subject to review and/or approval by the BOR through the University President. Supporting the Office of the President are the Presidential Management Staff and the Internal Audit Services.
Directly under the Office of the President are the four Offices of Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs, Administration and Finance, Research, Development, Extension and Training and Planning and Development. Also directly under the President are the four Executive Officers of each constituent campus/cluster under which are the deans and campus administrators.
The colleges, institutes and schools constitute the academic units of the University and are headed by the deans. The deans report directly to their respective Executive Officers. Associate Deans of Colleges/Schools/Institutes report directly to the deans concerned on matters pertaining to academic policies and programs. Departments of academic units are headed by the Chairmen who report directly to their respective Deans or Associate Deans.

Academic programs

Main Campus (Echague)

Graduate Studies
Undergraduate Programs
Non-degree Courses
Graduate Studies
Undergraduate Programs
Graduate Studies
Undergraduate Programs
Diploma and Two-year Programs
Graduate Studies
Undergraduate Programs
2-year courses