Cagayan State University (Pamantasang Pampamahalaan ng Cagayan) is the largest state institution of higher learning in the Cagayan Valley Region. It was established by Presidential Decree 1436 and amended by Republic Act 8292 with the integration of a publicly supported higher education institution.
The university is composed of nine campuses in the growth areas in the three congressional districts of Cagayan, with Gonzaga, Aparri, and Lallo campuses in the 1st district, Lasam, Sanchez-Mira, and Piat campuses in the 2nd district, Andrews and Carig campuses in Tuguegarao City, and Solana Campus in the 3rd district. Each campus is headed by an executive officer, except for Andrews, where the university president concurrently acts as the CEO. The seat of governance for the university is at the Andrews Campus, where the central administration holds offices.
History
Juan Ponce Enrile was a representative of the Province of Cagayan in the Interim Batasang Pambansa and drafted the Charter of the Cagayan State University. It was signed into law as Presidential Decree No. 1436 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on June 11, 1978. The Charter has since remained unchanged except for provisions on the composition, powers, and selection of the members of the governing board.
The charter of Cagayan State University consolidated existing post-secondary institutions, converting them into a single legal entity. This explains the present constellation of campuses of Cagayan State University: Andrews (Caritan), Piat, Lasam, Lallo, Aparri, Sanchez Mira, and Gonzaga. When the university commenced operations, a site in Carig was developed, to which the central administration of the university would later transfer from Caritan. This site has evolved, by board consent, into the Carig Campus, although the Central Administration has since returned to the Andrews Campus at Caritan.
The university was formed from pre-existing institutions that were mainly agricultural and technical. Presidential Decree No. 1436 stated that the university was to provide "better service in professional and technical training in the arts, sciences, humanities, and technology and the conduct of scientific research and technological studies". This meant that the university was not to be an agricultural, fisheries, or technological university, but a "comprehensive university" as defined in the academic world.
Dr Manuel Corpus and Dr Joselito Jara were the first university officials, headed by Dr Manuel Corpus from the University of the Philippines and Dr Joselito Jara from the University of Maryland. The officials of pre-existing colleges that were consolidated into the university were designated "Campus Deans" and continued to supervise their respective campuses.
The Board of Regents authorized the opening of a College of Medicine, the first in the region, and an agreement with the Cagayan Valley Regional Hospital to make it the training hospital. The first dean was Dr. Gilberto Gamez, a nationally recognized neurologist-psychologist from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Santo Tomas.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has identified priority courses for the region, and CSU has always offered degree programs in the "hard sciences" such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. However, these programs have not been popular, but CSU now has a competent and highly credible corps of professors in these disciplines.
Dr. Armando Cortes, then Campus Dean of the Aparri Campus, succeeded Dr. Manuel Corpus as University President. The Bureau of Higher Education under the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports oversaw state universities and colleges. Prof. Monserrat Babaran was the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and together they devised a classification and promotion scheme that would later be adopted as a National Compensation Circular.
Fr. Ranhilio Aquino was appointed vice-president for Academic Affairs at the University of Santo Tomas. He supervised the accreditation of different programs at CSU with the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines and instituted a system for the re-training and "re-tooling" of professors of agriculture and fisheries who no longer had enough students to teach. Some programs of the university were awarded Center of Excellence status, others, Center of Development status, and higher levels of accreditation.
The Board of Regents authorized the operation of a College of Law, offering the Bachelor of Laws degree, in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.