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SUBJECT :

POLICIES, STANDARDS, AND GUIDELINES (PSG) FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE PROGRAM

In accordance with the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 7722, otherwise known as the "Higher Education Act of 1994," and by virtue of the Commission en bane Resolution No. 196-2011 dated 08 August 2011 and for the purpose of making relevant the general principles and guidelines for the operation of Bachelor of Arts in Political Science program in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country, this set of Policies, Standards and Guidelines (PSG) is hereby adopted and promulgated by this Commission.

ARTICLE I

INTRODUCTION

SECTION 1. Rationale and Background.— The American Political Science Association defines political science as the study of governments, public policies and political behavior, using both humanistic and scientific perspectives and skills to examine all countries and regions of the world. From this definition, it is important to emphasize that the discipline deals with a rather broad spectrum of concerns, from understanding the link between the individual (micro) and the institutional (macro) and the national to the global structures of policy making and politics.

An undergraduate degree in political science must constantly keep abreast with changes in the disciplines content theory, and methodology and must also root itself in the constant changes in the national and global political landscape. To this end, while the undergraduate program must conform to the minimum requirements set forth, Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) that offer the program are given the latitude to include courses that are deemed necessary to allow the students a deeper exploration and understanding of the various fields in the discipline and equip them with the competencies necessary to assess and respond to a myriad of political concerns and problems that require policy, program or in general, political action.

ARTICLE II

AUTHORITY TO OPERATE

SEC. 2. All Higher Education Institutions HEIs), both private and public (State Universities and Colleges [SUCs] and Local Colleges and Universities [LCUs] intending to offer the Bachelor of Arts in Political Science must first secure proper authority from the Commission on Higher Education in accordance with existing rules and regulations.

ARTICLE III

PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS

SEC. 3. Degree Name.—The degree under this program shall be called Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (BA PS)

SEC. 4. Objectives

• To train students in the language, theories and methodologies specific to the discipline;
  
  
• To expose the students to the current developments in each of the Political Science subfields;
  
  
• To equip the students with the necessary skills for political and policy analysis and enable them to craft the necessary interventions to bring forth desired political changes.

SEC. 5. Specific Professions/Careers/ Occupation or Trades that the Graduates of this Program May Go Into.—Graduates of the program could go into public and private sector work to engage in teaching, research, social development work, risk analysis, and grantsmanship.

SEC. 6. Program Majors.—Although the undergraduate program covers the discipline of Political Science, HEIs have to offer additional major courses from any or a combination of the fields of the discipline to include international relations, public administration, comparative government, political economy, theory and methodology, Philippine politics and government, and policy analysis.

ARTICLE IV

COMPETENCY STANDARDS

SEC. 7. Students in the discipline must exhibit the following competencies at the end of the undergraduate program:

• Understanding of the major concepts in the discipline
  
  
• a thorough knowledge of political science, its various sub-disciplines major themes, and analytical techniques as well as basic analytical techniques from other relevant disciplines
  
  
• a well developed ability to conduct their own scholarly inquiries using established quantitative and qualitative methods, guided  by a theory-based or conceptual framework
  
  
• written visual and oral presentation skills to produce or present analytical reports
  
  
• a substantive understanding of the historical and contemporary developments in the national and global setting
  
  
• a predisposition towards political involvement or participation in any form
  

ARTICLE V

CURRICULUM

SEC. 8. Curriculum description.—The curriculum for the program includes a set of general education courses, a defined set of core courses that the students are required to take, major tracks that comprise subjects in specific fields of the discipline that the student may wish to focus on or be tracked under, and elective courses taken from other social science degree programs.

The general education courses essentially prepare the students to the study of political science, refining their knowledge of the humanities, developing their reading and language proficiency, and providing requisite quantitative competencies.

However, the courses listed under the General Education shall automatically be considered as revised once a new CMO on General Education is issued by CHED, without the need for additional action on the part of the concerned Technical Panel. The Office of Programs and Standards (OPS) will issue an amendment to this CMO at such time to show the revised curriculum.

SEC. 9. Curriculum outline.—Given the difference in school calendars (from semestral, trimestral, quadrimestral), the suggested flow of course for the BA PS program is as follows:

• Completion of general education curriculum, including Fundamentals of Political Science and Introduction to Philippine Politics and Government, within the first three terms of the undergraduate students enrolled in the program (For the core courses, Annex A establishes the sequence of course offerings and prerequisites that must be followed).
  
  
• Completion of major and elective courses from the fourth term onwards.
  

See CHED MEMORANDUM ORDER (CMO) NO. 31 OF 2011 Table : 108 OG No. 32, 3948 (August 6, 2012)

SECTION 10. Sample Program of Study

See CHED MEMORANDUM ORDER (CMO) NO. 31 OF 2011 Table: Sample Program of Study : 108 OG No. 32, 3949 (August 6, 2012)

SECTION 11. Thesis/Research/Project Requirements. The thesis /research /project requirement may be offered as a separate course or integrated as a requirement in any of the methodology courses and credited as a major course.

SEC. 12. On-the-Job Training or Practicum Requirements.—Depending on the thrust of the program, HEIs are given the leeway of requiring a practicum or internship for students and can be credited as a major course.

ARTICLE VI

COURSE SPECIFICATIONS

SEC. 13. The course specifications for BA PS program are contained in Annex "A" of this Order:

ARTICLE VII

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

SEC. 14. Program Administration

14.1

Dean and Department Head. The Dean of the College where the BA PS program is offered should possess a doctorate degree in a social science discipline. The head (chairperson, coordinator) of the division/department/unit offering the BA PS program must have at least a master's degree in political science.

SEC. 15. Faculty

	15.1	Qualifications. Full time faculty members must have the following qualifications:
		>	Prior teaching experience at the tertiary level that may be waived for those who have a graduate degree
		>	A degree (BA, MA, Ph.D.) in the discipline of political science or its fields
	15.2	Percentage of Full-time faculty. There should be a minimum of five (5) full time faculty members, with at least two (2) having a Master's degree in the discipline of political science. The law degree (e.g., LI.B, J.D.) is not equivalent to an advanced degree in the discipline.
	15.3	Teaching Load. For full-time faculty, the maximum teaching load is fifteen (15) units per term excluding summer term.
		For part-time faculty members, the maximum teaching load should not exceed nine (9) units per term.

SEC. 16. Library.—Every college/ institution/department offering the BA PS program shall have an adequately equipped library that will provide all the basic textbooks, as well as reference materials for research and other scholarly purposes, as well as resources for current trends.

	16.1	Librarians. The following are the minimum staff requirements:
		A college/institution/department library should have a full-time librarian who is a holder of Master in Library and Information Science degree with a valid PRC license. There should be one full-time librarian for the first 500 students enrolled, and for an enrollment of 1,000, two (2) full-time librarians shall be required. Library assistant/s must be a holder/s of Bachelor of Library and Information Science degree.
	16.2	Library holdings.
		The library should subscribe to at least two (2) Philippine professional Philippine Political Science Journal and the Philippine Journal of Public Administration. In addition, the library should subscribe to one national circulation newspaper with daily circulation, and two weekly political magazines (Economist, Times, Newsbreak, Philippine Free Press). As regards the book collection, there should be at least ten (10) titles each for the courses listed in the curriculum housed at the library, half of which should have been published in the last five years.
		The library should have at least 100 audio-visual materials in the forms of tapes, films, records, CDs and DVDs. Fifty percent of the collections should have been published/produced within ten (10) years.
		The library must provide internet terminals to allow faculty members and students to undertake research and other academic activities.
		The library may provide access (with capability to read or print) to electronic library materials such as CD-ROMS and electronic subscriptions. These are considered as additional library holdings beyond the minimum requirements.

SEC. 17. Facilities and Equipment

	17.1	Classroom Requirements. For lecture classes, ideal size is thirty (30). Special lectures with class size of more than 30 may be allowed as long as the attendant facilities are provided.
	17.2	Laboratory requirements
		For courses that require the use of the computer, a 1.1 student to computer ratio is required. There should be a separate instructional computer laboratory for the  methods course (to learn social science statistics), with internet access.

SEC. 18. Admission and retention.— Students must pass ALL their Political Science courses to remain in the program. Transferees from other schools or programs will only be admitted if their previous GPA is 2.5 or better for Political Science courses.

ARTICLE VIII

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

SEC. 19. All HEIs, including SUCs and LUCs, with existing authority for BA PS program are hereby given a period of three (3) years from the effectivity thereof to fully comply with all the requirements in this CMO.

ARTICLE IX

SANCTIONS

SEC. 20. For violation of this Order, the Commission may impose such administrative sanction as it may deem appropriate pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 7722 in relation to Section 69 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 otherwise known as the "Education Act of 1982", Section 63 of Article XII and Sections 142-143 of Article XXVI of the Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education of 2008, and other related laws.

ARTICLE X

SEPARABILITY AND REPEALING CLAUSE

SEC. 21. Any provision of this Order, which may thereafter be held invalid, shall not affect the remaining provisions.

All CHED issuances or part thereof inconsistent with the provision in this CMO shall be deemed modified or repealed.

ARTICLE XI

EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE

SEC. 22. This Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Quezon City, Philippines, November 16, 2011.



See CHED MEMORANDUM ORDER (CMO) NO. 31 OF 2011 Annex "A" : AB POLITICAL SCIENCE "COURSE SPECIFICATION : BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE" : 108 OG No. 32, 3952-3958 (August 6, 2012)