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SUBJECT :

POLICIES, STANDARDS, AND GUIDELINES (PSG) FOR THE GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

In accordance with the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 7722, otherwise known as the "Higher Education Act of 1994," CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 36, s. 1998 ("Policies and Standards on Graduate Education"), CMO No. 9, s. 2003 ("Addendum to CMO No. 36, s. 1998 Policies and Standards on Graduate Education"), and by virtue of CEB Resolution No. 196-2011, dated 08 August 2011 and for the purpose of rationalizing the graduate degree programs in political science 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 development of the political system requires a core of professionals who specialized in the conduct of political affairs and who can effectively mobilize the participation of citizens in governance processes. These professionals, referred to as political scientists, are developed through advanced degree programs that are offered by higher education institutions. To ensure that these programs conform to established standards in the discipline, these Policies and Standards are hereby promulgated.

ARTICLE II

AUTHORITY TO OPERATE

SEC. 2. Authority.— All Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), both private and public (State Universities and Colleges [SUCs] and Local Colleges and Universities [LCUs] intending to offer graduate programs 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 Names

1. Non-Thesis Master's Program. Master in Political Science (MPS)

2. Thesis Master's Program : Master of Arts in Political Science (MA PS)

3. Doctoral Program: Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (Ph.D. PS)

SEC. 4. Objectives.—The graduate programs in political science generally aim to develop a pool of scholars who could effectively probe into issues or concerns of politics, governance, international relations, and political change. By providing the students opportunities to update themselves in regards the methods and theories in the discipline and through the systematic study prolonged adjacently evolved political phenomena and concerns, the graduate programs should enable the students to develop assess interventions that could bring forth substantive democracy, improve the performance of political institutions, and reinforce the grounds for constructive intergovernmental and inter-non governmental relations.

SEC. 5. Specific Professions/Careers/ Occupations that Graduates of these Programs May Go Into.—Graduates of the MPS/MA PS could engage in teaching, research, and development work in the private (e.g., academic, corporate, media) and public (e.g., local and national government agencies, Congress) entities in the Philippines and abroad.

Those who complete the Ph.D. program are expected to take leading positions in academic, research, policy making, and media institutions as they have sharpened their capabilities for generating or translating knowledge into policy inputs that are critical in developing a larger constituency for the idealized democratic   changes.

SEC. 6. Program Majors.—Institutions offering the graduate programs may direct their students in any one or a combination of specializations based on the recognized fields (e.g. International Relations, Public Administration and Policy Studies, Comparative Politics, Philippine government and politics, Political theory and methodology) in the discipline.

ARTICLE IV

COMPETENCY STANDARDS

SEC. 7. Graduates of advanced degrees in Political Science must exhibit the following competencies:

1. Policy or Program Assessment Skills. This necessitaties a profound understanding of the process that bring forth or lead to the design of programs, as well as the steps and factors that affect policy or program implementation, from the definition of the policy or program concerned to the systems of continuous policy/ program monitoring and evaluation.
   
   
2. Theory Building. In systematically observing and analyzing political phenomena, the political scientist is expected to identity the variables that bring forth (causes) or result (consequence) from any given social, economic or political phenomenon. The theories that are either validated or developed from case or confined observations, are logically formulated and coherent and based on existing theories, models or frameworks.
   

ARTICLE V

CURRICULUM

SEC. 8. Curriculum description.—The curricula of graduate programs are designed to prepare scholars for the discipline. The following shows the distribution of course and other requirements per program.

SEC. 9. Curriculum outline

See CHED MEMORANDUM ORDER (CMO) NO. 32 OF 2011 : SEC. 9. Curriculum outline  : 108 OG No. 32, 3960-3961 (August 6, 2012)

SEC. 10. Sample Program of Study.—For the MPS, MA PS and Ph.D. PS programs, the following are the prescribed program of study for full-time students:

TERM	MPS	MAPS
First term	All core courses	All core courses
Second Term	9 units of major courses	12 units of major courses
Third Term	9 units of major courses	Remaining 3 units of major courses and cognate courses
Fourth Term	9 units of major courses	Comprehensive Examination
Fifth Term	Comprehensive Examination	Thesis requirement

TERM	Ph.D. PS
First Term	All core courses
Second Term	12 units of major courses
Third Term	6 units of cognate courses
Fourth Term	Dissertation proposal
Fifth Term	Comprehensive Examination
Sixth Term	Dissertation defense

SEC. 11. Thesis/Dissertation/Project Requirements.—Students in the MA PS and Ph.D. PS programs shall be required to submit a thesis and dissertation, respectively, on topics that would be approved by the Thesis/Dissertation committee designated by the department/ division offering the program.

SEC. 12. On-the-Job Training or Practicum Requirements.—The MPS program shall require a single term practicum for a total of 200 hours. The practicum should be in institutions in the public sector (policy making or executive institution at the local or national level) or the private sector (research think-tanks, multilateral agencies) that have entered into a memorandum of agreement with the institution offering the program. At the end of the practicum, the students will be required to write a reflection paper recounting the experiences in the agency they were assigned to and also surfacing policy or program relevant issues for which they would offer recommended interventions.

ARTICLE VI

COURSE SPECIFICATIONS

SEC. 13. For description and specification of courses, please refer to Annex A.

ARTICLE VII

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

SEC. 14. Program Administration.—The Dean of the College where the graduate programs are offered should possess a doctorate degree in a social science discipline. The head (chairperson, coordinator) of the division/department/unit offering the MPS/MA PS/Ph.D. PS programs must have a doctorate degree in Political Science.

SEC. 15. Faculty

1. Qualifications. All faculty members must have a graduate degree in the discipline or any of its inclusive fields mentioned in Section 6 of this CMO.
   
   
2. Faculty Requirements for MA and Ph.D. Programs. For those who offer the Ph.D.   Political Science program, there should be a minimum of seven (7) full-time faculty members, all of whom have relevant doctorate degrees in the social science with at least half-possessing a doctorate degree in the discipline or a specialized field. The Master of Laws or the Doctorate in Educational Management does not qualify as relevant degrees.
   
   For those who only offer the MPS or MA PS, there should be a minimum of five (5) full-time faculty members, with at least two (2) possessing a doctorate degree preferably in the discipline or another relevant social science degree.

SEC. 16. Library.—Every college/ institution/department offering Political Science graduate programs 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.

1. Librarians.  The following are the minimum staff requirements:
   
   
   1. 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 license.
      
      
   2. There should  be  one full-time librarian for the first 500 students enrolled, and for an enrollment of 1,000 students two (2) full-time librarians shall be required.
      
      
   3. Library assistant/s must be a holder/s of Bachelor of Library and Information Science degree.
      
   
   
2. Library Holdings. The library should subscribe to at least two (2) Philippine professional journals-Philippine Political Science Journal  and the Philippine Journal of Public Administration and two (2) refereed and abstracted international journals in the discipline. In addition, the library collection should include at least 20 titles per course in the graduate programs, at least half of which should have been published in the last five (5) years.
   
   In addition, the library should subscribe to two (2) national daily circulation newspaper, and two (2) weekly political magazines.
   
   The library should have at least 100 audio-visual materials in the forms of tapes, films, records, CDs and DVDs. Fifty percent of the collection should have been published/produced within the last ten (10) years.
   
   The library must provide internet terminals to allow faculty members and students to undertake research and other academic activities.
   
   The library must provide access to electronic library materials such as CD-ROMs and electronic subscriptions.
   

SEC. 17. Classroom Requirements.— For lecture classes, the ideal size is 15 students per classroom.

SEC. 18. Laboratories and Other Facilities.—The laboratories and facilities of HEIs for the graduate political science programs should have:

1. Computing equipment and software for research and instruction;
   
   
2. Statistical databases;
   
   
3.  Internet access

SEC. 19. Admission.—Students applying for the MPS or MA PS programs must have an undergraduate degree in political science with CGPA of at least 2.0 (80-84). Students with degrees from other social science disciplines may be admitted subject to an evaluation of their transcript. These students may be required to take prerequisite courses at the undergraduate level. These courses are as follows:

> Fundamentals of Political Science
> Introduction to Comparative Politics
> Introduction to Public Administration
> Introduction to Political Analysis
> Introduction to International Relations
> Quantitative Analysis in  Political Science
> Ancient and Medieval Political Theories
> Modern Political Theories

Admission to the Ph.D. in Political Science requires a Master's degree in Political Science or any inclusive field of specialization. If the applicant obtained a non-thesis degree in any social science discipline, he/she may be admitted and would be required to undertake pre-requisite courses and go through a qualifying examination after the completion of the core courses in the Ph.D. program.

SEC. 20. Retention.—Students in the MPS or MA PS program must maintain a CGPA of at least 2.0 (80-84) at the end of each term of the program. Course grades lower than 2.0 (or its equivalent) shall not draw any credit.

Students in the Ph.D. PS program must maintain a CGPA of at least 1.75 (85-89 at the end of each term. Course grades lower than 1.75 (or its equivalent) shall not gain any credit.

SEC. 21. Residency Requirements.— HEIs may design and implement their own residency requirements.

ARTICLE VIII

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

SEC. 22. All HEIs, including SUCs and LUCs, with existing permit or recognition for graduate Political Science programs are hereby given period of three (3) years from the effectivity thereof to fully comply with all the requirements in this CMO.

ARTICLE IX

SANCTION

SEC. 23. 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

REPEALING CLAUSE

SEC. 24. 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. 25. 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.

For the Commission:



See CHED MEMORANDUM ORDER (CMO) NO. 32 OF 2011 Annex "A" : Course Specifications "GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE" : 108 OG No. 32, 3965-3983 (August 6, 2012)