Prof. Dr. Harold M. Monteclaro, Dean of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UP Visayas (UPV-CFOS), was re-elected as vice chairperson of the Governing Council on Postgraduate (Master) Programme on Tropical Fisheries with International Linkage (ILP) during the council’s 15th meeting on November 23-24, 2024, at Hokkaido University’s Hakodate campus, Japan.
The ILP, founded in August 2014, is an international higher education alliance of fishery-related postgraduate schools from seven Asian countries that include UP Visayas, through CFOS, aimed at providing globally competitive education on tropical and subtropical fisheries.
Hosted by Kagoshima University, Japan, the meeting was attended by the representatives from eight member schools, namely the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia;the Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, Japan; CFOS, University of the Philippines Visayas; the Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, Thailand; the Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia; the Department of Graduate Studies, Nha Trang University, Vietnam; the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia; and the College of Life Sciences, National Chiayi University, Taiwan.
Monteclaro and CFOS ILP Coordinator Asst. Prof. Dr. Mary Grace C. Sedanza represented UPV in the annual meeting to tackle updates on the program implementation.
One of the meeting’s agenda items was the election of the new set of ILP officers, with the next appointed dean of the Faculty of Fisheries and Prof. Dr. Munechika Ishizaki from Kagoshima University as chairperson and secretary, respectively.
Monteclaro was voted as Vice Chairperson of the ILP Governing Council. He was first elected for the same position in November 2019.
Composed of members from participating postgraduate schools, the ILP Governing Council oversees the effective implementation of the ILP curriculum to produce excellent graduates. Students from member schools admitted to any MS Fisheries program may apply for admission to the ILP.
UPV-CFOS, Sam Ratulangi University, Kagoshima University, and Kasetsart University were the ILP founding members. The program began admitting students in 2015.
Monteclaro and the representatives from the founding member schools designed the rules and regulations for the ILP curriculum.
Each academic year, the ILP Governing Council selects subjects to offer and approves students who have completed 12 credit units, including six units obtained at other member universities.
This year, UPV-CFOS MS Fisheries (Aquaculture) student Sharolen Leyson was issued a Certificate of Completion duly signed by the deans of the participating universities.
Moreover, Sedanza reported on the participation of two CFOS graduate students, Nielvin Cansejo and Annie Louise Piñaloza, in the ILP study exchange program at the National Chiayi University in Taiwan and Kagoshima University in Japan, respectively. (With sources from Asst. Prof. Dr. Mary Grace C. Sedanza)
