THE Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources or the University Consortium (UC) granted the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) with regular membership.
According to the CLSU Strategic Communication Office (StratCom), the university has applied for membership with UC and was approved during UC's 36th Executive Board meeting on October 30, 2023 at the National Taiwan University in Taipei.
StratCom said CLSU President Edgar Orden attended said meeting and presented the accomplishments of CLSU as an affiliate member in support of its application to elevate its engagement with UC as a regular member.
"We have actively participated and made significant contributions to the organization and were able to prove the university's stature as a leading university within Southeast Asia with graduate education programs in agriculture and natural resources, and thus, the Univeristy Consortium finally recognized CLSU to be a deserving UC member," Orden said.
CLSU has been an affiliate member of UC since 2020, hosted the 4th UC Faculty Forum in December 2022 and participated in several UC-related activities.
Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) director, said UC was launched in 1989 which is a commitment made among leading Southeast Asian higher education institutions to share academic expertise and resources.
"UC was initiated by SEARCA and was seen as a viable approach to pursuing agricultural human resource development in Southeast Asia by linking top agricultural universities in the region to facilitate free exchange of information, facilities and expertise," Gregorio said.
He said UC is an effective network linking strong universities in Southeast Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and Germany, with CLSU now joining the ranks of Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kasetsart University, University of the Philippines Los Baños, University of Brawijaya, and SEARCA as UC regular members.