It was a beginning marked by simplicity. By modesty. A period stamped with nothing but desire and hope: the desire to provide ordinary young men and women with good but not a costly education and the hope that doing so may improve the quality of their lives. May mean the realization of their dreams.
This was the Cebu College of Commerce: with an opening enrolment of 239 in the first semester, 232 in the second semester, and, 69 in the summer.
This was the CCC of old: offering a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and an Associate in Secretarial Science in its initial year.
Those were the days: the period of knocking on doors to inquire whether a young person was interested in going to a school, near where? Behind Victor Theater? At the back of Snow Sheen? The time of scrounging for chalk and eraser for teachers so that the students would read at least a little something on the board. The moment of barely meeting salaries for employees payday after payday.
Slowly but surely, however, CCC grew. Because Atty. Augusto W. Go and companions built it, people came - students came. The 239 became 380, then 531, and on the 8th school year as the Cebu College of Commerce, 4185. Consequently, more courses opened: Education, Liberal Arts, Criminology, Customs Administration, Nautical.
Spanning, indeed, 8 full school years from School Year 1964-65 up to School Year 1971-72, CCC has began to make itself felt in the City of Cebu, in Region VII, and in the lives of many poor families whose fortunes have changed by the CCC education their children received.
The Cebu Central Colleges (SY 1972-1992)
The growth was simply inspiring: from an initial offering of Commerce and Secretarial, CCC began to offer diplomas in Education, Liberal Arts, Customs Administration, Criminology, Nautical; and, from an initial 239 population, CCC reached the 4, 000 mark on its 8th year.
It was time then to face greater challenges. It was a moment then for CCC to reinvent itself and give itself a new name. Beginning School Year 1972-73, CCC has now called itself the Cebu Central Colleges. And, for a good 20 years, it did so.
Enrolment rose. Initially, it was 5097. Then, it dipped to a low 5023, recovered to 6517 and on its final year as CCC, to a phenomenal 16,998.
And the list of curricular programs grew long: Nursing, Midwifery, Health Aide; Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering; Hotel and Restaurant Management; information and Computer Science; Computer Engineering; and, even a Graduate School. As well as a Marine Officers Training Course.
UC, in 1983, was the first in Cebu and in the entire Region VII to offer a course offering on Computer Science after Atty. Augusto W. Go returned from his trip to the United States.
Then, at the initiative of Dr. Erlinda Barcelo, the revered and, the same time, feared word "Accreditation" took on a deeper meaning and pointed out a new direction. Of what was then the beginning of a series of efforts in improving the quality of education at CCC, PACU-COA Accreditors visited the school on a Preliminary Visit for a Level 1 status of BSMT and AME from October 13 to 14, 1986. Her efforts did not go in vain: on February, 1988, PACU-COA announced its recognition of the level 1 status of BSMT and AME. And years after this, PACU-COA would continue doing so for various other course offerings of the Cebu Central Colleges.
The growth, however, at CCC was not only confined to numbers and courses. There too was physical growth. In 1991, the BSMT Campus in Alumnos, Mambaling was inaugurated, the constitution of the Science and Technology Building at the South Expressway commenced and the New Cebu Coliseum acquired.
CCC has grown so that it was now time to move on to another stage.
The University of Cebu (SY 1992 to the present)
Phenomenal may be the proper word to describe the growth of the University of Cebu as well as the improvement in the quality of its education. When this institution started, there were two (2) departments: Commerce and Secretarial. At present, apart from the five service Departents of Languages, Mathematics, Physical Education, the Biological and the Social Sciences, we have the Colleges of Commerce and Business Administration, Computer Science, Criminology, Education, Engineering, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Liberal Arts, Maritime Education, and, Nursing. We now even have a Graduate School.
In the past, there was only one humble campus. Now, there are five (5) different campuses. besides the Main Campus that houses the Administrative offices and most of the colleges, there is the Engineering and Education Campus, the UC-Lapulapu and Mandaue Campus (UCLM), the UC-Maritime Education and Training Center (UC-METC), and the UC - Information and Communication Technology Center (UC-ICTC).
UC has grown, not only numerically but also structurally and physically. And, with the Elementary School, through the efforts of Dr. Erlinda P. Barcelo and the stewardship of the late Ms. Virginia Taleon, the median age of a UC student has dropped. As UC cruises through its 36th year, it is certainly getting younger.
With the committed support of Atty. Augusto W. Go, Ms. Candice Gotianuy, the Vice Presidents, the Deans and the various department heads, UC has many course offerings with Accredited Status: At Level II, with 2nd Reaccredited Status are the courses of BSMT and BSMARE. At Level II, with 1st Re-accredited Status are the Colleges of Criminology and the Hotel and Restaurant Management. At Level I are the colleges of Commerce, Computer Engineering and Information and Computer Science. And, through the initiative of its Chancellor, Ms. Candice Gotianuy, the UC-METC has been accredited by the Det Norske Veritas (DNV), an internationally acknowledged accrediting agency in the maritime industry. The UC-METC SOLAS Training Center, what was originally Mr. Abraham Estrella's "baby," has long been accredited by the Norwegian Maritime Directorate. UC has also become CISCO's Regional Academy in the Visayas and Mindanao through the efforts of Dean Ofelia Maña as well as the support of Engr. Artemio Sanchez. The College of Hotel and Restaurant Management under Dr. Felipe Embalzado has also sent HRM Practicumers to Singapore.
Among the universities of Cebu, only UC has produced two consecutive winners in the annual search for the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP): Mr. Christian Lauron (BSA '97) and Ms. Sanilyn Dalidig (BSA '98). This would not have been possible without the guidance and inspiration of Mr. Bartolome Pozon and the support of the Student Affairs Office under Dr. Fe Necessario.
It is only UC which has been granted permission to offer Distance Education for a possible Criminology Degree of PNP Personnel and attached units - in itself, a recognition of the standards of the College of Criminology under the leadership of Dr. Artemio I. Panganiban.
UC has arrived.
Now, UC looks forward to the Year 2005 and prepares itself to become one of Asia-Pacific's leading educational institutions.
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