The University of San Carlos aims to contribute to poverty alleviation by empowering local communities through its evidence-based community extension programs. In April 2023, the USC turned over mobile stores to selected women beneficiaries to kick start their business operations including selling vegetables, rice, snacks, beauty products, mobile load, firewood, and dried fish, among others.

In academic year 2022-23, the University had 492 scholars (1st semester, 3.57% of total student population) and 428 scholars (2nd semester, 3.33%) receiving significant financial air supported by USC, government, alumni, and private industry sponsors. Aside from covering total tuition fees, many of these scholars also enjoy monthly living allowances and a book allowance per semester.

The University also received a grant from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to implement the Governance in Justice-Clinical Legal Education Program. This aims to empower and capacitate persons deprived of liberty, women and children, and laborers earning daily wages through legal protection, rights awareness, and provision for aid and assistance.

Currently, USC sits as co-chair in the National Economic Development Authority Regional Development Research Council, assisting in creating sound policy frameworks at regional and national levels. The University also has representation in various regional consortia on health, industry, energy, emerging technologies, and agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources research councils.

The University of San Carlos collaborates with various health institutions, including the Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, in strengthening research and development endeavors. USC also collaborated with two hospitals (Eversley Childs Sanitarium and Visayas Medical Corp.), a health center in Barangay Guba, and a pharmacy, Medford Rx Solutions, to help local communities have access to quality essential healthcare services.

Meanwhile, students have access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services through the University’s Health Services clinics. In September 2023, USC initiated free testing for possible infliction of HIV, in partnership with the Philippine Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (PhilCHAN)-Cebu. The free HIV testing was open to all USC students, employees, and alumni.

Mental health is also a focus and is part of the Carolinian Lifestyle Guide. USC students and staff, as well as the general public, can avail of support from the University’s Counseling and Development Center (CDC). The USC CDC also celebrates Mental Health month every October. The USC’s radio program on mental health and wellness, Kauban Ta! also airs every Saturday to provide an open conversation about mental health. It uses a psychoeducation framework, bringing mental health topics into the public sphere to normalize discussions about mental wellness. 

The University is also a smoke-free campus. This policy dates back to 2003, prohibiting smoking within all its campuses and 100 m of its vicinity.

USC has inclusive educational facilities and events. The University Library System allows the general public to use its educational resources and the library hours are posted on the University’s website. Numerous University events are also open to the general public. Three joint University research conferences (ICBE, SEECON, and URC) held on April 19-22, 2023 included speakers, guests, and participants from outside the University. This joint conference covered business, arts and humanities, social sciences, physical and natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering. The 2024 University Research Conference (URC 2024) held on April 18-19, 2024, attracted more than 1,500 participants from different parts of the Philippines. The conference featured two plenary lectures, two panel discussions, 51 oral presentations, 42 poster papers, and 15 equipment and educational exhibitors.

Furthermore, the University received a grant through the USAID Opportunity 2.0 Program (Strengthening Employment, Education and Development Support for OSY or SEEDS) from September 2021-December 2022. This program focused on upskilling out-of-school youth in Cebu City and other adopted communities. Training courses offered included computer servicing, computer literacy and productivity tools, shielded metal welding, technopreunership, and computer network cabling. 

Additional seminars such as work ethics and resume-making were also provided. Teaching-learning activities included lectures, hands-on practice, and site visits to partner industries. A total of 81 participants were recruited and 60 completed the program.
Currently, the University of San Carlos is leading the student workload-based curricular planning. Its successful pilot implementation in AY 2022-23, paved the way for its partnership with the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and the Philippines Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to encourage the development of a national policy for formal adoption and nationwide implementation.

The University has an inclusive education policy in line with UNESCO guidelines. It welcomes diversity not only in gender and sexual orientation but also race, economic status, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, and ability. The University also has long-standing policies on maternity and paternity leaves that is supportive of employees. University clinics have dedicated spaces for breastfeeding.

Proportion of women across all metrics is quite high in the University. First-year female students (2,861) comprise 53.36% of the total number of 1st year students (5,362) that entered the University in AY2022-23; this number went down to 50.28% (2,435 out of 4,843) in AY2023-24. Out of the 2,861 female students in AY2022-23, 691 (24.15%) are first-generation students; this proportion remained consistent the following academic year with 608 (24.97%) first-generation female students out of the 2,435 female 1st year students.

The University have water pumping stations in Talamban and Downtown Campus in addition to water sourced from the local water district. Water extracted is deposited in water tanks and supplied to the different buildings. Meters are installed in each pumping stations. The University has a wastewater treatment facility capable of processing 170-180 cu.m. of wastewater per day using combined biological and electrolytic processes. Treated wastewater is stored and reused for toilet flushing.

Drinking fountains are located in strategic locations in the University’s campuses. Water quality from these drinking fountains are regularly monitored.

The University participates in the River Scan Challenge which started in 2017, followed by subsequent events in 2018, 2019, 2021 (virtual), 2023, and 2024 in collaboration with Rotterdam University, Mandaue City, and various non-governmental organizations.

Researchers from the Center of Geoinformatics and Environmental Solutions are also developing an early warning system, called POSTe, for rain events and flooding through a DOST-funded project in collaboration with the City of Mandaue. Their work was recently featured in GMA’s 24 Oras Game Changers segment.

The University entered into a lease agreement to operate and maintain a solar energy system for the generation of clean energy in one of its campuses and has received a plaque and certifications from ACEN RES on its sourcing of 100% of its electricity consumption from ACEN’s portfolio of renewable energy plants. Recently, USC was chosen as one of the first-ever recipients of the ACEN RES Renewable Energy Enabler Award.

The University has already installed solar-powered lamp posts as part of the plan to reduce overall energy consumption. The University is also negotiating with several companies for the transition to solar power. All electrical equipment and fixtures used in construction projects and renovations follow energy efficiency standards. These include the use of LED lighting fixtures, LED exit signs, LED emergency lights, and inverter-type air-conditioning units. In February 2024, it partnered with GET Philippines for fully electric shuttle services.

The University’s Center for Research in Energy Systems and Technologies has established living laboratories in several island communities off Cebu, installed solar PV and battery systems, and educated the people on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The University’s hiring policy is inclusive and is based on merit as demonstrated by the policy statement and provisions of the attached evidence. Compensation is well above the daily living wage not only for faculty and staff but also for core outsourced services.

The Department of Labor and Employment issued a certification that the University is child labor-free since 2014.

There are no gender pay gaps in the University’s pay scale. Remuneration is merit-based based on academic or administrative employee rank. Furthermore, workers outsourced to third parties are guaranteed equivalent rights.

The University is considered by the National Historical Commission as a heritage building, installing a national historical marker outside the Dingman Building. Access into the building and the campus, which houses several of the University’s museum galleries, is open to the public. The University’s libraries are open to the public, including local visitors, foreign tourists, and independent researchers. The University also allows the public to have access and use its open and green spaces, including the University Stadium.

Books written by local authors in collaboration with the University’s Cebuano Studies Center preserve intangible cultural heritage. The Cebuano Studies Center also has a repository of video documentation and old newspaper clippings. Tourist booklets are developed with local government units and parishes to document Cebu’s heritage churches. The University’s CHERISH unit spearheads this project. Such is the impact of USC to local culture that the City of Cebu, Philippines recognized the University’s contribution to the arts and heritage during its annual heritage awards.

Inside the campus, the University has allocated considerable resources in constructing wide sidewalks, marked pedestrian lanes, and bicycle racks. Pedestrian lanes are clearly marked with speed humps installed in critical areas to allow priority access of pedestrians. The University also maintains several dormitories with different levels of occupancies and commensurate costs, which allow affordable, safe, and secure housing for students.

The University’s Institute of Planning and Design also works with local government units on issues related to urban planning. One recent project in collaboration with Fluence was to set up typhoon-resilient houses for residents in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental who were affected by typhoon Rai in December 2021. These shelters were turned over to the community on November 7-8, 2022.

In August 2024, the University issued a policy statement on carbon emissions reduction. The previous year, the University also issued a policy banning single-use plastics inside the campus.

Researchers from USC are collaborating with their counterparts from Bangor University (U.K.) on a project called South East Asia Marine Plastics (SEAMaP) which looks into the reduction, control, and mitigation of marine plastic pollution in the Philippines. As part of the SEAMaP project, researchers from the University conducted focus group discussions with local communities on how to mitigate marine pollution.

Arising from its work on marine plastic pollution, the University has developed a policy brief designed to reduce the dumping and mitigate the effects of marine plastic. It has also implemented a complete ban on the use of single-use plastics in its Downtown and Talamban campuses starting September 1, 2023.

The University of San Carlos also developed a land-based hatchery for the Sargassum seaweed as an alternative livelihood of fisherfolk and for climate change mitigation. The technology is currently piloted in a local fishing community in Argao, Cebu and was recently featured in GMA’s 24 Oras Game Changers segment.

USC researchers also study ecosystems and biodiversity, including endangered species. To share its best practices, the University serves as the Secretariat to the Visayas Blue Economy Consortium which was formed during the University research conferences in April 2023. In addition, it conducted a Citizen Science program for Mandaue City on marine litter in coastal areas, especially mangroves.

USC’s School of Law and Governance received a grant from the United Nations Office for Project Services to implement the Governance in Justice-Clinical Legal Education Program to empower and capacitate persons deprived of liberty, laborers (earning daily wages), children, and women through legal protection, rights awareness, and provision for aid and assistance. 

For several years now, USC has been spearheading legal aid programs where students are encouraged to take part in legal caravans offering free services to indigenous communities, bringing equal justice to all. In September 2023, the University received one of the first-ever “Educating for Justice Award for Top Contributing Law Schools” in the Philippines. 

Aside from legal services, the University has a program called Klarohay Ta (roughly translated as “Let’s be frank”) which is an electoral candidates forum that intends to educate the public to ensure enfranchisement and engage voters to make meaningful choices and build a sense of accountability. As part of the program, USC partners with collaborators in holding consultative activities on political and electoral reforms.

USC also presented selected University research outputs to the National Economic Development Authority-led Regional Development Council (RDC) to help improve regional policies. In addition, a framework for makerspaces was presented at the University Research Conference and was subsequently adopted by the Economic Development Committee of the RDC.

The University of San Carlos is one of the leading universities in the Philippines that produces relevant and timely research initiatives. To share its best practices, USC sits as co-chair in the National Economic Development Authority Regional Development Research Council. 

As an example, a framework for makerspaces presented at the University Research Conference was adopted by the Economic Development Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC).

Moreover, USC serves as the Secretariat to the Visayas Blue Economy Consortium which was formed during the University Research Conference in April 2023.

USC’s Center for Research in Energy Systems and Technologies (CREST) also conducted an energy model simulation for a low-rise tenement housing for the City of Mandaue.