-College of Forestry and Environmental Studies-

The Mindanao State University, created under Republic Act 1387, was formally established on September 1, 1961, with the organization of its Board of Regents and the election of Dr. Antonio Isidro, formerly Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines, as its founding President.

The charter of the University, Republic Act 1387 as amended, provides that forestry is one of the technical disciplines needed at the very heart of the MINSUPALA region.  The creation of the former College of Forestry (which is now known as the College of Forestry & Environmental Studies) is therefore a response to the national issue on environmental protection and forest conservation.As conceived under Republic Act 1387, and as amended by Republic Act 1893, the University has to achieve three major objectives, namely: (1) To perform the traditional functions of a university namely: instruction, research and extension services; (2) To help accelerate the program of integration among the people of Southern Philippines, particularly the Muslims and other cultural communities; and (3) To provide trained manpower skills and technical know-how for the economic development of the MINSUPALA region.

In order to become both relevant and responsive to the call of the times and to provide a formal "home" to an additional curricular program, the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, the College of Forestry was renamed College of Forestry and Environmental Studies by virtue of BOR Resolution No. 81, Series of 2000. This is a manifestation that indeed the College has grown in its vision and thrusts to respond to the opportune call of higher education.

The Establishment Year

There were attempts to organize the College of Forestry as early as 1962 but it was only on November 16, 1968, when Forester Segundo P. Fernandez, the subsequently designated Director of the College, was detailed as Forestry consultant to the University that its establishment was realized.

The MSU campus at Marawi City was chosen as the permanent site of the College of Forestry over other areas under compelling considerations, to wit: the unique site factors of the Marawi campus and the attainment of the main objective of the university of cultural integration through developmental processes.

With an initial enrollment of 61 students, the College opened on July 10, 1969 following the approval by the Board of Regents of the two-year curriculum leading to the Diploma in Forestry Technology and the appointment of Forester Segundo P. Fernandez as Professor and his designation as Director of the College. In the first year of its operations the Director handled most of the forestry disciplines with the general education courses being taken cared of by the College of Liberal Arts (now split into the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics).

Initially, field foresters of the Bureau of Forestry (now Forest Management Bureau of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources) in Marawi City were hired as part-time associate lecturers. Later on, regular faculty members were recruited from the University of the Philippines-College of Forestry at Los Baños, Laguna. The first few instructional materials and books used by the students were borrowed from the Bureau of Forestry and from personal library of the Director.

Thereafter, the experimental nursery and park with an area of about a hectare was established.  The forest nursery and park was intended for instructional as well as for recreation purposes.  Initial development activities in the park and its environs were then undertaken within the year. The first six-week field summer practicum was held within the concession area of the Maranao Timber Industries, Inc. located at upper Marantao forest, 39 kilometers south of Marawi City, province of Lanao del Sur. 

The Development Years

Since the implementation of five-year curriculum leading to the Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree on July 1971, the college has grown tremendously both in student population and faculty strength.  The student performance in curricular and non-curricular endeavors has been impressive.  Notably, the college has produced a number of topnotchers in the Forester Licensure Examination.  In 1980, the college gained recognition by being the leading institution in forestry education in the region for having topped the licensure examination.  This was followed by other first places in the 1984, 1988 and 1995 forester licensure examinations.

The present four-year curriculum (1993) leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Forestry has been made more responsive to the development goals of the national government without necessarily sacrificing academic standards through curricular revisions. The new revised curriculum, implemented during the academic year 1993-94, is a streamlined version of the old five-year curriculum crafted in 1988.  The revised  BSF (1993) curriculum has been made more attuned to present realities both in the domestic and global perspectives.

Closely related to the B.S. Forestry curriculum is the B.S. Forestry major in Agroforestry program which is also a four-year curricular offering.  This particular program was conceptualized to include agricultural courses in order to meet the real needs of people in the uplands.  The B.S. Forestry major in Agroforestry program was initiated in response to the felt need for an academic program that would address the socio-economic problems of upland dwellers.   

The curriculum for the then Diploma in Forestry Technology was revised and its name changed to Forest Ranger Certificate (FRC).  Due to some weaknesses of the old curriculum in effectively imparting forestry technology, the revision was deemed necessary to equip students with appropriate trainings and skills development relevant for employment after graduation.  The FRC aims to meet the country's technical manpower requirement in forestry.  Essentially, the program prepares the student to work as technician on various aspects of forestry by requiring him to undergo training on the basic and practical courses in general forestry disciplines.

In 1998, the College began to offer the four-year B.S. Environmental Science. So far, a number of batches have already graduated and are presently employed in government and private agencies and/or offices.

In November 1999, the College undertook a two-day Strategic Planning Workshop aimed at the making academic programs of the College relevant and responsive to challenges in forestry and the environment in the new millennium.  The proposal to re-engineer the College had two main components, namely: 1) To rename the college from "College of Forestry" to "College of Forestry & Environmental Studies"; and 2) To restructure the college' organizational set-up.

The proposal to re-engineer the College was approved in June 2000.  A notable change in the College is the restructuring and the renaming of the academic departments from the former misnomers Forest Resources Management (FRM), Forest Biological Sciences (FBS), and Wood Science and Technology (WST) to the more appropriate Department of Forestry, Department of Environmental Studies, and the Department of Forestry Technology. Aside from the already existing Research and Extension Office, the Office of Admission and Student Affairs (OASA) and the Support Services Office (SUSO) were created.  All the academic departments are each headed by a Department Chairperson. The other offices are headed by Coordinators.

The Strategic Plan of the college spelled out the College' Vision, Mission and Objectives, to wit:

Vision: To make the College the premiere center of forestry and environmental studies for sustainable development of our forest resources and the environment for the common good.

Mission:

1. Developing leadership and cooperation in spreading the doctrine of forest and environmental conservation;
2. Building people's capabilities in the sustainable management of forest resources and the environment;
3. Crafting and spreading environmentally sound technologies as vehicles towards development and progress;
4. Creating opportunities for development as a tool in eradicating poverty and enhancing the quality of life.

Objectives:

1. Producing professionals, leaders, managers and technicians in forestry and environmental management;
2. Developing, packaging and transferring forestry and environmental technologies through institutional linkages and networking;
3. Offering dynamic, relevant and responsive curricular programs;
4. Spearheading the sustainable multiple-use management of the Lake Lanao watershed.