The novelty and the lack of clear-cut design of the solution meant
that it was not immediately acceptable even to school administrators and,
therefore, could not be immediately implemented. There was a need for
a careful approach to enable it to gain acceptance, initially by the
administrators and finally, by the rest of the academic community --
faculty, students and non-teaching staff. The ground work was in fact
undertaken by doctoral students of the university.
The gestation period
The origin of the idea: the first student study, 1974-75. In 1974, the
Academic Vice-President recommended to a group of five graduating
students in Industrial Management Engineering, that they undertake to
study and write up, as their graduation thesis requirement, the proposal
for a year-round academic calendar. The thesis, entitled 'The Proposed
Year-Round Academic Calendar for the College Department, D e La
Salle, Manila,' was completed and successfully defended before a panel
in March, 1975. Interestingly enough, although the study recommended
the adoption of a year-round calendar on grounds of greater efficiency
and therefore increased revenue, it favoured a quarterly system over a
trimester system on the basis of greater flexibility, maximu m utilization,
and greater concentration.
The Academic Vice-President discussed the study with several key
administrators. They agreed that, theoretically, a year-round calendar
would indeed maximize utilization and increase revenues but were
concerned that a quarterly system would represent too drastic a change
and too difficult an administrative workload; for example,
computerization of university operations was only just beginning.