Campus Services Volunteer Program (CSVP) is, as the name suggests, a volunteer program where students participate in the affairs of the Office of Associate Vice-President for Campus Services.
The volunteer program is mainly headed by former University Student Government (USG) Vice President for Internal Affairs and now Santugon president Robert Hechanova. He was approached by the Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) for Campus Services, Josemari Calleja to work for the office.
“I thought that I could contribute to the office and that is something that I really wanted to continue doing. I guess [I wanted to] reach out to the students as well [through the program],” shares Hechanova.
Politically affiliated?
According to Calleja, two other students, Mark Ilano and Ali Cayaba, also from Santugon are going to work with him along with Hechanova.
Regarding Hechanova’s assignment, Calleja says, “Robert’s track record as a student leader speaks for itself. At the same time, we were looking for someone who can work purely as a Lasallian student leader, someone who can deliver and transcend political party affiliations, to contribute to the school’s improvement.”
USG President Migi Moreno agrees that transcending political affiliations and influences is something to hope for, considering the nature of the program and the backgrounds of the persons in charge.
“As discussed with the AVC-Campus Services, this is an opportunity for the concerned individuals who are party-based to transcend political influences and ideologies by exemplifying genuine leadership– a leadership that is impartial and unbiased,” says Moreno. “Idealistic as it may seem, it is worth giving a shot and giving the benefit of the doubt.”
He continues, “The main task for both the AVC-Campus Services and the USG now is to police any political agenda and to ensure that genuine service is provided to the students.”
Redundant offices
Currently, the functions of CSVP are done by Office of Vice President for Internal Affairs (OVPIA), under VP-Internal Affairs Carlo Innocencio.
OVPIA has an estimation of 400 members in the office alone, including the accepted applicants during summer recruitment and recently finished Student Government Annual Recruitment (SGAR), which has raised the concern of overlapping duties and responsibilities between the volunteers from the program and members of OVPIA.
However, Innocencio states, “I will ensure that all the programs and projects of the two bodies shall be streamlined through constant communication and sharing of ideas and plans with Robert Hechanova so that there will be no overlapping of efforts and we can effectively deliver our programs together.”
Moreover, Moreno clarifies, “The task in coordinating and working with the AVC-Campus Services has always been one of the roles and responsibilities of the Vice President for Internal Affairs.” “The process would and should be simple: If there is a service that the Office is providing, it is the USG’s task through the VP-Internal Affairs to inform the students about it and how they could maximize such service,” he explains.
He then furthers that it is the role of the VP-Internal Affairs to lobby for possible improvements and additions in the services that are being provided by the Office given a research-informed basis. “This highlights the role of USG in genuinely being the bridge of the students with the administration and other sectors in the University,” he says.
Previous member of OVPIA, now graduate shares that Activities Committee was in charge of visiting AVC-Campus Services to discuss and report on several matters within the University.
Moreno also adds that while it may seem redundant, the scope of roles and responsibilities CSVP and OVPIA assumed would be different.
While OVPIA is the bridge to the students on matters that the Office of the AVC-Campus Services wish to disseminate, CSVP is the operational arm of the office. This division allows the collaboration between the two instead of instilling competitive ambience.
Operations to ensue
Regardless of the concerns, the CSVP yielded around 30 applicants after its recruitment.
Each applicant can work among Campus Services Innovation, Environmental Sustainability, Eating Area Development, Security and Safety, and Secretariat committees and can apply to be the head of committee.
At the moment, there are no benefits or perks granted to the students who become part of the program, dissimilar to DLSU Paragons, the student volunteer program under Student Discipline Formation Office (SDFO).
Calleja says the program has nothing specifically planned yet as the accepted applicants are to join the team by July. However, the primary focus at the moment is on research and proposals.
Hechanova says, “We plan on doing more research and proposals on what we can improve on in terms of the jurisdiction of the Campus Services Office.”
