The Academics Council decided that the learning modality for undergraduate and senior high school units across all campuses will shift to a mix of in-person and hybrid classes starting Term 1 of Academic Year (AY) 2026–2027 on February 13, University Provost and Vice President for Academics Dr. Robert Roleda announced.
Prior to the announcement of the decision, a town hall meeting was held on February 9 at the Verdure, Henry Sy Sr. Hall, to outline the proposed changes to learning modality and the academic calendar.
On learning modalities
A return to full face-to-face classes was proposed in October and November of 2025, amid multiple suspensions due to national disasters, which disrupted the academic calendar.
“When you count the shift [to] online or the class suspensions, [we are] actually below 50 percent in-person,” Roleda said, later expounding that contact hours were reduced from 42 to 36 to 39 hours due to the disruptions.
“When I conducted surveys among our students, the preference is about 75 percent hybrid, 80 percent fully in-person. Only a small number [prefers] full [online classes],” he shared, but also noted higher graduate student preference for full online classes. Roleda also claimed that parents are “asking for more in-person classes,” after the frequent shifts to online classes.
This placed next year’s academic calendar at a crossroads with three “decision points.”
The first decision point would be a full return to in-person classes, allowing each college’s department to decide on “what is best for the students, regardless of what the students want.”
The second decision point was to retain the current hybrid setup of two in-person days and two online days.
Lastly, a “middle ground” option, which was roughly what the Academics Council settled on, was two days of in-person classes and two days of hybrid classes, and a hard rule requiring a 50-50 distribution of in-person and hybrid classes. Moreover, student preferences for learning modality will be informed by a pre-enlistment survey to determine the preferred modality of students, providing greater “flexibility.”
However, one concern raised by changing how classes were conducted was that the student population on campus on a given day would increase by 50 percent if the middle ground were implemented, raising concerns about whether the campus could accommodate a sudden influx of students.
Roleda noted that there were initially space issues, but the University has subsequently “provided sufficient study areas for students doing online learning on campus.”
Addressing the academic calendar
The second agenda focused on making the current trimestral calendar less prone to disruptions.
He proposed two decision points, one of which was to remove the Independent Learning Week (ILW) as a measure to prevent further disruptions in the trimestral calendar.
“There have been some calls for the cancellation or removal of [ILW], [and] that’s a push that we can take,” Roleda claimed. He further outlined that the University can adjust existing class hours to meet the required 42 contact hours within 12 weeks, rather than 14.
Additionally, Roleda considered students’ perspectives, as removing ILW would shorten the gap between assessments, potentially reducing the time students need to study.
The second decision point involved adjusting class hours to 1 hour and 45 minutes if ILW retention is considered. The redistribution of class hours will allow more space for midterm classes without adjusting the academic calendar. Had this decision been considered, an additional 15 minutes per class would have been implemented to attain the intended 42 class hours.
However, during the open forum, a faculty member raised a concern regarding laboratory experiments, which are designed for three-hour sessions: “If we have to lengthen our [laboratory] meetings, the logical outcome would be [is] to have the three-hour and 30-minute class. Longer lab hours would mean [fewer] meetings, which will result in the removal of certain experiments.”
In response, Roleda said that laboratory classes can be held during the independent learning week. “You don’t have to change the three hours of lab classes…but they will be during independent learning week,” he added.
This approach would allocate weeks one to eight for regular classes, with Independent Learning Week scheduled for week nine. The week before finals will be designated as a study week, with classes held only for make-up sessions or if the University implements a make-up schedule.
The final decision
On February 14, the University announced the retention of the current academic calendar, including the ILW and the 1.5 class hours.
The learning modality for undergraduate students, except for students of the Tañada-Diokno School of Law, will be a combination of hybrid and full or predominantly face-to-face classes.
The number of in-person lecture courses offered by a college varies from zero to 50 percent, depending on the college, with half of the courses delivered in a hybrid setting. The college administrator offering the course shall determine the number of sections for each modality, and this must be implemented across all University campuses.
Under the new schedule, RVRCOB, CLTSOE, and TDSOL may have in-person classes on Thursdays, previously held fully online, as well as Fridays for GCOE and BAGCED, Mondays for CCS and COS, and Tuesdays for CLA.
The modality for Wednesday and Saturday classes may be designated freely, with any three-hour class session available. Additionally, freshmen will be block-enrolled during their first term, and half of their classes by units shall be conducted in full or predominantly in-person mode.
As of press time, the class schedule per modality for the School of Innovation and Sustainability in Laguna has yet to be determined.
