CHED Grants NORSU for BA History Program

Kharl Matthew Elias

NORSU Main Campus I was approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
by giving a Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) for the formation of a Bachelor of
Arts in History program, which was signed on April 8, 2022 and received by the Social
Science Department on July 1, 2022.
This is in accordance with Commission en banc Resolution No. 948-2017 and Republic Act No.
7722, also referred to as the "Higher Education Act of 1994."
The program will be offer on the Academic Year 2022-2023.
According to Justin Jose Bulado, Chairperson of the Social Science Department, the department
chose to prioritize the BA History program as it is the only course that meets the compliance in
terms of faculty qualifications.
“In order to comply or open a certain program, the faculty roster must have at least three (3)
faculty members who have a Master of Arts in History degree and so far, there are five (5)
faculty members who have MA History degrees from the department – two regular faculty
members, and three guest instructors.”
The chairperson went into detail about the qualified instructors in the Social Science Department.
The department has a large number of qualified instructors who can teach the various subjects as
part of its curriculum, while the major subjects will be handled by instructors with Ph.D. and
Master of Arts in History degrees.
“I know that my faculty are not usually swayed by what we commonly call as “fake news” or
historical distortions; and I can assure you that they also know how to distinguish fact from
fiction in history – as they have been trained to do so, unlike other individuals who claim to be
experts in history but have not been academically trained in the subject, and whose views on the
particular topics on history are not taken from history books, but from social media posts that
seem to confirm their biases.”
Bulado felt happy as his team hear the news about the establishment of the program.
“As the Chairperson of the Social Science Department, I am proud of my BA History team who
did the gathering, collating, and printing of pertinent documents for each required area,” Bulado
said.
Bulado further said that students considering enrolling in this program should have a better
understanding of history as an academic discipline.
“I believe the opening of this course is very timely especially with the advent of Historical
Distortionism where some powerful individuals (and their supporters) are attempting to rewrite
historical narratives based on lies,” Bulado said.
Bulado also stated that, in response to the current social media controversy about history being
compared to tsismis, he believes that history is not comparable to tsismis.
“History is NOT based on opinions, but it is based on facts from inferences made by historians.”
Other programs planned by the department include a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.
Bulado advised everyone to stay updated on the Social Science Department's Facebook page for
updates on the guidelines and requirements for students interested in enrolling in the Bachelor of
Arts in History program for the upcoming academic year.