The New Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (OVPLS Memo)

1 October 2022

Most of us who have been around for a good bit would remember the existence of the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (OADSA) once upon a time!  When addressing student needs became more complex than what the OADSA could handle, the Loyola Schools thought it better to replace the OADSA with two tandem offices that were structured into the Office of the Associate Dean for Student and Administrative Services (OADSAS) and the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Formation (OADSF).  In the current reorganization of central admin offices, the functions of these two offices also had to be reviewed vis-à-vis the mandates of the reorganized central offices. A lot of the OADSAS and OADSF functions have now been subsumed under the clusters of the following vice presidents: VP for Administration, VP for Mission Integration, and VP for Digital Information and Technology Services. Resulting from this new setup was the dissolution of the Loyola Schools’ OADSAS and OADSF.

Why the New OADSA

While student services and formation continue to operate from the different central admin offices, we recognize that in the Loyola Schools there is still a need for a structure that serves as an anchor for students right where they are. Hence, the creation of the new OADSA.

Functions of the New OADSA

The new Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (OADSA) under the VPLS is the office that supports student welfare, sustains student services, and fosters campus life for both graduate and undergraduate students in the Loyola Schools.

• It supports student welfare in coordination with offices that are principally tasked to spearhead it, such as those dealing with health and security.
• It sustains student services by journeying with the students from receipt of concern, referral to office/s, follow up, to the resolution of and feedback on the concern.
• It fosters campus life by cultivating, nurturing, and advancing it not just through the observance of regulations and compliance protocols but also by initiating integrative events that bring students’ campus life together, elevating the meaning of events as significant life experiences imbued with the values of Jesuit education.

The office is poised to bridge gaps that pertain to understanding student needs, providing student information, awareness of student contexts, responses to student concerns, maintaining safe and brave learning spaces, and forging responsible and meaningful campus life. Guided by the values of cura personalis and magis, the OADSA aspires to personify these values to the students and the community in collaboration with offices in other clusters whose main ministries are student formation and services.

People behind the New OADSA

The OADSA is headed by its Associate Dean, Mr. Rene Salvador R. San Andres.  He supervises the Office of  Student Discipline (headed by its Director, Ms. Carolyn Soledad P. Natividad) and the two sections: (a) Student Concerns and Compliance (headed by Mr. Michael Jacinto F. Mallillin) and (b) Campus Life (headed by Mr. Christopher Fernando F. Castillo).

With the creation of the OADSA, the Office for Student Services (OSS) and the OADSAS Campus Events Management Unit (CEM) are dissolved.

Disciplining Authority

I’m also designating the Associate Dean for Student Affairs as the student disciplining authority who will render the decisions for Student Discipline cases, based on the recommendations of the Committee on Discipline and the School Committee on Decorum and Investigation.  This authority takes effect starting 5 October 2022.

A separate memo will be released soon to detail the changes in relation to the following documents: (a) Code of Conduct for students and (b) the University Code of Decorum and Administrative Rules on Sexual Harassment, Other forms of Sexual Misconduct, and Inappropriate Behavior (“Code and Rules”).

OADSA Locations, Service Centers, Contact Details

Mr. Rene San Andres holds office in Xavier Hall Room 101. Mr. Cholo Mallillin and Mr. Chris Castillo and their teams hold offices in Xavier Hall 103 (what used to be OSS).  The Office of Student Discipline remains at the Ground Floor of the MVP Student Leadership Center. You may reach the OADSA group through these contact details:

• OADSA: (02) 84266001 Ext 5020 and 5021
• OADSA: LS One portal and Virtual Helpdesk (ls.one@ateneo.edu)
• OADSA: Helpline (0920-914-2372)
• OSD: studentdiscipline.ls@ateneo.edu
• OSD: (02) 84266001 Ext. 5023 and 5024

The new Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (OADSA) officially starts operations on Wednesday, 5 October 2022.

Force for Good

In this Blue Medal month of our Lady of the Rosary, we ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother to guide us with wisdom and grace as we humbly respond in service to our students and our community.