Exactly a week after The Angelite emailed for an interview, Ma. Lina T. Ramoneda, School of Business and Administration (SBA) Dean aired their side as administrators, emphasizing the great deals that the department has been doing for the Comprehensive Exam Retakers.
Dean Ramoneda apologized for the late response as she also had to get inputs from Ms. Sandra Brucal, Accountancy Chairperson.
“And I hope that on the basis of fair play, you would allow your readers to know our side of the story”, the SBA Dean said.
“The Comprehensive examination is a capstone requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy Program of Holy Angel University. It actually simulates the CPA Licensure Examination and as stated in the retention policy,
students need to pass this before they will earn their BSA degree”, the SBA Dean answered when asked about the objectives of the exam.
Dean Ramoneda clarified that the 5th year students had already graduated with their Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology (BSAT) degree and are pursuing Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) as their second degree. The latter having the Comprehensive Exam as a “terminal requirement.”
“The passing percentage is 75% based 50. Students need to get 5/10 to get a passing mark. There is also a deliberation on the results of the exam together with an item analysis to disregard certain items should no more than 10% of the students got the correct answer”, the SBA Dean relayed.
Moreover, she cleared out that the date of conferment is not their call but that of the registrar.
Out of consideration
Regarding the number of retakes in the past, the SBA Dean confirmed that this year is not the first time.
“But unlike this batch, students then poured their effort on reviewing for the retake and never did they ask for the waiving of their retake because they know they have to prove that they are deserving of that degree”, the SBA Dean mentioned.
The dean also stated that the retakes are normally scheduled in the following semester, “But, out of consideration by the department, it accommodated them [the retakers] by scheduling the retake in the same semester. It so happened that everything was uncertain so the March schedule was later moved to April then later on to May 2020.”
No online retake
Dean Ramoneda furthered that they have announced during a meeting with the student leaders and The Enterprise that the department dismissed the idea of administering the Comprehensive Exam online, after considering the issues and problems presented by the 70 retakers.
“But, we want to make sure that all of them are capable of going to HAU for the retake and there are no hindrances in transportation or age that would prevent them from reaching the campus”, she expressed.
Additionally, when asked about the turn out of the survey which aims to reschedule the exam on May 25, 27, and 29, the SBA Dean noted that their plans for May 2020 depend on the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and that they have no intentions of defying government regulations as well as risk the safety of the students.
As a solution, Dean Ramoneda said that they will reschedule the examination when the students are allowed to enter the campus and when mobility is permitted without checkpoints.
“So while waiting for this to happen, we expect our students to be busy reviewing,” the Dean conveyed.
Review materials
“For the record, the department waited for information pertaining to topics requested by the retakers so that review classes or tutorials could be conducted by volunteer instructors”, the SBA Dean mentioned that this was agreed upon their first Zoom meeting with the retakers, “So, last April 30, I told Ella Marin, president of JPIA, to coordinate with Ms. Sandra Brucal on this information because so much time had already been wasted, getting no response from them. This move is meant to help increase their chances of passing the retake of their comprehensive examination”.
More clarifications
Meanwhile, a concerned 5th year student messaged The Angelite, saying that the Novixor batch officers have been helping the retakers even during the online classes last March.
“They [the batch officers] played such a vital role in the communication process and they really wanted to help but with proper reasoning para narin sa integrity ng Novixor batch”, the concerned student stated.
The student also said that their batch officers only started having a hard time with their decision-making process after two of them failed the Comprehensive Exam. As a resolve, the officers sought the help of four (4) class presidents from their batch to reach the majority of six (6) votes when finalizing their actions.
“It was hard for our batch kasi we were pressured by the lowering passing rate of the CPALE and also the expectation by the admin na tumaas uli sa batch namin yung passing rate… There were times na nahihirapan mag-decide yung buong [Novixor] batch dahil dun”, the concerned student remarked.
It can be noted that the SBA offers a ladderized program for Accountancy wherein students who want to take the said course will have to enlist for Accounting Technology and after passing the qualifying exams, that is when they can pursue their BS Accountancy degree.
This is a developing story.
