Central Luzon State University now seats as a regular member of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources, or the University Consortium (UC) after its application was accepted and approved during the 36th Executive Board meeting held last October 30, 2023, at the National Taiwan University in Taipei.University President Edgar A. Orden attended the meeting and presented the accomplishments of CLSU as an affiliate member in support of its application to elevate its engagement with UC as a regular member. With its active participation, significant contributions to the organization, and after proving its stature as a leading university within Southeast Asia with graduate education programs in agriculture and natural resources, the Consortium has finally recognized CLSU to be a deserving UC member.Initiated by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in 1989, the UC was seen to be a viable approach to pursuing agricultural human resource development in Southeast Asia by linking top agricultural universities in the region to facilitate free exchange of information, facilities, and expertise.CLSU now joins the ranks of Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Kasetsart University (KU), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), University of Brawijaya (UB), and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Studies and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) as UC regular members.CLSU has been an affiliate member of UC since 2020, hosted the 4th UC Faculty Forum last December 2022, and participated in several UC-related activities.
