SLAS Online to the Rescue

by Francine Agnes (Hachimoji)

Transitioning into a non-traditional online learning setup has been a big challenge for students in this pandemic. Connections in all aspects have been lagging more than ever, causing frustrations conjured by challenges ranging from piled-up deadlines and infuriating internet service providers to heightened financial matters and even the maintenance of basic needs. It is at times like these that a sufficient system for university-wide student support is amplified and put into utmost importance.

The Student Learning Assistance System Online (SLAS Online) is an expansion of the Student Financial Assistance Online (SFA Online) under the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA). The program consists of all UP constituent universities with the aim of gathering information regarding students’ need for financial or learning assistance through the assessment of connectivity situation and options, financial capacity, and learning requirements.  SLAS Online supports applications to multiple assistance programs according to the needs of the students.

First, SLAS online aids in applications for the Grants-in-Aid Program (GIAP) to students in need for assistance on the cost of enrollment based on their household’s capacity to pay. The university offers the program and allows to subsidize a part of the full enrollment cost. In some cases, additional subsidies for miscellaneous fees and monthly cash allowances may be given to students in need.

Another financial assistance program application that SLAS aids in is Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), an attached agency of the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) implementing the major components of RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, manages this program. The TES program grants cash allowance for only one academic year to undergraduate students who belong in low-income households. In processing TES applications, scholarship personnels and officers collect the applicants’ information in SLAS Online.

For university students in need of support while dealing with remote learning, SLAS also aids in applications for assistance such as internet connection and gadgets. Undergraduate, law, and medicine students from low-income households may apply for the program. The gadget subsidy may be given on top of their internet connectivity assistance to those with who belong to the most vulnerable families.

SLAS online also assists in applications for the Kaagapay sa Pag-aaral Program ng Iskolar ng Bayan Program that UP has launched for those in need for learning assistance. By mobilizing the private sector to donate computing devices, Kaagapay enables the students in need to benefit from the initiative. Undergraduate, law, and medicine students are eligible to apply. To determine the beneficiaries, the university evaluates the applicants’ information, which they retrieve from submissions in SLAS online.

Private individuals and organizations also fund financial assistance programs. These programs have certain requirements that applicants must match and belong to Donor-funded Scholarship Programs, which the university’s respective campuses manage. Scholarship and Financial Assistance (SFA) units from the UP campuses accept the application forms for such programs, and scholarship personnels retrieve the information from submissions in SLAS Online.

So far, there are a total of 502 learning beneficiaries with 345 students who are expected to receive gadget and internet subsidy and 157 students for internet subsidy alone. Currently, 42 students have claimed their learning assistance. Prof. Jickerson Lado (Integrons), the head of the UPLB SLAS program, stated that one of the challenges they have encountered are delays regarding gadget delivery due to their partner telecoms’ distribution throughout the UP campuses, but rest assured that once UPLB receives the assistance, they will deliver these to the students abruptly.

Despite imperfections in our system, all we can do is look out for each other. Our situation has brought a dire need for us to unite in finding hope and motivation during these trying times. Continuous advocacies for the establishment of such inclusive student assistance systems is therefore a step towards our communal goal: no one should be left behind. 

For more information on SLAS Online’s available program specificities and application process, please visit slasonline.up.edu.ph. UPLB’s Office of Scholarships and Grants would also like to hear from you. For concerns directed to the Director’s Office, you may send an email to osg.uplb.up.edu.ph. For GIAP, you may contact the office through sts.losbanos@up.edu.ph. For inquiries on private and government scholarships, you may send them to scholarships_osg.uplb@up.edu.ph. For those interested to apply as student assistants, you may inquire through saga_osg.uplb@up.edu.ph. For matters related to student loans and claims, you may contact the office through studentloan_osg.uplb@up.edu.ph.