Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. The Don Severino National Agricultural School in the Municipality of Indang, Province of Cavite, is hereby converted into a college, to be known as Don Severino Agricultural College which shall offer not only its present four-year secondary agricultural course and special courses, but also a two-year course leading to the title of Associate in Agricultural Education; four-year course leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education, Bachelor of Science in Home Technology, and Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering; post graduate course leading to the degrees of Master of Science in Agriculture Master of Science in Agricultural Education and Master of Science in Home Technology; and other degree courses and special courses as the board of trustees of the college may deem necessary.

SEC. 2. The aim of the said college shall be to provide professional, technical and special instruction for special purposes and to promote research, extension services and progressive leadership in agriculture,  agricultural education, home technology and other educational fields.

SEC. 3. The head of this institution shall be known as the President of the Don Severino Agricultural College. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the board of trustees as hereinafter provided. The powers and duties of the president of the college, in addition to those specially provided for in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a college.

SEC. 4. The government of said college is hereby vested in a board of trustees of the Don Severino Agricultural College. The board of trustees shall be composed of the Secretary of Education, who shall be ex-officio chairman of the board, the chairman of the Committee on Education of the Senate, the chairman of the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, the Director of Public Schools, the president of the college and the president of the Don Severino Agricultural College Alumni Association.

Members of the board shall serve without compensation, other than actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the board or upon other official business authorized by resolution of the board.

SEC. 5. The board of trustees shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to its general powers of administration:

(a) To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such sums of money as may be provided by law for the support of the college;

(b) To confer the title of Associate in Agricultural Education, the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Bachelor of Science in   Agricultural Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Home Technology, and such other titles and degrees corresponding to the courses which the board of trustees may offer: Provided, That it may confer the usual honorary degrees upon any person in recognition of learning,   statesmanship, leadership or eminence in literature, science, art,  agriculture or public service;

(c) To appoint, upon the recommendation of the president of the college, instructors, professors, lecturers and other employees of the college; to fix their compensation, hours of service and such other duties and conditions as may be deemed proper; to grant to them in its discretion leaves of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been conducted;

(d) To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the college council as hereinafter provided;

(e) To fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as   matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses and all special fees, and to remit the same in special cases;

(f) To provide fellowship for faculty members and scholarships to students showing special evidence of merit;

(g) To provide rules for its own government, and to enact, for the government of the college, such general ordinances and regulations not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of the college, as defined in Section two of this Act; and

(h) To receive in trust legacies, gifts, donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the college or for aid to any student, in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and in default thereof, in such manner as the board of trustees may, in its discretion, determine.

SEC. 6. A quorum of the board of trustees shall consist of a majority of all the members. All processes against the board of trustees shall be served on the president or secretary thereof.

SEC. 7. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year, the board of trustees shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, condition and needs of the college.

SEC.  8. There shall be a college council consisting of the president of the college as presiding officer and of all  instructors and   professors of the college as members. The council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline of the college, subject to the approval of the board of trustees. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the college, as well as for graduation and the award of a title or a degree. The council shall have the power to recommend students or other persons to be awarded titles or degree.    Through the president, it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline approved by the board of trustees.

SEC. 9. The body of the instructors and professors of the college  shall constitute the faculty of the college. In the appointment of professors or instructors of the college, no religious test shall be applied nor shall religious opinions or affiliations of any of the faculty members be made a matter of examination or inquiry: Provided, however, That no instructor or professor in the college shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of his teachings, nor shall he attempt either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal, to influence students for or against any particular church or religious sect.

SEC. 10. No civil service eligibility shall be required for appointment to the college as a professor or regular instructor.

SEC. 11. There shall be a secretary of the college, appointed by the board of trustees, who shall also act as the secretary of the board, and who shall keep such records of the college as may be designated by the board.

SEC. 12. The Treasurer of the Philippines shall be ex-officio treasurer of the college, and all accounts and expenses thereof shall be audited by the Auditor General or his duly authorized representatives, and all disbursements shall be made in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by him.

SEC. 13. Heads of bureaus or offices of the national government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of the president of the college, such apparatus or supplies as may be needed by the college, and to detail employees for duty therein, when, in the judgment of the head of the bureau or office, such supplies or employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service. Employees so detailed shall perform such duties as may be required of them by the head of the institution, and the time they spend under detail shall be counted as part of their regular official service.

SEC. 14. The president of the college, with the approval of the Director of Public Schools, may use one or more public schools as training or laboratory schools of the college.

SEC. 15. In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning of the four-year secondary agricultural curriculum of the Don Severino National Agricultural School, the faculty of the school, consisting of the principal and teachers, as well as the other personnel, shall be absorbed by the new college. Salaries of the personnel shall be adjusted in the discretion of the board of trustees within the amount available for appropriation, and all properties, assets and equipment of the school, as well as all its liabilities, shall be absorbed by the college.

SEC. 16. For the purpose of giving effect to this Act, all the unexpended balance of appropriation under the control of the former Don Severino National Agricultural School are hereby made available for the operation of the Don Severino Agricultural College until June thirty nineteen hundred sixty-four. Thereafter, the sum of five hundred thousand pesos or so much thereof as may be needed shall be included in the annual General Appropria­tions Act for the use of the college. It will cover the salaries of the president and the personnel of the college and shall be used for such other expenses as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 17. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 18, 1964.