HISTORY
The Sorsogon State College (SSC) was formerly Sorsogon Provincial Trade School in 1907. It is one of the oldest trade schools in the country. It became the Sorsogon School of Arts and Trades in 1952 and was renamed Sorsogon College of Arts and Trades (SCAT) by virtue of R.A. 704 in 1977.
On December 31, 1993, SCAT was converted to Sorsogon State College by virtue of R.A. 7666 through the efforts of Congressman Salvador H. EScudero III. Integrated with the College are Bulan Vocational High School, Magallanes School of Fisheries and Sorsogon National Agricultural School at Mayon, Castilla, Sorsogon.
The operation of the College started with two-year interim period (1994-1995) with Dr. Bonifacio H. ATivo as officer –in-charge, major reorganization scheme were effected to make the four campuses of the College as institution of higher learning in each focus area.
The Board of Trustees acts a Governing Board of the College with chairman of the Commission on Higher Education as chairman and the president of the SSC as Vice Chairman. Other members are the Chairman of the Committee Education in the Senate and Congress, presidents of the faculty Association and Student council and two prominent citizens of the Province of Sorsogon.
On November 23, 1995, Dr. Augusto R. Nieves, Executive Director of the National Center for Technical Education and Staff Development assumed a post as the first president of the Sorsogon State College. This marked the initial stage towards achieving the operational status of the college.
In terms of instructional mandates, the college focused on curriculum modification, enhancement and expansion. It was at this time when the graduate program or the School of Graduate Studies started in accordance with section 3 of RA 7666 which mandates the offering of graduate courses in the field of education and other fields which the Board of Trustees may deem necessary to carry out its objectives.
The graduate courses were opened in Summer 1996, with Dr. Pablito V. Marbella as officer in charge of the Graduate School. During his time, there were two programs offered, namely: Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and Master in Management (MM). When the graduate program was institutionalized, Dr. Antonio D. Dipad was designated as the first dean of the Graduate School. It was during his time when the curricular programs were offered in the four campuses of the Sorsogon State College.
After his term, Dr. Susan C. Agnes took over as the second dean. Through the untiring and unselfish effort, the program was expanded by offering other courses, Master of Arts in Education (MAED). She also initiated the accreditation of the programs, Master in Management and Master of Arts in Teaching, which were given both candidate status.
Last AY 2007-08, Dr. Tarcela F. Detera was designated as the third dean of the School of Graduate Studies. In her two years term, she envisioned helping employees who would like to finish their master’s degree without writing a masteral thesis; thus she proposed Master in Education major in Educational Management, which is a non-thesis degree program. This program was approved last 2008.
She also worked for the enrichment of the programs, Master in Management, Master of Arts in Education and Master of Arts in Teaching. Further, she also pursued the accreditation of the graduate programs making Master in Management and Master of Arts in Teaching as Level I Status and Master of Arts in Education as Candidate Status. Moreover, she focused on the conduct of research on awareness and relevance of vision, mission and objectives of the Graduate School curricular programs in order to determine if these programs are still in line with regional and national thrusts and priorities.
On June 2009, the graduate school has a new Dean, Dr. Nellie G. Placer, formerly and the Director for Research and Development Services. She initiated the enrichment of the SGS Student Handbook which was approved through BOT Res. No. 6, s. 2010 and giving direction to the curricular programs of the School of Graduate Studies converting Master in Management into Master of Arts in Management which is the actual title of the program as approved through BOT Res. NO. 40, s. 2008 and with Master in Education which is a non-thesis as separate program. Among her initiatives are the verticalization of professors and program offerings of Doctoral and additional masters programs. She is also working for level 2 Status of Master of Arts in Management and Master of Arts in Teaching and Level 1 Status of Master of Arts in Education and hopefully in the future Master in Education for candidate status.
Through the supervision of energetic president of the College, Dr. Antonio E. Fuentes, the Graduate School hopes to continuously extend its services by offering courses that are most responsive to the needs of the community that it serves.