The Benguet State University (BSU) will mark its 23rd founding anniversary as a state-run university next week with its officials citing the milestones achieved by the institution, its staff members, and students last year.

BSU reported Thursday that the institution’s administrative and registrar’s office were conferred the “PASADA” awards by the Civil Service Commission for their good performance, while the university’s PRAISE committee ranked first place in the search for Best Agency PRAISE team also by CSC.

It was the middle of 2008 when BSU’s education student, Carmelo Madinno, was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines, which the university described as a climax to the long line of BSU students who made it to the final list in previous years.

The university likewise set a record in the licensure exam for teachers having ranked as the third top performing school under category C  or schools with 300 to 400 examinees and 10th top performing school in licensure exam for librarians.

Another accomplishment for BSU includes the first batch of BSU Organic Agriculture Training Course graduates. Said course preceded the offering of organic agriculture as a major field in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. The certificate in Organic Agriculture was also offered as a pilot course at the Open University in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.

It was in May when officials of the Princess of Naradhiwas University in Thailand visited BSU and signed a memorandum of understanding on faculty and student exchange with BSU. In August, the Korean governor of Education Chungcheongbuk-do also visited BSU and donated computer units and other information technology facilities.

There’s more. Five BSU graduates of the degree Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance Counseling posted a passing rate of 83 percent, which surpassed the national passing rate of 60 percent in the first licensure examination for guidance counselors.

It was also last year when the second and third batch of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.) certificate IV graduated from their 10-day course.

Last month, BSU signed a memorandum of agreement on agri-eco scholarship with Allied Botanical Corp.

BSU president Dr. Rogelio Colting reported that there are other major accomplishments the institution, its staff members, and students achieved which they want to replicate or surpass in the coming years.