College of Trades and Industries

In response to the program of industrialization in Central Mindanao, the Mindanao Institute of Technology (MIT) opened the Trade and Industrial Education Department (TIED) on August 1, 1958 with Prof. Jack Smith as its department head. TIED aimed to answer the manpower needs and help in the attainment of the nation’s goals for socio-economic development.

Three years after, three curricula namely: (1) the secondary trade curriculum; (2) the two-year technical trade curriculum; and (3) the teacher education curriculum leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education (BSIEd) were added.

The post-secondary Technical Trade Curriculum (TTC) was intended to prepare industrial technicians and skilled workers to qualify for employment in industry or be self-employed. The BSIEd was intended to prepare shop teachers in elementary, secondary and collegiate schools, and was designed to prepare individuals to become professional teachers, competent shop managers or supervisors.

Both TTC and BSIEd students had to choose one major field of specialization in any of the following: automotive, building construction, drafting, electrical, electronics, machine shop and wood technologies, and industrial arts. The first batch of graduates of BSIEd was in 1965 with Prof. TEOFILO C. OBONGEN as the first cum laude in 1966.

Dr. FEDESERIO CAMARAO followed the leadership of TIED from 1965-1969. Then Prof. JAIME MARQUEZ from 1969-1976. Dr. FEDESERIO CAMARAO returned in June 1976 as head of TIED, and in July 1976 the department was converted by President Imlan into College of Trades and Industries and designated Dr. Camarao as Dean. It was under the leadership of Dr. Camarao that the CTI was planned and organized, and when he left USM in 1979, Professor PEDRO JAYME was designated as dean.

During the leadership of Prof. ERNESTO I. BUENAVENTURA from 1982-1985, industrial arts which was once a major field in BSIEd was converted into a degree leading to Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts (BSIA) in 1983. This degree program including a broad study of the industrial world was intended to prepare prospective teachers of work education in the elementary schools and practical arts teachers in the general high schools where students should undergo one major field per semester with the following fields to choose from: woodworking, metalworking, electricity, home industries, graphic arts, general agriculture and ceramics technology.

Along with the offering of BSIA in 1983 was the opening of the ladderized Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology (BSIT) which has the same major fields of specialization as BSIEd; and the one-year Special Trade Course (STC) with concentration in Automotive Mechanics, Lathe Machine Operation, Practical Electricity, Radio Mechanics, Technical Drafting, Welding and Fabrication and General Carpentry. In 1999, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) and Computer Servicing were also offered.

Dr. SERAFIN T. DEPAKAKIBO was the dean from 1985-1988 followed by Dr. GAVINO D. BAUTISTA from 1988-1991 whose untimely death led to Prof. ELMER C. BASILLA’s takeover from 1991 until his retirement in 1998. Dr. WILFREDO L. DOONG became the last CTI dean from 1998-2003 due to its conversion as Department of Technology (DT). This was brought about by the conversion of the then North Cotabato College of Arts and Trades (NCCAT) in Sudapin, Kidapawan City as an external campus of USM which made the College of Industry and Technology (CIT); and the Department of Technology (DT) to become its external department/unit. The DT eventually became the Department of Industrial Technology (DIT).

The BSIA, BSIEd and BSIT passed the Level 1 accreditation of the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) in 1998. However, due to the conversion of CTI into DIT and some issues with the College of Education, BSIA and BSIEd were frozen and stopped accepting freshmen. This was also true with BS Home Economics and BS Agricultural Education.

Dr. PALASIG U. AMPANG became the first dean of CIT in 2003, followed by Dr. ROGELIO S. TABORA (2004-2005), Dr. RUFINO S. GARZON (2005-2010); Dr. RENE V. HANDOC (2010-2011); Dr. HERMINIGILDO T. GUTIERREZ (2011-2013); Prof. ALFREDO E. NAPARAN (2013-2014); Dr. LUZ A. TAPOSOK (2014-2015) and finally Dr. RONIELYN PINSOY (2015 to date).

Meanwhile, the BSIT program was awarded the Level 2 Reaccredited Status by AACCUP in 2008 while the BSIT program was awarded Level 3 Phase 1in 2014.

In 2011, the DIT re-opened the offering of BSIEd with its new name as Bachelor of Technical Teacher Education (BTTE) as per CHED memo no. 56, s. of 2007. This is in response to the great demand for technical teachers in the implementation of the K-12 program of the national government where BTTE graduates could be employed as professional teachers in technical schools, assessors, technologists, industrial entrepreneurs and specialists locally and overseas.

Dr. Ronielyn F. Pinsoy was the last CIT Dean after the USM-KCC was given the autonomy to function its first chancellor. It was on September 6, 2018 that the Department of Industrial Technology was reverted into the College of Trades and Industries with Professor George Q. Neral as its first Dean. After his term, Professor Solomon L. Presto took over the deanship from January 2020 to present.

CTI while approaching its sixth decade of continuous academic service continues to evolve and provide quality and relevant knowledge and skills to the university to attiain its vision, mission and objectives.