Xavier University- (XU) Ateneo de Cagayan is a Jesuit institution situated in the city of bloom, blossom and boom—Cagayan de Oro City. Founded in 1933 by Fr. James T.G. Hayes, S.J., the first Bishop and Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, its measly population of 17 students ballooned to the present day enrolment of 16,000, an authentication of the Jesuit’s commitment to excellence in education. XU’s mission of forming men and women of competence, conscience and commitment has made this Jesuit academic institution to serve robustly and imaginatively the pressing needs of Mindanao.
The College of Arts and Science of XU is one of the few institutions in Mindanao which offers the BS Chemistry program under the Chemistry department since the year 1982. Just this year, the BS Chemistry program has been granted Level IV accreditation–the highest possible level from the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). With university becoming more competitive in terms of its faculty and facilities, XU’s Chemistry is coping with the trends and demands of the field of chemistry. Many of its faculty members are now masters and doctoral degree graduates from top schools in the country like the Ateneo de Manila University as well as universities overseas.
The strength of the Department’s research effort is illustrated with the recent upgrades of its research facilities. The department has acquired the high-end instruments including Gas Chromatograph, High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and electrochemical instruments both for its undergraduate Chemistry program, faculty researches and for the external analyses accepted by the department through the CEARS – Center for Environmental and Analytical Research and Services.
In addition to this recent instrumentation upgrade which offers undergraduate students a huge range of resources and facilities, XU Chemistry Department has an eye to be granted the Center of Development (COD) and eventually the Center of Excellence (COE) status in Chemistry in the very near future.