In 1992, under the presidency of Br. Rolando R. Dizon FSC, the University of St. La Salle established the Office for Development, External Relations, and Alumni Affairs (DERAA). Br. Augustine Boquer FSC (concurrent Principal of the Integrated School) was appointed as Vice President for DERAA. Within the Office of the VP for DERAA, a director was appointed in the person of former Academic Dean Marie Therese V. Jochico.
DERAA office performed the following functions:
- To raise funds for all development programs of the University – endowment funds for scholarship, faculty development, infrastructure, research and sports;
- To prepare and update a complete directory of alumni, implement a comprehensive alumni relations program for the various alumni sectors – young alumni, jubilarians, and senior alumni , communicate with alumni and involve them in all development projects;
- To coordinate all plans and collate them into an institutional long range development plan;
- To conduct a comprehensive multimedia public relations program for international and national as well as local dissemination that will include institutional promotions, such as posters, brochures, newsletters and press releases; and
- To develop and maintain local, national, and international linkages with organizations, institutions and agencies
During the years that followed, despite limited staffing, DERAA strengthened its external relations and provided office space to the growing USLS Alumni Association, Inc. and the Handumanan Science Foundation which took care of scholarships.
In 1997, DERAA proposed decentralization of the office to address the growing needs of the alumni. This resulted in the creation of the University Alumni Relations Office (UARO) in 2002, and the appointment of a fund-raising officer (a member of the faculty, Ms. Rovic de Leon was assigned this part-time function in 1997 as part of the 100 – n – 10 fund campaign but the scheme proved unsustainable).
Br. Martin Simpson FSC was appointed as the first director of UARO.
Two years later, in 2004, Mr. Cugie Loarca of HS Class 1965 was appointed director of the UARO, and a separate office and staff were provided.
With the spin – off of the University Alumni Relations Office, the former DERAA office was referred to as the Office for Development, External Relations and International Linkages (DERIL) which put emphasis on the strengthening of international linkages and partnerships. The responsibilities for assisting in Development and in Institutional Planning were retained by the DERIL Office.
To further pursue the expansion, the functions related to resource generation and fund – raising were separately assigned to a newly-created office, the Center for Institutional Development (CID) which was originally conceived in 2006 but became operational in 2007 with a separate office, headed by Mrs. China Gallaga, a fulltime director and one office staff.
With the alumni relations work endorsed to UARO and the development functions delegated to the Center for Institutional Development (CID) at the beginning of 2007, the DERIL office was renamed Center for International and External Linkages (CIEL) and as part of the transition, the responsibility of Institutional Planning was temporarily assigned to CIEL.
In 2008 under a new director in the person of Mr. Rhoderick K. Samonte, CIEL underwent a thorough review of its functions and responsibilities vis-à-vis the operations of the UARO and the CID. After a series of vision-setting and strategic planning, in 2009 CIEL was renamed Center for External Relations.
In 2015, under the new administration of Br. Manuel Pajarillo, FSC, PH. D, the Center for Linkages and International Affairs (CLIA) was established under the Vice Chancellor of Mission and Development with Mr. Hector Gloria Jr. The CLIA Office was headed by Mr. Geoffrey Bob P. Bergante.
In January 2017, Ms. Jennifer Montero was appointed as Institutional Coordinator and started establishing policies and guidelines as well as data base to institutionalize the implementation of the International Linkage Engagement Protocol as guide to the strategic direction of the President and Chancellor.
Since June 2017 and until now, with a new set of Administrators who took over, under the leadership of Br. Joaquin Severino S. Martinez FSC D.Min and this time with Mr. Geoffrey Bob P. Bergante as the new appointed Vice Chancellor for Mission and Development, the Office carried the same name and still with Ms. Jennifer Montero as the CLIA Officer.
Leading towards the direction set by the Brother President and Chancellor, CLIA provides the services to institutionalize and reinforce the plans and providing leadership and coordination for all University-wide international activities for coherence and integration of the Institution’s international linkages, cooperation, exchanges, programs and services such as International Exchange Students, International Seminars and For a, Scholarship Grants, Faculty Exchange, Organizations Affiliation and International Linkages.
