True to its mission, vision and goal and compliant with R.A. no. 7722 or the Higher Education Act of 1994 and the mandate of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the WMSU College of Forestry and Environmental Studies has recently been accorded the status as Center of Development for Forestry Education in region 9. By virtue of CHED memorandum order number 38 series of 2015 dated December 23, 2015, the WMSU-CFES is designated as COD effective January 2016- December 31, 2018.
CFES has shown good performance in the last few years in terms of academic development with the increasing number of student population and its faculty development program providing scholarship to more faculty members who have successfully completed graduate studies. The areas of research and extension have also expanded to participation of faculty and students to research endeavors funded by PCCAARD, DOST , CHED, PCIEERD, DA-BAR, World Bank and other funding agencies here and abroad. The extension activities of the college include the management of around 1,227 hectares of land called the La Paz Experimental Forest. The College has been tasked to oversee and ensure ecosystem in this part of the region by virtue of Presidential proclamation 407 issued in June 16, 1994. The site has been placed under the custody of the CFES as laboratory for instruction and research.
The research and extension programs of CFES are envisioned to continuously touch the lives of the nearby communities and to gradually make a difference in the plight of the local residents. Prof. Fredelino M. San Juan the current Dean of the college and the faculty of CFES have been actively doing multi-discplinary researches. In fact one faculty who made a huge contribution to the college was the late Prof. Haidelisa Saippudin who was recognized for her invention of a Plyboard wooden material mixed with chicken feathers. The output was noted as relevant and practical by the Department of Science and Technology and other award giving agencies in Science and Technology. More challenges await the CFES especially in the fields of Science and Technology. Its commitment to do more in researches and extension work ultimately redounds to fulfilling the goal of the entire WMSU to provide more service to the people.