University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos


The University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos, is a private, Roman Catholic university founded in 1941 in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines and administered by the Order of Augustinian Recollects.
The University was granted "autonomous status" by the Commission on Higher Education for five years while its College of Arts and Sciences was granted Level III accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. CHED also granted the university’s College of Engineering and College of Information Technology the distinction as Centers of Development and Excellence in their Electrical Engineering and Information Technology courses respectively. The university was also granted with Category A by the Institutional Quality Assurance through Monitoring and Evaluation.

History

The University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos was founded in 1941 in Talisay, Negros Occidental by Dr. Antonio A. Lizares and
Dr. Francisco Kilayko. Then known as Occidental Negros Institute, the school offered first and second years of high school education. Upon the outbreak of World War II in the Philippines in December of that same year, the institute closed temporarily.
Occidental Negros Institute was re-established in Bacolod in 1946, this time offering elementary, high school and three tertiary degree programs. The campus transferred from Locsin street to Lupit Subdivision in Lizares Avenue, its present site, in 1950. Dr. Antonio Lizares served as the school's first President with Dr. Francisco Kilayko as the School Director.
On May 15, 1957, ONI was elevated to university status by the Acting Secretary of Education, Martin V. Aguilar, Jr. ONI became the University of Negros Occidental, the first university in the province. Five years later, on May 25, 1962, UNO was acquired by the Augustinian Recollect friars. UNO became the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos with Fr. Federico Terradillos, OAR, as the first acting Rector.

Academics

UNO-R offers pre-school, grade school, junior high school, senior high school, undergraduate and graduate level programs. As of 2018, it has seven academic colleges namely:
UNO-R also has a School of Law and a graduate school named the Recoletos de Bacolod Graduate School. UNO-R also offered TESDA-accredited courses under the Recoletos Industrial and Technology Training Center .

Patron Saint

The university's patron saint is Nicholas of Tolentino. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, known as the Patron of Holy Souls, was born at Sant' Angelo, near Fermo, in Italy in the March of Ancona, around 1246. His parents, Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de Guidiani, were originally unable to have a child, but after praying at a shrine of St. Nicholas of Myra, Amata became pregnant, and they named their son after the saint.
The university's student publication, the Tolentine Star, pays homage to the saint.

OAR sister schools