CATEGORIZING and ranking those who teach in higher education institutions has always been understood to be a function of academe a prerogative left to the academic community itself, going by its own academic standards and criteria. Professors are judged by fellow professors and by their students and it is presumed that those in positions of academic leadership are themselves reputable academics. State universities and colleges in the Philippines, however, have labored under the curse of government interference in matters of academic governance. ....