Author : Garcia, Isabel Baracael

Summary : The SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is a non-profit organization engaged in human resource development, research, and extension. Like other organization, the road ahead of SEARCA is plagued with complexities and uncertainties. Greater competition for donor funds and declining support for traditional activities call for excellent and cutting-edge programs to maintain the Center's competitive advantage. Therefore, there should be a sharper focus and more strategic intervention for SEARCA's financial management. Results of the study revealed that 100 percent of the respondents were aware of the Center's finance function but differed in their level of awareness. Thus, 51.8 percent of the respondents indicated a high awareness level, while 42.8 percent were moderately aware and 5.4 percent had low awareness level. The respondents' perception of the existing finance function was assessed, and the following results were obtained: On the respondents' level of adequacy of information related to financial policies, processes, and procedures (high - 50.9%; moderate - 45.5%; low - 3.6%), level of acceptability (H - 59.8%; M - 35.7%; L - 4.5%), and level of satisfaction (H - 67.0%; M - 29.4%; L - 3.6%); On the finance group's level of efficiency (H - 58.9%; M - 38.4%; L - 2.7%) and level of performance, the study revealed that more than 50 percent of the respondents gave a high rating on the following: (a) transaction processing, and (b) reporting compliance and data generation phases of the finance function. On the other hand, as the group's responsibility became more critical (e.g. control and risk management and decision support, strategic planning, and as an advisor), the number of respondents that signified moderate and low performance level ratings increased.