Sustainable Resource Governance in Higher Education: Evidence from a State University

Abstract

Land is among the most valuable strategic assets of public universities, serving as the foundation for instruction, research, extension, production, environmental stewardship, and long-term institutional resilience. Despite its central role in university development, sustainable land governance has received relatively limited scholarly attention, particularly within higher education institutions in developing countries. As universities continue to expand, they increasingly face the challenge of balancing land protection with infrastructure development, resource generation, and competing stakeholder interests. Addressing this gap, the present study examines how a Philippine state university integrates land protection and land promotion within its governance system to achieve sustainable institutional development while safeguarding its land resources. A qualitative single-case study design was employed using document analysis. Institutional strategic plans, land-use plans, legal documents, university reports, demographic records, and relevant policy issuances were systematically analyzed through thematic analysis to identify recurring governance strategies, institutional challenges, and opportunities associated with sustainable land management. The findings reveal that rapid institutional expansion, reflected in increasing student enrollment, infrastructure growth, and rising resource demands, has significantly elevated the strategic importance of university land. At the same time, competing land claims and tenure-related disputes highlight the urgent need for proactive land protection measures. The study demonstrates that sustainable land governance is achieved through the integration of two complementary strategic dimensions: land protection, which safeguards institutional assets through legal, environmental, and governance mechanisms; and land promotion, which optimizes land utilization to strengthen instruction, research, extension, and responsible resource generation. Together, these dimensions form an integrated governance framework that advances institutional sustainability while preserving the university's public mandate. The study concludes that sustainable university land governance extends beyond conventional land conservation or income generation. Instead, it requires a balanced governance approach that simultaneously protects institutional land assets and strategically promotes their productive utilization to support broader higher education objectives. The proposed framework contributes to the emerging literature on university asset governance and offers practical guidance for Philippine State Universities and Colleges and other public higher education institutions facing similar land governance challenges.