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Inter University Collaborations Boost International Profiles of HEIs

Inter University Collaborations Boost International Profiles of HEIs

by | Jan 7, 2021 | MSU-IIT Campus

The ability to offer international courses and programs with niche proficiencies provide higher education institutions (HEIs) many benefits. The advantages for students and faculty are almost immediately evident. Surely many students and young faculty would seize the opportunity for study, research, and academic interaction at world-class levels.

Less commonly considered from these partnerships and collaborative programs are the resulting optics on an institutional level, the kind elective officials would beg to have on a campaign. An educational institution that has built a reputation for expertise in a specific area lends that prestige to a partner institution.

A Philippine HEI carrying programs through internationalization efforts flashes a brand that spells innovation, foresight and global competitiveness. Pursuing internationalization reflects an institution’s desire to be part of the international academic community and promote inter-university collaboration.

Take for example, the University of the Philippines’ joint and dual degree programs in cooperation with international institutions. The Institute of Environmental Science & Meteorology of UP Diliman (UP IESM) and the University of Reading (UoR) in Berkshire, England, offer a dual degree Ph.D. by Research in Meteorology.

UP Los Baños also offers a dual degree Ph.D. by Research with UoR in Agricultural Economics, Agriculture, Development Communications and Economics. Agronomy, Animal Science, and Horticulture have also been recently approved for the dual program.

The Dual Ph.D. by Research program is the first of its kind in the UP system. This modality may also be implemented with Curtin University in Australia and UP Mindanao, as well as with other universities that will partner with UPLB.

Filipinos will have access to niche courses in the UK and with other partner universities through the Joint Development of Niche Programs under the Commission on Higher Education and the British Council. UP is currently one of ten HEIs benefiting from the program.

Another joint program offered by UPLB is the MS in Food Security and Climate Change under the University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources. It is funded by the European Commission’s ERASMUS + Capacity Building for Higher Education and offered with Kasetsart University in Thailand, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Institut Pertanian Bogor and Universitas Gajah Mada in Indonesia.

UPLB also hosts the Nagoya University Asian Satellite Campus, becoming the only Philippine HEI to do so. The partnership offers the Transnational Doctoral Programs for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries, with courses in International Development and Bioagricultural Sciences.

While initial dual programs seem limited to niche courses, specializations will eventually expand as more HEIs respond to the need for internationalization.

Building a quality education through international relationships reinforces an HEI’s positive image, one based on the reality that the new generation must become productive world citizens.

The University of the Philippines is a member of the ANTENA Project, a capacity building cooperation project co-funded by the Erasmus + program of the European Commission. The HEI partners include the Ateneo de Manila University, Benguet State University, Central Luzon State University, De La Salle University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Saint Louis University, University of San Carlos, Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, and the Commission on Higher Education.

— contributed news (https://www.antena-project.eu)

*ANTENA is a capacity-building cooperation project co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission. For more news about ANTENA, visit  https://www.antena-project.eu/news.

Pandemic to stir up in internationalization plans of Philippine HEIs

Pandemic to stir up in internationalization plans of Philippine HEIs

by | Sep 21, 2020 | MSU-IIT Campus

The global COVID-19 pandemic will stir up and enliven the current strategic internationalization plans and efforts of Philippine higher education institutions.  

This was the view expressed by Renato G. Reyes, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of International Affairs Office at Central Luzon State University. “The current situation poses greater challenges to HEIs and SUCs planning to implement or strengthen their internationalization program, but this same situation will also offer new opportunities,” he added.

Reyes noted that in the next normal or new reality, educational institutions will have to be more creative and bolder to step out of their comfort zones to achieve their current or new internationalization goals.

Internationalization, he explained, are measured based on the following criteria: number of faculty scholars who completed their advanced degrees abroad, the number of academic and scientific exchanges made among international partner institutions, the number of joint research publications with international partners, and the number of student internships both inbound and outbound.

Reyes underscored the need for collaboration not only in the international level but also within the University level. “In order for the wheel of internationalization to progress, every individual from top to bottom of the HEIs must internalize internationalization. As we always say, internationalization must be in every heart and mind of every stakeholder,” he said.

The Central Luzon region has 209 HEIs that offer undergraduate and graduate programs. Out of 209 HEIs, 12 are state colleges and universities (SUCs). Most of these have already institutionalized their respective international affairs office. Lack of improved facilities, insufficient government financial support, slow mobility of human resources both inbound and outbound and academic mismatch of courses with foreign partner institutions, however, have encumbered their efforts towards internationalization.

The country’s higher education institutions are required to maintain a global presence in accordance with the Philippine Higher Education Reform Agenda (PHERA). The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has geared towards this vision by issuing several memoranda such as the ASEAN International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Program which is based on CMO No. 11 Series of 2014, the Policy – Standard to enhance quality assurance in Philippine Higher Education through an outcomes-based and typology – based quality assurance (CMO No. 46 Series of 2012) and the CMO No. 22 Series of 2013 on student internship abroad.

CLSU is a member of the ANTENA Project, a capacity building cooperation project co-funded by the Erasmus + program of the European Commission, led by the University of Alicante in Spain with the support of the University of Montpellier in France and the European Foundation for Management Development. Other members are Ateneo de Manila University, Benguet State University, De La Salle University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Saint Louis University, University of San Carlos and Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, University of the Philippines, and the Commission on Higher Education.

— contributed news

*ANTENA is a capacity-building cooperation project co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission. For more news about ANTENA, visit  https://www.antena-project.eu/news.