by Rex Godinez Ortega, OC
THE OFFICE of the Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development (OVCPD) through its Office for International Affairs (OIA) is making arrangements for the holding of a writeshop that will take the Institute closer to its goal of having a strategic plan for internationalization.
The writeshop that is scheduled for September 24-26 will actually be the second installment of the activity that was first held in Bukidnon last March.
The Strategic Internationalization Plan (SIP) Writeshop gathers again at a venue still to be announced Institute officials, the designated international affairs coordinators, personnel from the Center for Information and Communication and the Center for MSU-IIT e-Learning, and selected faculty members serving as technical writers.
Acting Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development, Prof. Gaudencio C. Petalcorin, says that the SIP Writeshop “supplements our output from the previous session.”
“As we have already accomplished our target goals in gathering input from our constituents regarding the SIP, now would be an opportune time to have the second part of this activity,” explains Petalcorin who continues to serve as the OIA Director despite being designated last week as the new Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development.
The crafting of the SIP is mandated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through its Memorandum Order No. 55, Series of 2016, having the following as subject – Policy Framework and Strategies on the Internationalization of Philippine Higher Education.
The need to adopt an internationalization strategy, explains CMO 55, S. 2016, is warranted by the demands of integration and globalization which the national higher education system alone cannot adequately meet.
The said CMO states that having the SIP will also pave the way for the enjoyment of the intrinsic benefits of internationalization.
The CHED, according to the CMO, will then take measures to ensure the effective implementation of the crafted SIP by providing advisory and technical assistance, as well as incentives.
Petalcorin confirms this, and says that “some support can be given by the Commission in its (SIP’s) implementation.”
According to the writeshop design, participants to the September 24-26 activity will be shown a sample internationalization plan and made to identify its parts. They will also identify the anchors and priorities based on these.
After setting the time frame for the full implementation of the SIP of MSU-IIT, the participants will identify the scheme to be used in monitoring and evaluating the plan, as well as identifying how to assess its impact.
The SIP Writeshop will also have two accompanying and related activities. These activities are – Creation of the Internationalization Web Page of MSU-IIT and Revisiting the Philippine Higher Education Internationalization Framework.
Petalcorin explains that the Internationalization Web Page needs to be created soon as this is where the Institute will post the data required in an assessment to be made using QS Stars, an evaluation system that assesses universities worldwide.
The assessment, in turn, is required by the CHED as a requisite for the giving of funding support to selected universities included in its Fostering World Class Universities Project of which MSU-IIT is one of the 15 SUCs chosen.
Reviewing and discussing the Philippine Higher Education Internationalization Framework, according to Petalcorin, is essential for the Institute officials as they would then be made to critique the drafted SIP and the Internationalization Web Page made.
(Photos are taken from the first activity – Internationalization Framework Workshop. Photo credits to Bulkhia Panalondong.)