Monday, March 14, 2016

UST®, CHEd co-organize AUN-QA training of Accomplishing Programme Assessment


The University of Santo Tomas (UST), in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education, organized the 11th ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) Training Course for Accomplishing Assessment Programme, held from March 7-10, 2016 and Microtel, Pasay City.
 
The Tier 1 training gathered thirty-five (35) administrative and academic officials from ten (10) higher education institutions in the Philippines.
 
AUN-QA experts Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin and Prof. Arnulfo P. Azcarraga, PhD. conducted the training.
 
Participants were from UST, Silliman University, and CHED-selected SUC, namely: Bicol University, Benguet State University, Cebu Normal University, Central Luzon State University, Mariano Marcos State University, Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology, University of Southeastern Philippines , and Mindanao State University. Dr. Mary Sylvette T. Gunigundo, Quality Assurance Division Chief of the Commission on Higher Education, also joined the training.
 
 
 
The training, an initiative of the UST Office of the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, together with the Academic Programs Office Quality Assurance (APQAO), was supported and funded by the Commission on Higher Education through its International Affairs Staff. This is in response to the ASEAN integration in 2015 which ushered in internationalization as a thrust in African higher education.
 
The ASEAN University Network connects leading universities in the region to facilitate academic and research collaborations, including faculty and student mobility.
 
UST is an Associate Member of the AUN-QA.
 
#ThomasiansForQualityEducation #USTandCHEd #USTandAUN

UST® successfully passes ISO 9001:2008 3rd Surveillance Audit with design

The University of Santo Tomas passed the two-day 3rd Surveillance Audit, which is part of the second cycle of its ISO 9001:2008 certification without incurring any non-conformance. The audit, held from March 8-9, 2016, was led by Mr. Erveene Zoleta of TƜV SƜD PSB Philippines, Inc., who made the official announcement during the closing meeting.
Engr. Nestor R. Ong, PIE, ASEAN Eng, Assistant Director of the Quality Management Office explained that UST’s external auditor performed the assessment to ensure that UST’s Quality Management System continues to meet all elements of the scope of registration and effectively maintains the entire requirements of the ISO 9001:2008 international standard. Ong emphasized that UST has been certified to ISO 9001:2008 standards since 2012, and its re-certification was passed in 2015 to complete successfully the first-cycle certification.
Quality Management Director Assoc. Prof. Joehanna K. Ngo, PIE, ASEAN Eng stated that the external auditors (Mr. Erveene Zoleta and Mr. Xavier Lance Yu Dy) together with the technical expert (Engr. Eugenia Santiago) visited five (5) faculties and colleges (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Civil Law, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Conservatory of Music, and Faculty of Engineering), one (1) school (Junior High School), and ten (10) support units (Office of the Registrar, Facilities Management Office, Purchasing Office, Office for Admissions, Office of Public Affairs, Office for Faculty Evaluation and Development, Human Resource Department, Miguel de Benavides Library,  Office of Alumni Relations, and Quality Management Office) during the two-day surveillance audit. The said units were randomly selected based on the audit plan.
The Quality Management Office, the office that assumes a leadership role in professionalizing the quality management operations of the University, presented evidence on the extent of top level management support in the following areas details of management review, Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS), Operational Plans and OSIR (Objective, Status, Issue, and Resolution), verification of corrective actions from previous repeat audit, documents control, records control, internal audit, and corrective and preventive action. The challenge given by Mr. Zoleta is to continue to strengthen the internal audit in which the requirements of 8.2.2 of the ISO 9001:2008 standard are basically satisfied. The internal audit procedure is a mandatory procedure for ISO 9001 certification purpose.
The audit began with an opening meeting attended by all concerned academic officials, administrators and unit QMRs (61 attendees), followed by the top management dialogue with the external auditors attended by Vice-Rector Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Vice-Rector for Finance/Treasurer Rev. Fr. Manuel F. Roux, O.P., Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Prof. Clarita D. Carillo, PhD, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation Prof. Maribel G. Nonato, PhD, Secretary-General Rev. Fr. Winston F. Cabading, O.P., Planning Director Engr. Charlie A. Marquez, PIE, Assoc. Prof. Joehanna K. Ngo, PIE, ASEAN Eng, and Engr. Nestor R. Ong, PIE, ASEAN Eng.  The conversation focused on top management’s business and strategic plans.
At the closing meeting, which was attended by all concerned academic officials, administrators, and unit QMRs (37 attendees), lead auditor Mr. Erveene Zoleta confirmed that there were nine (9) opportunities for improvement (I), eight (8) minor nonconformities (MiN), and zero (0) nonconformities (N) identified during the actual audit. The University’s QMS remains effective and has been recommended for continued certification.
UST is now challenged to engage in a seamless transition from ISO 9001:2008 to the ISO 9001:2015 for next year’s external audit. The new ISO 9001 standard emphasizes risk-based thinking beyond what has been seen in earlier versions.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Capulong, Bernabe of Financial Mngt. included in Top 10 of Stock Market Challenge

Nicholas Capulong and Pol Joseph Bernabe, BS in Business Administration, major in Financial Management students of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, were included in the Top 10 finalists in the Stock Market Challenge 2016 organized by COL Financial and JA Philippines last March 4, 2016 at the Philippine Stock Exchange- Ortigas. The student representatives, under the supervision of Dr. Anthony D.C. Altarejos, CB, CSS (Chair of the Department of Financial Management) presented their analysis on the stock trading challenge.

COMM 20160304 FinMan - Stock Market Challenge
From left to to right – Ms. April Tan (VP, Head of Research, COL Financial Group, Inc, and President of CFA Philippines) Mr. Conrado Bate (President & CEO, COL Financial Group, Inc.), Mr. Marvin Lee, Nicholas Capulong, Dr. Anthony DC. Altarejos CB,CSS (Chair, Department of Financial Management) and Pol Joseph Bernabe.

Dakis, Ramos, Macalinao of Financial Mngt. win Nat’l. Finance Competition 2016

Lorenzo Luis Dakis, Arthur Ramos, and Diane Macalinao, BS in Business Administration, major in Financial Management students of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, brought home a championship to University. They ranked first in the National Finance Competition 2016 organized by the Junior Confederation of Finance Associations- Philippines, both NCR and national levels, last February 27, 2016. This was held at the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Makati. 
There were at least 50 schools offering the Financial Management Program who participated, and the activities were conducted simultaneously in their respective regions. The Champion Team received cash prize, medals, certificate, a trophy and a full scholarship grant from Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).
COMM 20160227 FinMan - National Champion
From left to right – Ms. Jan Pauline Chave (JCFAP National President), , Lorenzo Luis Dakis, Arthur Ramos, Diane Macalinao, Mr. Ryan Uy (Panelist), Dr. Anthony DC. Altarejos CB, CSS, Mr. Anton Mauricio (Chairman& Founder of Finance Educators Association and President – Investment Underwriting Services, Inc.and Mr. Alexander Gilles, CFA (JCFAP Adviser and Panelist

5 Financial Management students place 2nd runner-up in Investment Research contest

Five BS in Business Administration major in Financial Management students from the College of Commerce and Business Administration finished 2nd runner-up in the Investment Research Challenge 2016 organized by the CFA Society Philippines last February 23, 2016 at the auditorium of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The UST Finance Team, composed of Chris Abecia, Welsey Tiujanco, Wendy Estacio, Ruegene Atanacio, under the supervision of Dr. Anthony D.C. Altarejos, CB, CSS (Chair, Financial Management Department), Kimberly Dela Cruz used the pen name Titan Investment. The Department is on its 3rd year of being consistent in the final four schools.  For this year, the subject company was SM Prime Holdings (SMPH) and the team entitled their paper as “Primed for Success”. The competition had two parts, the written form and the live presentation, each having a different set of panel members.

 COMM 20160223 FinMan - Investment Research Challenge
From left to right – Ms. April Tan (VP, Head of Research, COL Financial Group, Inc, and President of CFA Philippines) Mr. Alexander D. Pomento (VP for Investor Relations, SMPH), Mr. James Abordo, Dr. Anthony DC. Altarejos CB,CSS, Chris Abecia, Welsey Tiujanco, Wendy Estacio, Ruegene Atanacio, , Kimberly Dela Cruz and Mr. Marvin Fausto (President, IFE Management Advisers, Inc.)

UST is 2nd most preferred source of graduates in the Philippines

The University of Santo Tomas ranked 2nd among Philippine universities and colleges in terms of being the most preferred source of graduates by employers, according to the 2016 JobStreet survey, published in ABS-CBNNews.com.
 
The survey had 550 respondents, 31% of which preferred UST as their source of new employees. UST maintained its rank from last year.
 
This results showing UST as the preferred source of graduates are consistent with the QS Employability Rankings recognition, which placed UST as the top HEI in the Philippines.
 
#ThomasianExcellence

Co of Philosophy delivers professorial lecture on dev’t. of philosophy in the Philippines

Prof. Alfredo P. Co, PhD has started tracing the developments of one of the longest academic programs in the University and in the country in a bid to address the persistent question: “What is Filipino Philosophy?”
Last March 2, 2016 at the UST Civil Law Auditorium, Professor Co delivered his inaugural lecture as the first occupant of the Oscar Picazo Professorial Chair in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. The lecture’s title was “The University of Santo Tomas and the Birthing of Philosophy in the Philippines.”
In his discourse, Co underscored that Filipino Philosophy should be evidenced by serious literature by Filipinos doing philosophy—those who are trained and have published in and about the field.
“If there is anything we can call Filipino Philosophy, this can only be the product of the hard work of Filipino philosophers and scholars,” Professor Co asserted, stressing that many academics who search for indigenous philosophy seem to forget that many Filipino scholars have already made their contribution to philosophy through their publications.
He added that this body of literature “now makes a new philosophical landscape in Southeast Asia.”
For Professor Co, the inception of Filipino Philosophy kindled when the Filipino scholars in the country started publishing that resulted in the shift of consciousness, from colonial to Filipino. It began between the mid-’50s to the ’80s, he said.
“What marked this period in the history of philosophy in the Philippines is how these Filipino scholars transformed the landscape of philosophy in the country,” said Professor Co. “Suddenly, universities, even with their specific strength in their emerging philosophical tradition, shaped an entirely new environment.”
He also urged those who truly want to study Filipino Philosophy to “take the painful task of reading their writings.”

Post-colonial consciousness
Having reviewed the historical events in the field of philosophy, Professor Co identified one important conference that had triggered the new concerns of philosophical discourse: the Bandong Conference in 1955.
“There emerged the new interest in many post-colonial countries to reconstruct their shattered identity,” he explained. “Former colonies started to search for self-identity and the new postcolonial intellectuals were challenged to search philosophy in culture and ethnicity.”
He cited that after the conference, Australian scholars searched for Aboriginal Philosophy; African scholars for Ghanaian Philosophy, Kenyan Philosophy, Nigerian Philosophy, and Ugandan Philosophy; and Brazilians for Brazilian Philosophy; among many others.
Filipinos were not an exception. However, there were challenges that they had to face.
“The first challenge was to build our shattered pride by asserting our presence as a cultural identity,” said Professor Co, who also underscored that some intentionally neglect the Spanish Era in the search for Filipino identity.
“Historical information also allows one to better regulate the present and gain insights into the trajectory into the future,” he said. “It provides the vital context on which many great thoughts came to emerge.”
Meanwhile, scholars of Philosophy had different approaches to address the challenge of rediscovering the Filipino identity: some taught Philosophy in Filipino; some improvised on the method of identifying Filipino thought, such as using the popular concepts of “bayanihan” and “utang na loob”; and some stayed in the trail of further inquiring about Filipino philosophy.
Among the scholars, who responded to this call, were Professors Emerita Quito, Fr. Leonardo Mercado, SVD, Fr. Roque Ferriols, SJ, Ramon Reyes, Br. Romualdo Abulad, SVD, Florentino Timbreza, Manuel Dy, Jr., as well as Professor Co.
Although he mentioned that most of the earlier efforts seemed not to have reached far, as some of those who had embarked on teaching Philosophy in Filipino later went back to teaching and writing in English, Professor Co was quick to acknowledge that the first Filipino philosophers’ enduring attempt at an indigenous system of thought greatly contributed to the post-colonial consciousness that dominates the academic atmosphere today.
“In fact, the Philippines has been singled out as the only country in Southeast Asia that has consistently engaged in Philosophy since early years of its independence from colonial masters, and this is owing to the publications [of the first wave of Filipino philosophers],” he said.
The first wave includes Professors Quito, Claro Ceniza, Manuel PiƱon, Co, Mercado, Timbreza, Ferriols, Benito Reyes, Ricardo Pascual, Armando Bonifacio, Abulad, Reyes, Dy, Leovino Ma. Garcia, Quintin Terrenal, Magdalena Villaba, Josephine Acosta Pasricha, and Tomas Rosario, Jr.
For his second lecture, Professor Co is expected to discuss the contribution of UST in strengthening Philosophy as an academic field in the country.
The professorial lecture was organized by the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters-Department of Philosophy and the UST Research and Endowment Foundation, Inc. through the Office for Grants, Endowments and Partnerships in Higher Education.

Levine Andro H. Lao
#ThomasianResearchers

Fr. Dagohoy represents Asia-Pacific in IFCU Administrative Board meeting

The Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., PhD, Rector of the University of Santo Tomas, is in France right now, attending the 88th meeting of the Board of Administration of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), at the Lyon Catholic University (UniversitƩ Catholique de Lyon). The meeting is being held from March 7-10, 2016.
Fr. Dagohoy is currently the Asia-Pacific board member of IFCU.
The IFCU aims to “contribute to the progress of knowledge and its applications and to the development of a more just and human world in the light of reason and faith through the ferment of the Gospel.” Apart from promoting collective reflection of mission, it aims to establish networks of knowledge and collaboration among members, with the end-view of developing Catholic higher education and its Catholic identity, based on quality, continuity, and autonomy.
#ThomasiansLeadingTheWay

Cardinal Versaldi, Prefect of Congregation for Catholic Education, visits UST

The Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, His Eminence Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, visited the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas earlier today, March 9, 2016 (Wednesday), as part of his visit to the Philippines.
 
Cardinal Versaldi was welcomed by top University officials, led by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Very Rev. Fr. Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III, O.P., the Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines.
 
Cardinal Versaldi’s visit began with the traditional walk through the Arch of the Centuries, followed by a welcome ceremony at the lobby of the Main Building.
 
Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Vice-Rector of the University, underscored the “moment of inspiration and grace” that the Thomasian family was blessed with. Fr. Ang also thanked the Society of Jesus – Philippine province, particularly Loyola School of Theology President Fr. Jose V.C. Quilongquilong, SJ, and the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education’s Official of the Universities Office, Fr. John Brilliantes.
 
Cardinal Versaldi heaped praises on the University, emphasizing that it plays an important role in the “dialogue between faith and reason”. The cardinal said that through the centuries, UST has remained faithful to contributing to the Church through education, with the aim of “building a better human society.” For this reason, Cardinal Versaldi said it comes as no surprise that UST has been “lavishly honored by popes and kings with titles”.
 
Cardinal Versaldi also thanked the University Rector, the Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., PhD, for being one of the speakers in the November 2015 World Congress on Catholic Education in Rome. He likewise thanked the Thomasian community, those “who spend their life [in UST] and make themselves available to the service of the Church through [their] talents and energy”.
 
Finally, Cardinal Versaldi conveyed the blessing of His Holiness, Pope Francis, who extended his prayers for the Filipino community.
 
Following the welcome ceremony was a meeting with top officials, who introduced themselves and their roles in UST.
 
A trip to the historic UST Museum was facilitated by the Archivist, Regalado T. Jose, who presented key documents of UST, such as the Foundation Act of 1611, a sample of Baybayin document (a National Cultural Treasure), the decree elevating Santo Tomas to University status in 1645, and the decree making UST a Pontifical University in 1902.
 
The tour included the University’s collection of religious artifacts, art work from different Asian countries, University memorabilia—including the chairs on which Saint Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis sat during their respective visits—and the University’s visual arts collection.
 
Cardinal Versaldi is in the Philippines to address the participants of an international theological conference of Loyola School of Theology, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
 
The Congregation for Catholic Education is the Holy See’s arm to monitor Pontifical universities like UST. During the election of a new Rector, for example, it is the Congregation that gives the go signal for the candidate’s appointment.
 
#CatholicChurch #PontificalUST