Last September 24, the University held its Annual General Assembly. Unlike prior assemblies, this year’s event, which began with a speech delivered by DLSU President Br. Ray Suplido FSC at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium, also included assemblies hosted by deans of each respective college.
The President’s address
Suplido, in his address, discussed DLSU’s accomplishments for the past year. “Where are we coming from? I think you saw the year that was and sometimes it’s hard to imagine that so much has happened, all in one single year,” he said.
Citing various stakeholders in the University for the successes, he added, “I think we owe a round of applause once more to our faculty, staff, administrators, fellows, students, alumni.” According to him, we tend to be focused on one area of the University that we notice how much change is happening in others.
Student and faculty development
In each of the assemblies, the heads of each college presented their plans for the coming years, but it becomes clear that there are similar initiatives being pushed among the colleges, stressing the importance of developing its faculty and students.
In the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business’ session, Dean Dr. Brian Gozun presented the idea of having “no faculty member and no student left behind.” He emphasized the need to nurture both student and faculty growth, using research as an example. According to him, because faculty members try to instill skills of critical thinking, analysis, creativity, and originality in students, it is important that they possess those characteristics themselves.
Meanwhile, in the Gokongwei College of Engineering’s (GCOE) assembly, Dean Dr. Jonathan Dungca gave a report on the college’s achievements for the past year, which covered those made by both faculty and students. In his address, he detailed the six areas where the college would seek improvement: education, research, social engagement, formation, governance, and the Laguna and Bonifacio Global City campuses.
For Br. Andrew Gonzalez College of Education Dean Dr. Raymund Sison, what is important is to create an inspired innovation that leaves a lasting impact on students, and that innovation should not be done simply for its own sake.
To achieve this, the college would focus on creating action plans that target six specific areas: faith, scholarship, technology, interconnectedness, service, and quality. These plans, as he explained, would include encouraging research output and integrating technology in the teaching process.
Meanwhile, School of Economics (SOE) Dean Dr. Marites Tiongco summarized programs for the college, such as highlights from the SOE Planning Workshop, the Lasallian Reflection Framework, Guidance and Counseling programs for the students, and aligning SOE’s Vision-Mission to the University’s Vision-Mission.
In the College of Science (COS) session, Dean Dr. Glenn Alea highlighted the need to review the current degree programs. Meanwhile, to improve community engagement, the college will organize workshops for writing papers and will also continue hosting conferences and brown-bag sessions for teaching and learning. Furthermore, the college plans to form seminars to guide teachers in dealing with students and developing course syllabi.
For the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), it was highlighted that the college plans to celebrate the 100 years of Liberal Arts in DLSU and that there are plans for the college in the upcoming Lasallian Mission Week on November. CLA Dean, Dr. Jazmin Llana also added that by the next year, the ID 118 students will be required to have their Global Enrichment Term.
For the upcoming year, the College of Computer Studies (CCS) will make use of a strategy that revolves around concretizing its identity through clarification, alignment with the strategic plan, and review of graduate school programs. Furthermore, the college plans to have canvas rollout, improved faculty recruitment, and program marketing.
Research and accreditation
One theme constantly repeated in Gozun’s presentation was the need for research, which he exemplified by stressing the need for creating an environment that promotes research and increasing faculty research output. Aside from this, he also shared developments for the college to look forward to such as the upcoming ASEAN University Network Quality Assessment, and an initiative to implement an improved feedback mechanism for students.
One critical area for the GCOE was having their programs approved by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), an international organization that accredits science and technology programs globally. This was further elaborated on by Associate Dean for Quality Assurance Dr. Rosemary Seva, who enumerated the various issues that need to be addressed before the upcoming accreditation such as course requirements.
During CCS’ session, the importance of research was also highlighted, including the need to send faculty members to conferences. Dean Dr. Rafael Cabredo showed trends from previous years, illustrating how research funding and publications have fared since 2016, and 1998, respectively, and how these have developed since then.
For COS, a section of the session was spent on updating faculty members on the upcoming Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities accreditation. The college currently has most of its departments accredited as a Center of Excellence. During the session, the faculty were also briefed on what to expect in the coming accreditation, which include interviews for central administrators, class visitations, and a thorough evaluation of the reports submitted by the college.
