Embracing change

Dr. Don Vicente C. Real, president of Negros Oriental State University (Norsu), wants it to consistently provide its graduates with strong fundamental and higher order competencies, and as many opportunities as possible to serve the greater good through gainful employment.

Months ago, Real set a plan in motion to make this vision come true. He authorized the commencement of the Service Management Program (SMP) training classes for Norsu faculty conducted by master trainers engaged especially for them by the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap).

The Commission on Higher Education’s Memorandum Order 6 and 34 Series of 2012 defines SMP as a 21-unit set of electives with four specialization tracks—fundamentals of business process outsourcing (BPO 101 and 102), service culture, business communications, and systems thinking—and 600 hours of internship with an IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) company.

Academic experts from the Asia Pacific College led by Dr. Paulino Tan and Dr. Tata Medado outlined the SMP together with industry professionals from Ibpap member-companies like IBM, SPI Global,

Accenture and HP. Members of the CHEd’s various technical panels guided the development process to ensure fidelity to the desired learning outcomes.

Last August, 17 Norsu teachers completed service culture. Ten more finished business communications training classes. Last October, another 12 teachers completed training for BPO 101 and 102, 16 more went through systems thinking classes, and 15 others completed basic English skills training and advanced English for preemployment training (BEST and AdEPT).

Real is rightfully proud that Norsu is one of 17 SUCs (state universities and colleges) selected for the IT-BPM Growth Area project that the CHEd is implementing in partnership with Ibpap.

He disclosed that Norsu had revised the curricula of its degree courses in business administration and information technology and is offering the 21 units of SMP electives in line with CHEd Memorandum Order No. 34 Series of 2012. The university is in the process of including SMP electives in its other academic programs.

Norsu faculty member Marx G. Iturralde was among those who completed the business communications training sessions. He is no stranger to faculty training programs, having been part of quite a number of government-sponsored academic initiatives “designed to provide our fellowmen with opportunities to improve their lives.” According to him, many of these programs struggle to sustain whatever gains the participants have made after the intervention.

After going through the rigorous 48-hour SMP training regimen, Iturralde is fully convinced that CHEd “thought this out very carefully.” CHEd picked “a very good implementing partner in

Ibpap” and correctly chose “SUCs located in Next Wave cities as academic partners, such as Norsu in Dumaguete City,” he said.

With its eight strategically located campuses, Norsu is a major human resource provider in Region VII. Iturralde is aware that many college graduates do not make it past the interview stage because of the lack of relevant academic training and support. “What CHEd has done is require the institutionalization of IT-BPM courses in selected academic programs,” he explained. “What Ibpap is doing is providing SUCs like Norsu with the technical expertise needed to efficiently teach courses to make students capable in IT-BPM proficiencies.”

Michael Lopez, Aegis master trainer in service culture, recounted that Norsu faculty members were very receptive to the SMP and the specialized tracks. “Their enthusiasm to share their views and teaching experiences made the session even more interesting and engaging. Their humility despite their years of experience and breadth of academic achievements created an open environment conducive for learning,” Lopez said.

Jacqueline Gulrajani, another master trainer of Aegis, said that while their team was composed of young people, this did not get in the way of their ultimate goal to assist “the very able, smart but humble Norsu teachers” in getting things done. Like Lopez, this is Gulrajani’s second run for SMP. She said that because the Norsu teachers were so eager to deliver SMP competencies to their students, it was easier for everyone to reach the desired goal. “I thank the Norsu faculty members for embracing change. I salute the teachers I have worked with. They are of the highest caliber and yet their thirst for knowledge is as strong as ever,” she said.

The SMP training that Ibpap conducted for the Norsu faculty reflects the five-year Higher Education Reform Agenda that CHEd has instituted in response to three fundamental and long-running weaknesses—the lack of overall vision, framework and plan for higher education; the deteriorating quality of higher education; and the limited access to quality higher education by those who need it most and have potentials to maximize its benefits.

The reform agenda directly addresses these weaknesses by pursuing the twin strategic roles of higher education as “an instrument for poverty alleviation and as a vehicle for technologically driven national development and global competitiveness.”

Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol Foundation and education lead for talent development at Ibpap.