FOUR undergraduate programs of the University have received the coveted Asean University Network (AUN) Quality Assurance seal.
UST’s elementary and secondary education, pharmacy and medical technology programs were granted certifications effective until 2022 after an institutional assessment last year by the AUN, an organization of Southeast Asian universities.
In August 2017, UST’s accountancy, biology, chemistry and psychology programs received AUN certifications, placing them at par with the best universities in the region.
“The ASEAN University Network – Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) Group certified four bachelor’s programs of the University of Santo Tomas, granting recognition until 2022. [T]hese four programs join UST’s first four AUN-QA-certified programs accountancy, biology, chemistry, and psychology,” UST announced on its official website.
READ: 4 undergrad programs receive Asean University Network quality stamp
UST joined the three top Philippine universities, the University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University in January 2016 when it became an associate member of AUN.
Membership allows the University to join the network’s exchange programs and other projects, as well as initiatives with partner-organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Union.
AUN was founded by Asean member-countries in November 1995. The network includes 30 universities in the countries under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
UST, along with UP, Ateneo and La Salle, synchronized its academic calendar with Asean universities in 2014, ahead of the 2015 Asean Community integration plan.
The AUN provides guidelines for overall academic standards of member-universities, with criteria such as expected learning outcomes, program specification, program structure and content, teaching and learning strategy, facilities and infrastructure, and quality assurance of teaching and learning.
