THE UNIVERSITY is eyeing school development collaborations with three leading academic institutions in China so as to improve its Level 2 citation from the Philippine Quality Awards (PQA), the highest award for exemplary organizational performance in the country.
UST sent six members of its PQA committee to China last May 19. They visited Tsing Hua University (THU), the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and its Beijing Center for Language and Culture (BCLC).
Engineer Alberto Laurito, a member of the PQA committee, said the committee discussed with the three institutions’ the possibility of having joint-research projects and faculty-student exchanges.
Laurito pointed out that UST and the three institutions can benefit from one another.
“THU, China’s top university in the field of science and technology, can help our teachers in the fields of information technology and engineering, while we can help THU with its medicine program,” said Laurito, citing that THU’s deputy director Xia Guangzhi is looking into the University’s excellent medicine program.
One of the top international business schools in Asia, UIBE offers “fast-track” graduate programs geared toward the Asian economies, suitable for the College of Commerce and the UST Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy, whose instructors can complete their masteral programs in two years, UIBE Laurito said.
On the other hand, BCLC teaches foreign students about Chinese culture using the English language. Laurito said the University can use BCLC as model to put up a center on Filipino culture in UST which can help promote appreciation of the country’s heritage.
Helena Cabrera, executive assistant to the vice-rector for academic affairs and a member of the PQA committee, said that China is a strategic location to send UST’s teachers to get master’s or doctorate degrees.
“Instead of sending our teachers to Europe or the United States, we can send them to China,” Cabrera said. “The three institutions there offer quality education at less cost.” I. A. L. de Lara
