THE UNIVERSITY became the second university in the country to receive the Asean University Network (AUN) quality seal following the visit of AUN Quality Assurance (QA) assessors in 2019.
Former UST rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. himself broke the news during a testimonial luncheon marking the end of his rectorship last Wednesday.
Dagohoy told administrators he received AUN-QA’s decision on Jan. 13, 2020.
Prof. Clarita Carillo, assistant to the rector for planning and quality management, said the five-year institutional certification would further enhance the University’s reputation and standing among higher education institutions in the 10-member Asean bloc.
“To be the 8th institution to have been [certified] facilitates the opening of more doors of opportunities for UST in terms of internationalization, networking, academic and research collaboration, faculty and student exchange, student internship, and many others,” Carillo told the Varsitarian.
UST passed all four key areas assessed by AUN-QA last Oct. 21-25, namely Strategic QA, Systemic QA, Functional QA, and Results.
These categories were further divided into 25 criteria and 111 sub-criteria and assessed based on a 7-point scale. A score of at least 4 out of 7 must be attained to earn the AUN quality stamp.
A self-assessment report and other supporting documents were submitted to the assessors, who came from regional universities such as the National University of Singapore, University of Malaya and Universitas Indonesia.
UST is the first associate member of AUN-QA and the eighth Asean university to gain this institutional certification. In 2017, De La Salle University became the first Philippine university to get the Asean certification.
Carillo led the effort to secure the certification for UST, which she had described as the culmination of “centuries worth” of preparation by administrative and academic units of the University.
“It also heightens our participation in the educational aspect of the Asean integration,” she added.
According to the AUN-QA website, a university must have AUN-QA membership or associate membership and have at least three cohorts of graduates from the same program at the time of application to qualify for assessment.
UST became an associate member in 2016.
Twelve academic programs of the University have been assessed based on an outcomes-based framework, and received the coveted AUN-QA seal in 2017 and 2018.
