The visiting CBSUA and UPLB officials led by Dr. Alberto N. Naperi (front row, right), CBSUA President, and Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr. (front row, left), UPLB Chancellor, welcomed by Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio (front row, center), SEARCA Director, with (last row) Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for Administration, and Ms. Bea L. Martinez, SEARCA Executive Coordinator.
The possibility to cooperate on a faculty development program for Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) was broached during the visit of CBSUA and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) officials to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 26 January 2021.
Dr. Gregorio presents copies of the SEARCA Planner featuring the highlights of the Center’s 11th Five-Year Plan focused on Accelerating Transformation Throught Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN) and the 2021 SEARCA Calendar to Dr. Naperi as tokens during their visit to SEARCA.Located in Camarines Sur, Philippines, CBSUA is mandated to “provide the necessary instructional and research leadership in agricultural, environmental and technological development in the Bicol Region.”
The CBSUA delegation was composed of Dr. Alberto N. Naperi, President; Dr. Ana E. Miraña, Vice President for Academic Affairs; and Ms. Eloisa S. Igno, Acting University Accountant. They visited SEARCA with Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr., UPLB Chancellor; Dr. Rowena DT. Bancoguis, OIC-Dean, and Dr. Aileen V. Lapitan, Assistant to the Dean, both of the UPLB College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf); and Dr. Jomar F. Rabajante, OIC-Dean, UPLB Graduate School. They were received by members of the SEARCA Executive Committee led by Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director.
SEARCA presented its 11th Five-Year Plan focused on Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN), with special emphasis on Education and Collective Learning (ECL) Program as discussed by Dr. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma, Program Head for ECL. Under ECL are SEARCA’s Graduate Scholarship and Institutional Development (GSID) and Training for Development (T4D) initiatives.
Dr. Naperi expressed the challenges of CBSUA in enabling its faculty members to pursue and successfully complete postgraduate degrees even with scholarship support. Dr. Gregorio responded that it is a common predicament among state universities and colleges (SUCs). This was affirmed by Dr. Cuaresma who shared some probable reasons for such difficulty.
She said one solution could be similar to an ongoing SEARCA project with another SUC that has allocated funds for its faculty development through a joint scholarship project managed by SEARCA.
Dr. Alberto N. Naperi (right), CBSUA President, talks about the challenges of CBSUA in enabling its faculty members to successfully complete postgraduate degrees. Looking on are (from left) Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr., UPLB Chancellor, and Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director.
Chancellor Camacho proposed the idea of UPLB offering its off-campus graduate programs to CBSUA faculty as a joint undertaking with CBSUA and SEARCA. Both Dr. Naperi and Dr. Gregorio welcomed the proposal.
Dr. Cuaresma presented other opportunities that SEARCA can offer to members of the SUC-Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines (ACAP), including CBSUA, under the “Levelling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) Project funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippines implemented by SEARCA. The project aims to “build the research and development (R&D) and leadership and management capacities” of SUC-ACAP members.
Moreover, the LevelUPHEI AFAR Project will link SUC-ACAP and its members to international networks, more notably with the SEARCA-established Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC).
Through academic exchanges and collaborations between SUC-ACAP and the UC, Dr. Cuaresma explained that SUC-ACAP members like CBSUA can participate in Summer Schools, Graduate Student Forums, Faculty Forums, and Mobilities for Students (for courses for credit, research/thesis supervision) and Faculty (for research collaboration, governance).