Internationalization

HISTORY OF THE SAS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS OFFICE

Cognizant of the dynamic higher education landscape, the creation of an office with the major goal to expand and maintain linkages with global institutions is one of PSU’s strategies in pursuing the vision of modernizing the University.

By virtue of Section 4 of the Republic Act 8292 otherwise known as the Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997, a team of specialists in Institution Development, Research and Development, Academic Programs and Quality Assurance, Extension Programs and Income Generation and Business was commissioned to evaluate the status of the University in terms of its quadric function.

The birth of the International Affairs Office was brought about by the recommendation of the External Program Management Review’s (EPMR) proposal for the institutionalization of the said office for the University to be able to pursue internationalization initiatives. In the year 2013 during the administration of Dr. Victoriano C. Estira, the Pangasinan State University established the International Affairs Office and Dr. Sally A. Jarin was appointed as the first director of the said office.

In 2018, the School of Advanced studies marked its first international engagement with Phranakon Rajabat University through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for academic exchange and collaboration. The partnership opened doors of opportunities for faculty members to be exposed to various ASEAN culture and life-long learnings including international higher education’s best practices as they interact with other races during their immersion sessions done through the benchmarking activity.

Another partnership was sealed with the Namseoul University in South Korea. A faculty member of the Pangasinan State University was sent to the said international university to earn the degree of Masters in International Teaching through a scholarship grant.

The COVID 19 pandemic provided opportunities to strengthen internationalization initiatives of the University. Through the flexible learning mode of teaching, SAS was able to expanded its global reach and increased diversity through the international Visiting Professor/Lecturer program. The professors who lectured came from Nigeria, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Presently, SAS has active and engaging collaborations with Federal University of Agriculture of Nigeria, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti of Borneo Tarakan, Universiti of Calabar of Nigeria and Sriwijaya University of Indonesia.

Internationalization is all the more strengthened under the leadership of the 6th PSU President, Dr. Dexter R. Buted. The international network and linkages of the University keeps growing as the University continued to pursue international collaborations by seeking membership with other educational networks. Subsequently, PSU is a member of the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP), University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP), ASEAN Fisheries Education Network, Asian Agriculture University Network, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMEO) and SEAMEO-INNOTECH. Presently, the International Affairs Office has sisterhood and partnerships with a total of 159 international linkages.

INTERNATIONALIZATION INITIATIVE OF SAS

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Dr. Rosario Valencerina, Executive Director of PSU School of Advanced Studies virtually welcomed the Visiting Professors from its partner ASEAN universities on November 03, 2021 through a simply ceremony. As the university gears to expand its horizon in the education arena, one of the programs that it is undertaking is the Visiting Professor program, to be hosted specifically by the PSU-School of Advanced Studies.

The program is considered to add international flavour to the academic and instructional approaches SAS currently has. With the wealth of knowledge and information to be put forth by the Visiting Professors, the students will surely benefit from this program. Potential research collaborations are also possible as the visiting professors are expected to provide consultation, conduct lectures and workshops, and mentor academic staff and graduate students in the professor’s field of expertise and one of which could be in the field of research.

Among others, SAS is delighted as it could increase students’ awareness and knowledge of national and international issues, provide key role models to students and enhance students’ academic experience, encourage and support possible research and teaching collaborations with PSU-SAS faculty and graduate students and lastly provide opportunities for networking, nurturing collaborations, and developing new partnerships

Dr. Valencerina assured that the Visiting Professors that, SAS will provide all the support system that they will need in order for them to accomplish all that they are tasked to do and commit to make sure that being with SAS will contribute to further enrich their professional and academic practice and experiences and that it will be a life-memory worth keeping.

PSU-SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
LOCAL BENCHMARKING

The School of Advanced Studies welcomed 2 SUCs to have their benchmarking activities. These are the Partido State University of Camarines Sur and Nueva Viscaya State University of Bayombong, Nueva VIscaya last July 26 and August 5, 2022 respectively. The so called “meeting-of-minds” activities paved the way for opportunities of these Institutions to plan out initiatives like collaboration in the areas of academics and research. The Officials of SAS led by Dr. Valencerina, Dr. Dulos and Dr. De Vera shared the best practices along administration, academic operations, research and extension and even accreditation. It was a very productive engagement with these Universities which resulted to future plans of another visit for signing an agreement to start the partnership.

PSU-SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING

A group of PSU-SAS Faculty members had visited Asian Universities for benchmarking activities, namely ”Maejo University and Phranakhon Rajabhat University of Thailand, Namseoul University of South Korea and Malang University of Indonesia. These activities opened the doors for more opportunities to PSU-SAS as it endeavors to establish linkages/partnership with these Universities and somewhere along the way, foster closer and harmonious relationship. The activities had brought initial results by way of signing the Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement which specified mutual understanding along faculty members as invited visiting lecturers, full-time faculty scholars, collaboration along research and academic offerings. Expectedly, with these initiatives, they would bring mutual benefits, thus, recognizing mutually the value of global and international standards.