University of Santo Tomas Deputy Director of the Office of QS/THE Rankings, Engr. Nestor R. Ong, MSIE, PIE, ASEAN Eng, was the resource speaker in the panel discussion on the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings held recently at the Virtual AIM-CHED-GALP Panel Discussion.
The program was attended by the university presidents of the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), higher education officials and officers of the Commission of Higher Education (CHED), and university Board of Regents (BOR) members under the AIM (Asian Institute Management)-CHED-GALP (Global Academic Leadership Program).
UST was a participant in this top-level internationalization program of CHED for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), made possible through former UST Secretary General and Rev. Fr. Jesus M. Miranda, Jr., O.P., Ph.D., who was a participant in the AIM-CHED-GALP.
Citing the fact that UST was ranked in THE Impact Rankings 2021, Ong was invited to share his experiences and insights in the processes that UST has undertaken for THE Impact Rankings. Prior to the presentations, Ong was asked to attend the alignment meeting with the Program Director Prof. Federico M. Macaranas, former Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and former Professor of AIM, together with Program Lead Domain Expert in Education Prof. Ester B. Ogena, Ph.D., Adjunct Faculty of AIM, on January 4, 2022. The said meeting clarified the expectations of the program, important aspects of the presentations and other concerns that benefitted AIM-CHED-GALP participants. Ogena said, “Considering that THE ranking system relates university efforts on delivering programs for impact to their communities, the discussion is an essential component of the program. Moreover, it is noted that PH universities are mandated to report to CHED their contributions to the attainment of the country’s commitments to UNSDGs.”
Ong presented the topic “Going Beyond Local Accreditation” in four cohorts held on different dates. Each cohort had a set of different national participants that included university presidents, CHED officers, and other officials. However, Ong was free to incorporate improvements for the next cohort as needed based on the experience he had from a previous cohort.
In the initial cohort held on January 19, 2022, the AIM-CHED-GALP training program was not affected by the suspension of classes in Metro Manila. Ong’s presentation was followed by reactions from the participants, further discussion on the topic relating to the participants’ individual reports, and Qualtrics Exercise. Fr. Miranda acted as reactor.
Ong was cited ‘Champion’ in the Rankings by CHED International Affairs Staff (IAS) Director Atty. Lily Freida Milla, which was agreed upon by Prof. Ogena, Prof. Macaranas, and Fr. Miranda. Ong’s presentation consisted of three parts. The first part of his presentation was a high-level overview of Rankings. The second part was the presentation and discussion of the high-level status of UST’s Impact Ranking Performances, and the last part of the presentation was about UST’s success story in tackling the challenge of THE Impact Rankings for two consecutive editions 2020 and 2021, as well as a sharing on UST’s best practices based on its experience.
In subsequent cohorts, Ong incorporated some enhancements in his presentation such as integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), video presentation on Service Learning (as shared to him by the Director of Simbahayan, Asst. Prof. Froilan A. Alipao, MCD, Comparability Chart of Quality Assurance, Model for Assessing the Educational Quality Management System (EQMS) of HEIs, and Basic Integrative Conceptual Framework (BICF) of Accreditation.
An established speaker on accreditation, particularly on THE Rankings, Ong has been a much-sought after speaker on the topic. He has been invited to speak in various universities and institutions such as the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) – Cavite, Philippine Normal University (PNU), University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, CHED, Network of CALABARZON Educational Institutions, Inc. (NOCEI), and LPU-Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Davao, Manila and Makati, the latter of which is rated as a QS-Star institution.
The University of Santo Tomas has established itself as an authority on international rankings and ratings and has been known in helping Philippine universities uplift their educational standards to be at par with international standards and be recognized on the global scene as also mandated by CHED.
The University of the Philippines-Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders Philippines (UP-CIFAL Philippines) has invited Ong to be its speaker on the topic “Self-Assessing the impacts as a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the implementation of the SDGs for society and a sustainable future” to be held on July 13, 2022. He was also invited to be a resource speaker in the F2F lecture-workshop on QS Stars Rating Mentoring by the president of the Bukidnon State University that will be held from July 21 to July 22, 2022.
The GALP intends to provide learning opportunities for transformative leadership for the country’s higher education institutions to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The objectives of GALP as per CHED assessment are : 1. Provide essential transformative leadership skills for academic leaders of SUCs to meet the needs of the chaotic 21st Century with competencies in moving towards Smart universities, 2. Translate the new Vision/Mission of CHED into new ideas and project proposals addressing the new/next normal conditions of Philippine education responsive to changing social, economic and governance needs, and 3. Equip with concepts, frameworks, principles and innovative tools to perform mandated leadership functions given the challenges of the 21st Century and the new perspectives of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The lifelong learning principles in GALP are as follows: 1. Promote a learner-centered but collaborative – basic understanding in the applications of new technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution 🡪 Smart universities, and 2. Apply the 4Cs – Critical thinking, Communications, Collaboration, and Creativity.
