Following a four-day external audit by TUV-SUD Philippines, Inc., the University of Santo Tomas secured a favorable recommendation to be granted the ISO 21001:2018 certification, which focuses on the Educational Organization Management Systems. UST, having been certified under the ISO 9001:2008 and 2015 standards on Quality Management Systems made the full transition to EOMS as a signal of continued commitment to quality delivery of educational services. The new ISO 21001:2018 standard is explicit and heavy on learners’ expectations and needs as stakeholders and likewise provides clauses on sustainability, data privacy, and special needs education.
The four-day external audit involved interviews with top University officials as well as visits, interviews, audits, and class observations in the various academic and administrative units. The external auditors included Mr. Len Marc Tagud (Lead Auditor), Mr. Jofre Velasco, and Mr. Jaypee Bathan.
In an interview with the Communications Bureau, Assistant to the Rector for Planning and Quality Management Clarita D. Carillo, PhD cited that even under the 9001 standard, UST had already been “interpreting the ISO 9001:2015 Standard from the perspective of an educational institution.” She also cited how UST has been using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Quality Assurance framework for processes and systems, which have received recognition from external quality assurance agencies such as the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation.
As a testament to continued improvements in the University’s processes and systems, for the last seven years, there have been no findings of nonconformities, indicating a maturity in implementing QA mechanisms. In the interview, Carillo cited the continued support and cooperation of the top management and all academic and administrative units as important factors for the success of quality assurance initiatives, which the Office of Planning and Quality Management promotes.
The move to transition from the ISO 9001:2015 standard began in August 2024 with the Internal Quality Auditors’ training, followed by the awareness training for administrators. The internal audits from September to November 2024 provided basis for the needed gap analysis, and the verification audit was completed in early 2025. UST then underwent the first stage of the EOMS Stage 1 Audit for the ISO 21001:2018 standard on April 11, 2025, which set the stage for the four-day external audit (Stage 2) from September 1-4, 2025.