Pres. Tulin explains how VSU embodies what a ‘Good University’ should be

Visayas State University President Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin joined “The Good University” webinar as part of the distinguished panel of reactors in the virtual lecture hosted by the Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines (CCARPH) held on February 4, 2022.

CCARPH, a collaborative transdisciplinary action research project mainly founded by Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) and the Manila Observatory, aims to understand the dynamic adversities brought about by climate and disaster risk through research.

The hour-and-a-half zoom session was spearheaded by AdMU professor, Dr. Emma E Porio, CCARPH Project Leader and Principal Investigator, and Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, the Dean of AdMU School of Social Sciences along with Ms. Antonia Y. Loyzaga, the President of the National Resilience Council (NRC).

As part of their many and diverse research initiatives, CCARPH has recognized the implications of the current global climate crisis that revealed the underlying vulnerabilities and deficiencies in the country’s university systems, which is a national issue that has been overlooked for the past years.

Keynoting this special lecture was a multi-awarded researcher and Professor Emeritus of the University of Sydney, Dr. Raewyn Connell, who is also a life member of the National Tertiary Education Union, and an author of the book ‘The Good University’.

In her groundbreaking work, Dr. Connell outlined practical approaches to building an engaging and productive university that moves away from the traditional corporate-style management and cost-cutting strategies that is commonly observed in most universities worldwide including in the Philippines.

She also discussed her vision in the intricacy of labor behind a university and how the sustainability of workforce is essential, which she hopes the Philippine Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should reflect and build upon its fundamental principles.

“Becoming a good university, the central part of that thinking, what we must do above all in order to develop practical models for the future is re-examine the work, the labor that universities do in the world, the work we do for the society, the work we do for students and the work we do for knowledge itself,” Dr. Conell explained.

Subscribing to Dr. Connell’s theory-centered discussion of what embodies a good university and why the need to adopt this important ideal, VSU President Edgardo E. Tulin contextualized how VSU has been practicing ‘The Good University’ framework by responding to the previous challenges encountered by the university for the past years.

“Our research and extension team of VSU has been assisting our communities in rehabilitating agricultural areas badly affected by Typhoon Odette. We deployed our extension workers for distribution of planting materials, seed pieces, other commodities and agricultural products as an immediate response to the needs of the affected communities. We accomplished this despite the fact that our university was also greatly devastated by the typhoon while we were also reeling in the many challenges brought by the pandemic. VSU never stopped our efforts to be true to our mission of empowering our communities,” the VSU President revealed.

Dr. Tulin also continued by explaining how VSU generated technologies like the rainforestation farming including the forest landscape rehabilitation project in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have been adopted not just in the Philippines but in other parts of the world as part of the global drive to use nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change.

Even with the ongoing crisis on climate change, social inequality, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global food insecurity, Dr. Tulin emphasized that VSU has always anchored its mission of being socially relevant by addressing the many current global challenges through the effective use of science and technology in effecting sustainable changes and making local communities better in terms of resiliency.

“VSU may still go a long way in terms of applying the globally-accepted standards or metrics of what constitutes a ‘Good University’ as defined in this distinguished lecture, but I also believe that what we have been doing for many years has always been reflective of our collective attempt to be a ‘Good University’ and become socially relevant to the communities that we are trying to serve and empower.” Dr. Tulin concluded.

Joining the VSU President in the panel of reactors were: Dr. Maria Cynthia Rose B. Bautista, the Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines (UP) system; Dr. Fabian Dayrit, a Professor of Chemistry and a part of the ADMU Board of Trustees, and also an Academician at the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST); Fr. Robert E.N. Rivera, SJ, the President of Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU); and Dr. Clement C. Camposano, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV).

Hosted by VSU’s partner university ADMU, this distinguished lecture is part of the CCARPH collaboration signed between VSU and Ateneo which was made official in July last year.

You can replay the entire webinar in CCARPH’s official YouTube channel available on this link.

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