VSU partners with UPLB for student internship in all degree programs

To elevate the internship experience of our #ProudViscans, VSU and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) sealed a partnership to allow Viscans to conduct their internship in any desired offices, units, or research centers from UPLB.

The two institutions officially signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on April 30, 2024, through VSU President Prose Ivy G. Yepes and UPLB Chancellor Dr. Jose V. Camacho to formalize the student internship program.

Originally, according to Assistant Professor Ris Menoel R. Modina from the VSU Department of Biological Sciences (DBS), he looked for and coordinated with possible host training institutions (HTIs) for their student interns as he is the internship coordinator for the Biology program.

“In 2022, one of the HTIs I coordinated with was the UPLB Museum of Natural History (UPLB MNH), but unfortunately, they did not have slots for interns then. Last year, I started working on the MOA, and the extension coordinator, Sir Florante A. Cruz, referred me to the UPLB Office for Institutional Development in Higher Education (OIDHE),” Asst. Prof. Modina recalled.

However, the exploratory meeting to discuss the needed process and documents was not pushed through because of conflicting schedules between the two parties.

“In January of this year, I followed up on the exploratory meeting and was told that the UPLB Center for Agri-Fisheries and Biosystems Mechanization is currently communicating with the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (DABE) about a general MOU between UPLB and VSU,” he shared.

Asst. Prof. Modina took the opportunity to process their MOA first while the Memorandum of Understanding was being processed. 

In February 2024, Asst. Prof. Modina together with faculty from DABE and OIDHE staff went with an online exploratory meeting and scheduled the ceremonial MOU and MOA between the two universities.

The good news is, the partnership is not only limited to their department as they changed it to make way for the whole VSU system.

“As to the MOA, instead of crafting a MOA just specific for our department and UPLB MNH, the crafted MOA was for the whole VSU and UPLB system. This means that any department from our school can now contact desired departments, research centers and laboratories, and units from UPLB and establish an internship,” Asst. Prof. Modina revealed.

#ProudViscans who wish to do their internship at UPLB shall get an endorsement letter from their department head or college dean specifying their names and contact the institution.

According to Asst. Prof. Modina, with this opportunity, surely #ProudViscans will have the best experience that is different from the academic setting with one of the leading universities in the country.

“Internship is not just any other subject. It’s where students practice and apply what they’ve learned. It’s also a venue to enhance their skills and knowledge since internship tends to focus on what the students choose as a specialization (e.g. systematics , parasitology, microbiology, etc). Having said that, it’s important to give students the best options as to where they are to be deployed, and UPLB is one of the best partner institutions, if not the best, for our student internship. That’s the reason we did our part to forge this partnership with one of the leading universities in the Philippines,” he concluded.

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