MPSPC president: Research for community use

HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon

BONTOC, Mountain Province - Newly installed Mountain Province State Polytechnique College (MPSPC) President Rexton Chakas sees the need to translate research findings into usable instruments and tools for the community to make use of.

This as MPSPC is beating the deadline on requirements on the school becoming a university 15 months from now to Jan. 1, 2016 by virtue of Republic Act 10583.

In an interview, Chakas who also heads the Universityhood task force said the school’s research findings and recommendations landed on shelves and should not be the case further pointing out that there is a need to align research and extension with the mandate of the school.

MPSPC in its vision to become a vibrant and dynamic Philippine educational center is mandated to provide higher professional, technical and special instructions for special purposes and promote research and extension services, advanced studies, progressive leadership and relevant and accessible education that will contribute to a well-rounded community development.

Alongside with research  is the need to do  relevant linkages and outreach programs that are of service to the community.

The school in its goals intends to produce locally and globally competitive graduates, conduct needs-based researches, implement research-based extension practical to the community, and advocate sound resource management and systematic delivery of support services.

Republic Act 10583 or an Act converting MPSPC into a State  University  to be known as Mountain Province State University  with a general mandate “to primarily provide advanced education, higher technological, professional instruction and training in forestry and agriculture , teacher education, engineering and technology, arts, humanities, sciences and other relevant fields of study. It shall also promote and undertake research, extension services and production activities in support of the socio economic development of Mountain Province and provide progressive leadership in its areas of specialization.”

Research being a major requirement on the road to making the school a university has let the school package its research and development programs into EHELPING themes.

EHELPING  stands for Education, Health, Environment, Livelihood, Peace, Information, Nursery establishment, and Governance to include gender and employment where projects and studies focus on these subjects. Specially, educational projects and studies include curriculum revisions and instructional material development and enhancement. Extension projects are outputs of research designed to reach the community aligned with the same EHELPING directions.

Research takes 5percent of the total budget of the school.“The problem here is not on how many researches the school is doing but duplication of  what other agencies  are doing”, Chakas said. The newly installed fourth president of MPSPC last July 25 this yearhas been with the college for  21 years  having served as college secretary,  dean of the graduate school from 2006 to 2010 and director of the management information system from 2011 to 2013.

“Teaching music for example needs a training needs analysis on what skills music teachers need tolearn to teach music,” he added, and not on the basis of directly imparting music lessons.

The college shall only become a university upon the determination and declaration of a panel of experts that the institution has complied with the requirements for a university status.

Apart from  research and extension  requirements, the school is required to reach Level 3
accreditation or equivalent under Commission on Higher Education (CHED) policies for at least four of its undergraduate programs , one in liberal arts and one in the sciences and two of its graduate programs.

Chakas said the school has reached level 3 on its teacher education program needing three more in liberal arts, and two in graduate school. The graduate school on its masters in education (MAEd) and masters in public administration (MPA) reached Level 1 and Criminology department on its way to level 2.

Requirements in educational qualification of faculty show that the school have many in the doctoral level but are vertically inarticulate.“For one, the head of the newly established Liberal Arts department need one with masters in political science but no one has a degree on this”, he said. Many have varying masters with different undergraduate course. One with an engineering undergraduate course has a masters in public administration and a doctorate on rural development, he added.

Does this have an effect on the transfer of knowledge?“Surely as one does not have an expertise, although the degree on the transfer of knowledge needs to be studied”, he added.

Another challenge is the changing of curriculum to be at par with other ASEAN (Asian Southeast Asian Nations) in the regional trends for ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.  ASEAN is a region of significant economic and strategic importance located in strategic trading routes between Europe and Asia and the Pacific. ASEAN is composed of 10 countries- Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Lao, Myanmar and Cambodia.

In said interview Chakas said the school is waiting for the quality assurance office of CHED  to visit the school and be updated on the current status of the school as per requirements.

Adequate library and laboratories and relevant academic policies and systems remain a top need.  Too, with an equally competent non–teaching staff..