The University recently conducted the 2010 Management Planning Workshop at the San Miguel Corporation Training Center in Alfonso, Cavite on July 29-31. The workshop aimed to flesh out plans to develop growth areas of the University that had been identified earlier and to accomplish targets until October 2011.

The activity was attended by the Chancellor, vice chancellors, deans and directors, and heads of selected units such as the Legal Office and the Information Technology Center, as well as the chairs of growth area working groups.

On the first day of the workshop, Atty. Damcelle Torres-Cortes, assistant to the chancellor, presented the University's priority programs. These are: 1) securing the status of a research university (Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Bayan Program); 2) preparing students for leadership responsibilities (Iskolar para sa Bayanihan Program); and 3) raising the quality of UPLB education and public discourse (Usaping Bayan para sa Bayan).

Prof. Alleli Domingo, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and associate professor at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics, gave the plenary talk "Education Paradigm Shift: From Information Sharing to Information Processing." She discussed various issues in education such as the need for 21st century skills, the instruction with the learning paradigm, the role educators play in raising servant leaders, and alternative approaches to learning.

Three workshop groups were then formed to discuss priority programs vis-à-vis the proposed paradigm shift. Group 1 discussed the ways on how to prepare students for leadership responsibilities. The group formulated steps in promoting collective/cohesive leadership and in challenging students to develop solutions to real life problems. One such approach is incorporating action research in curricular programs.

The second group discussed steps on strengthening UPLB's status as a research university. The group addressed the following concerns: developing a UPLB Quick Technology Response Unit/Project to address local/local government unit (LGU)-based needs; strengthening the Graduate Mentoring and Assistantship Program; and strengthening university-industry/LGU relations/linkages.

The last group focused on how to raise the quality of education and public discourse among the university constituents. The group tackled the RGEP and education paradigm shift and the UPLB Brown Bag Project (Usaping Bayan para sa Bayan). The group further discussed ways on how to fulfil said priority area by establishing a University café that will be a venue for better faculty-staff interaction; promoting inter-college and inter-campus fora; and developing and promoting multi-level discourse among students, faculty, and staff on key issues of the day.

On the second day of the workshop, Dr. Ma. Victoria Espaldon, dean of the School of Environmental Science and Management, presented the revised UPLB instruction, research, development, and extension framework. The framework, which is a product of last year's workshop, listed UPLB's niches and growth areas.

The working groups' outputs and proposed action plans were presented. The presentations on the growth areas include climate change, integrated natural resources management, biotechnology, information and communication technology, food and nutrition security and safety, energy systems, engineering, basic sciences, culture and the arts, education and human development, development and governance, applied economics, agribusiness, and entrepreneurship. The accomplishments and future directions of common university centers on RDE, policy, business, MIS-IT, learning, and staff development and scholarship were also presented.

Quality management system, infrastructure and landscaping projects, and community affairs programs were also reported in the workshop. CAS Dean Asuncion Raymundo, on behalf of the college deans, reported the use and impact of college internet-based forum in the University.

On the last day of the workshop, Dr. Leonora Fajutagana, chair of the culture and arts working group and an assistant professor at the Department of Humanities, gave the workshop synthesis. (EBV Bernardo)