CHED approves 12M funding for TAU’s educational innovation project

Committed to advance the position of the University to bring about novel transformative solutions to be at par with the more advanced higher education institutions (HEIs), TAU put forward and was able to gain the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) National Vetting Panel’s approval for the “Smart University Platform for TAU” proposal under the Kto12 Institutional Development and Innovation Grant (IDIG) – Internationalization Category.

With this project, TAU will be granted with the amount of twelve million pesos (12M) as funding assistance for the implementation of the development stage (Phase I) of the said program proposal.

The SMART UP for TAU Project is expected to pave way for (1) establishment of pedagogical platform (i.e. online learning, learning management system); (2) development of infrastructures and laboratories; (3) instructional material development; (3) capacity building; (4) internationalization; (5) partnership development; and (6) mobility programs.

The proposal is an educational innovation which seeks to advance the position of the institution to instigate novel transformative solutions to be at par with the more advanced HEIs. This will give the University a competitive edge and a distinct brand in upscaling its services to enable a productive environment that would result to enhanced learning outcomes and technology integration in various aspects of operations.

This innovative solution for education is an offshoot of the ‘smart city/nation’ concept which was the focus of this year’s ASEAN Leaders Programme. The application of this concept in the education sector, particularly at TAU, will help improve the mechanism for the delivery of instruction thereby resulting to a remarkable advancement of educational outcomes.

The proposal is a re-entry plan of Dr. Christine N. Ferrer, Director for External Linkages and International Affairs, whose participation in the ASEAN Leaders Program 2016 held in Singapore (Phase I) and New York (Phase II), was also co-sponsored by CHED under its Professional Advancement Grant.

The Smart University Platform Development Stage (Phase I) would leverage internationalization of higher education through the establishment of a pedagogical platform (Learning Management System) and online learning/distance education, instructional materials development, capability building, mobility and exchange programs, fellowships, linkage development, international academic partnership missions and institutional memberships.