29.11.2009
News
The VSU-LAMP Promotions Team composed of DDC faculty and students, and LAMP employees poses with (from right to left) Dr. Rotacio S. Gravoso, Dr. Oscar B. Posas, Dr. Edgardo Tulin, Ms. Marlyn Siapno and Ms. Sylvia Inciong.
To help promote VSU’s degree and non-degree programs on land administration and management, a ‘Workshop on Development of Messages for LAM Degree and Non-Degree Offerings’ was conducted on Nov. 9-10,2009 at the Multimedia Development Center (MMDC).
The workshop aimed to indentify IEC materials and their specific audiences for the promotion of LAM offerings next year here at the Vises State University. The workshop also aimed to identify key messages of selected IEC materials targeted at their intended audiences as well as the preparation of indicative work plan for the production of the IEC materials.
A total 22 participants which primarily included IEC specialists from Bohol, Bukidnon, and Leyte, and chosen VSU faculty and student attended the said activity.
On behalf of VSU President Dr. Jose L. Bacusmo, Dr. Oscar B. Posas, Vice President for Academic Affiars, oriented the participants on VSU as an institution of higher learning and as multi-commodity research center.
Dr. Edgardo A. Tulin, Vice President for Income Planning and Resource Generation and coordinator of the new graduate program on LAM, updated the participants on the LAM degree and non-degree offerings and facilities development here in VSU.
Presentation of resource persons and speakers during the workshop included a brief background of the upcoming LAM offerings in VSU and benefits from these offerings. After the presentations, participants were grouped into small cluster and were made to indentify IEC materials and their specific audiences or the probable enrollees of these offerings, formulate key message, and plan on how will these IEC materials be distributed and disseminated.
After the workshop, participants toured the VSU via the university bus. A dinner and distribution of certificates followed at the VSU Guest House (By Ulderico B. Alviola; VSU Obelisk Vol. 8, no. 43; October 25 to November 29, 2009).
07.08.2009
News
[Source: LAMP-2]
Degree and non-degree courses in land administration and management (LAM), the first in the history of education in the country, will be pilot-tested at the graduate school of the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City in Leyte next school year (2010-2011), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced yesterday.
DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said the pilot testing of the graduate programs in VSU is in preparation for the regular offering of the LAM degree and non-degree courses in other academic institutions to provide scientific knowledge and skills to students and help strengthen land administration and management in the country.
“Through the new education program in land administration, we will be able to address LAM-related problems in the country, which have been identified as a stumbling block in our economic growth,” Atienza said.
Atienza added that the rationalization of the country’s land administration and management is a priority thrust of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the over-all effort to provide for land security to Filipinos particularly those in urban areas who depend largely on land for their livelihood.
Atienza said faculty members of VSU tasked to handle the courses are now undergoing training in Australia to prepare them for the piloting of the program in the coming school year.
According to the DENR Chief, the development of the graduate program on land administration and management was a result of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) forged between the DENR through its Second Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP2) and VSU last March 23.
LAMP2 Executive Director Samuel L. Penafiel and University President Dr. Jose L. Bacusmo, signed the memorandum in behalf of their respective institutions.
The state university developed the LAM curriculum in accordance with the agreement, following a ladderized scheme such that after completion of the first year, a Diploma in Land Administration and Management (DLAM) will be granted leading to either a Master in Land Administration and Management (MLAM) or Master in Science in Land Administration and Management (MSLAM).
VSU will also promote and advocate reforms to strengthen the practice of land administration and management in the Philippines through the conduct of workshop-seminars and symposia, among others; participate in long-term planning and other LAMP2 planning activities; and provide quarterly reports to LAMP2 on progress and implementation issues.
The MOU also provides that LAMP2 will allocate resources for the training of faculty members both here and abroad, programs and course materials for specific subjects, information campaigns and seminars to promote interest in the new curriculum and scholarship program to support the pilot run of the program.
LAMP2 is an inter-agency project jointly being implemented by the DENR, as the lead agency, Department of Justice (DOJ)/Land Registration Authority (LRA) and the Department of Finance (DOF). It seeks to promote land security and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the land administration system. (lmm)
01.08.2009
News
The Land Administration and Management Project Cycle 2 (LAMP2) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has recently allocated 7.9 million pesos to the Visayas State University (VSU) to support the first ever graduate program in Land Administration and Management (LAM) in the country.
In a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) drafted by the LAMP2 management, LAMP2 will shoulder the refurbishment of the two VSU indentified classrooms, LAM Learning Center and office space costing P1.9-million and will provide the LAM Learning Center classroom and office equipment and book worth P6-milion. In return, VSU will implement the ladderized Diploma/Master/MS in Land Administration and Management, as agreed in the first MOU signed on March 23, 2009 between the LAMP-2 Executive Director and the VSU President.
As part of the implementation plan, seven VSU professors who will teach the first seven courses to be offered starting 2010 are scheduled to attend the Continuing Professional Educational/ Development in October this year in Europe with financial support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The team’s board and lodging will be shouldered by the host institutions in the Netherlands and Germany.
The seven professors will meet and work with their mentor-cum-partner professors coming from the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in Enschede, the Netherlands, and the Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) in Munich, Germany.
During the 4-week immersion visit, the new curriculum will be discussed and worked out in detail during the intense participatory sessions. On the basis of these sessions, each teaching material is prepared in such a manner that is directly applicable in class. After that, there is a period where the core team of the consortium is still on-line to assist with the familiarization process of the curriculum and material. Finally, there is a review mission to check on quality, localization, and proper embedding of the new courses.
After the immersion visit, the participants will start developing the course outline and build-up course content together with the partner-professor/mentor. It is expected that in March 2010, the course assigned to each participant shall be ready. The partner-professor/mentor will make a return visit in April to see to it that all courses will be ready for offering starting the first semester of school year 2010-2011 (By Jesus Freddy M. Baldos; VSU Obelisk Vol. 8, No. 30; July 25 to August 1, 2009).
24.01.2009
News
To conceptualize a proposal to offer a graduate course in Land Administration and Management (LAM), key staff of the Land Administration and Management Project Phase II (LAMP-2) and the Visayas State University (VSU) convened on January 15-16, 2009 at the Office of the Vice President for Research and Extension ( OVPRE) Audio Visual Room.
In the joint planning workshop, representatives of the Project Coordinating Office (PCO), Provincial Planning Implementation Office (PPIO) and the members of the VSU-LAMP education committee, drafted the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A curriculum proposal was presented in relation to the development of training and education programs for LAM service in the Philippines.
All the parties agreed to develop ladderized graduate curriculum wherein an intensive summer training on LAM, equivalent to two courses, can be credited for the Diploma in Land Administration and Management (DLAM). The one-year DLAM program, on the other hand, can be upgraded to Master in Land Administration and Management (MLAM) degree after finishing additional research-related courses and elective.
The offering of these ladderized graduate programs is based on a survey conducted in 2003 and was subsequently validated and updated in February 2007. According to the National Training Needs Assessment conducted by LAMP-2, there are almost ten thousand workers in the sector whose competencies in LAM and Real Property Valuation (RPV) need upgrading either through formal academic qualifications or trainings. This survey substantiates the potential demand for new qualifications on LAM and RPV.
In response to this need, one critical strategy applied by LAMP-2 is the development and offering of a package of capacity building, education and professionalization program by an appropriate local educational institution. Thus, three universities were identified by the inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) to implement intensive training and course on LAM and RPV. These include the Open University of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPOU), National College for Public Administration and Governance of the University of the Philippine Diliman (UP-NCPAG) and the Graduate School of VSU.
LAMP-2 is convinced of the expertise of VSU to offer LAM graduate program because of the technical background of some of its faculty and staff in conducting research related to LAM services. Adding to that is the outstanding performance of VSU pioneer graduates in Geodetic and Geomatics Engineering (GGE) during the recent national licensure examination.
LAMP-2 is a five-year inter-agency development project with the goal of reforming the Philippine land administration system to achieve socio-economic development of the people. It is financed through a loan from the World Bank and supported by the Australian Government through a technical assistance package from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).
If the MOU to offer ladderized MLAM gets approved, AusAID will provide technical assistance to VSU by sending international contractors to facilitate the development of supporting courseware and learning materials and intensify faculty development support through international training and seminars. Also, AusAID and the Philippine Government will be allocating additional budget to VSU for basic equipment and upgrade the facilities of the university so as to quality assure the MLAM graduate program to be offered by VSU.
Another joint meeting is set on February 6-7,2009 to finalize the proposal and the MOU (By Ulderico B. Alviola; VSU Obelisk Vol. 8, No. 3; January 18-24, 2009).
20.01.2009
News
As an offshoot of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Visayas State University (VSU) on March 23, 2009 at VSU, another Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the establishment of a Learning Center to support the ladderized graduate program on Land Administration and Management (LAM) to be offered by the University and for equipment procurement and facilities refurbishment has been finalized for signature of both parties– the LAMP2 management and the VSU president.
The facilities and the equipment would be accessible to those who will enroll in the land administration and management graduate program to be implemented by VSU soon.
The program shall be offered in a ladderized scheme wherein an enrollee will be granted a Diploma in Land Administration and Management after he/she successfully completes the first year requirements. After passing all the requirements in the second year with a special project, he/she will be granted the Master in Land Administration and Management (MLAM) or Master of Science in Land Administration and Management (MSLAM) after passing all requirements in the second year with thesis.
In an email sent by Ms. Marlyn S. Siapno, LAMP2 Education and Training Adviser, to Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin, Dean of Graduate School and coordinator of this special program, the funds for the implementation of the program will be downloaded in trances to VSU based on the Work and Financial Plan (WFP) developed by VSU and LAMP2.
The MOA stipulates, among others, that VSU shall ensure the delivery of the activities and expected outputs based on the WFP; and identify appropriate space/room in the VSU premises that shall house the classroom, laboratory room, office area, faculty area, and mini-library.
The project included faculty development in which seven VSU faculty members are being considered to join the 4-week immersion visit to Enschede in the Netherlands and Munich in Germany sometime in October 2009 (By Jesus Freddy M. Baldos; VSU Obelisk Vol. 8, No. June 14-20, 2009).
