Much has been said about 21st century challenges in higher education: how universities need to constantly find ways to remain relevant in the face of, and responsive to the demands posed by, national and international shifts in socio-political and economic arrangements, people’s changing values and lifestyles, and fast-paced technological developments.
Like any other university, UP is responding to the challenges head-on. Upholding its mandate of academic excellence, UP has extended and intensified initiatives to, among others, strengthen its curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching and learning support programs. These initiatives emanate from different institutional levels – i.e., the UP System, constituent units (CUs), and individual colleges/units and programs. Some of these initiatives are disseminated and deliberated on in established platforms within a CU. In UP Diliman, these platforms include the meetings of the University Council and the UP Diliman Executive Committee (ExeComm), as well as regular events such as the CU-wide GE Conference and college-level fora. Other initiatives are discussed on an ad-hoc basis in smaller venues, while others are as yet under the radar of public discourse.
Paying particular attention to the latter two cases, UP Diliman’s Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) has organized the BALANGKAS Symposium Series to facilitate discussions on initiatives that have important implications for UP’s academic programs. Started in August 2015 with the Symposium on the Number of GE Units (SONU), the symposium series is an open-format town hall forum complementary to the more formal meetings of the UP Diliman ExeComm, the UC and its committees, and similar bodies.
Objectives
The symposium series is envisioned to:
1. Update the UP Diliman community on recent initiatives towards establishing, strengthening, or reviewing
UPD’s programs related to teaching, curriculum, and education technology;
2. Elicit discussions from the UP Diliman community on how these initiatives may contribute to the advancement
of the University’s academic programs; and
3. Assist the UP Diliman administration in identifying the appropriate strategies/approaches for strengthening
UP’s academic programs.
Events
Since August 25, eleven (11) Balangkas events have been held under the auspices of different OVCAA offices. The events are as follows:
Balangkas: Symposium on Guiding Student
Admission, Progress and Graduation
15 September 2016
Institute of Biology Auditorium
Memo invitation
Presentation
Balangkas: Symposium on Interactive Learning
and Innovative Teaching: Modernizing Pedagogy
through Edtech and Blended Learning
20 June 2016
National Engineering Center AVR
Memo invitation
Balangkas: Symposium on Tatak UP NSTP:
Creating Spaces for Synergy in Partnerships
Towards Dynamic Public Service
20 May 2016
UP CMC Auditorium
Memo invitation
Balangkas: Symposium on Intensifying
International Engagement
25 April 2016
College of Engineering Theater
Memo invitation
Balangkas: Symposium on Public Access
to Theses and Dissertations
4 April 2016
National Engineering Center AVR
Memo invitation
Balangkas: Symposium on Straight PhD
Programs and Diploma Programs
14 March 2016
National Engineering Center AVR
Memo invitation
Balangkas: Symposium on Best Practices
in Academic Field Activities
22 February 2016
National Engineering Center AVR
Memo invitation
Symposium materials
Balangkas: Roundtable Discussion on Academic
Program Review and Visioning Drive
15 February 2016
C.M. Recto Hall, Faculty Center
Memo invitation
Presentations
Balangkas: Symposium on Potential New
GE Courses
21 January 2016
National Institute of Physics Auditorium
National Science Complex, UP Diliman
Memo invitation
Course syllabi
Balangkas: Symposium on the SET as an
Evaluation Tool
1 December 2015
National Engineering Center AVR
Memo invitation
Balangkas: GE Pre-Conference Symposium on
Number of GE Units
24 August 2015
College of Engineering Theatre
Memo invitation