UV grads given hand in curriculum revision

CEBU, Philippines - Through a Graduate Tracker Survey, the University of the Visayas College of Arts and Sciences gives its graduates a hand on the improvement of program curricula to meet specific educational needs of its students and make them fit either for employment, both domestic and overseas, or for entrepreneurial undertakings once they complete their studies.

Dr. Julia Navarro, dean of the CAS (formerly College of the Liberal Arts), welcomed nearly a hundred alumni of the said college to a homecoming at the social hall of the University’s Hotel and Restaurant Management Department to discuss the participation of graduates in the revision of curricula for course offerings like Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism and also the incorporation of Education subjects in its Mass Communications discipline, which is a new offering aside from Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

Navarro pointed out in a video presentation during the consultative forum that the tracker survey is designed to help meet the specific needs of the graduates in terms of finding jobs immediately after graduation or encouraging entrepreneurship; and to match their skills to that needed by a particular industry like critical thinking and communication skills.  

Spanish, for example, was revived to provide students the chance to master a second foreign language, next to English, so they become fit to work in the thriving business process outsourcing industry here. On the other hand, the Foundations in Teaching is already included as a subject in MassComm to encourage students to teach as soon as they graduate.

“We have to harness our students’ potentials to be able to meet that big demand for teachers. We have to prepare them to meet that big need,” Navarro said.

Through the GTS questionnaire, the alumni were also consulted on how to further improve the educational system adopted by the college based on the challenges and experiences the graduates have encountered in the real work environment.

Further, the alumni were given a hand on which subjects they think the college should phase out in favor of another subject they deemed most appropriate and or relative to the course being taken up by the students.

The gathering last July 24, also saw the election of lawyer Meneleo Pascual as new president of the CAS Alumni Association.

All UV graduates are advised to visit the Alumni Association Office at the main campus for updates on the planned grand homecoming this coming January. — Maria Eleanor E. Valeros/WAB (THE FREEMAN)