A template for our universities

The challenge was tricky: How to make a second-rate U-Belt university level up and become one of the country’s best schools?

I first met Fr. Gregg Bañaga, president of Adamson University, on a rainy morning more than two months ago. I sat in one of their meetings in Alabang, and arrived late because of the storm that suddenly came from nowhere, making SLEX slippery to navigate.

When I arrived at what I thought would be a boring meeting on how God could make our schools better, Fr. Bañaga was talking about jazz. Yes, jazz, and how similar are its riffs and its spontaneity running a university.

Listen. “I have always imagined the job of the University President as akin to that of an orchestra conductor. The conductor of an orchestra may not know how to play the piano, or the violin, or the guitar, or the clarinet. But he has an ear for music that allows him to blend the melodies, arrange the notes, calibrate the subtle crescendos and fortissimos, and harmonize all the different instruments of the orchestra.

“In a way, running a university is pretty much like directing an orchestra. As the university president, I may not be conversant with the principles of engineering, accounting, nursing, information technology (IT), or the law, but I know the language of management and organizational development. Whereas the orchestra provides the ‘musical vision’ and the direction as to where we want to take the school . . . And it is the job of the president to convince and cajole, motivate and inspire, encourage and criticize even, so as to bring out the best performance  from each member of our community.”

Schooled in Philosophy at Adamson and in Theology at the University of Santo Tomas, Fr. Gregg later took a second MA, this time in Organizational Development at Loyola University in Chicago, and finished a Ph.D. in Organizational Development at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He came to the job well-prepared.

In 2002, a concept paper entitled “Reinventing Adamson” guided Adamson University in its quest to gain autonomous status and IQuAME accreditation from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The concept paper said that “20 percent of Adamson’s resources shall be devoted for accreditation purposes.”

Fr. Bañaga decided to breathe life into a dream. He applied the lessons he learned from his management school, such as the “Appreciative Inquiry” approach, in his work to turn the university around. “Appreciative Inquiry” is a new school of thought in Organizational Management that says that the most effective way to improve an organization is to focus more on the positive and life-giving forces at work, rather than emphasize weaknesses and problems.

Hours were spent interviewing faculty members and staff, students and even residents nearby to find out the strong points of university. The consensus: there is solidarity and loyalty to Adamson University. This “institutional pride” or “school spirit” was the main factor that Fr. Bañaga used to re-engineer the university.

On June 9, 2010, CHED granted autonomous status to Adamson University for three years. The university passed all the criteria, with much room to spare. It got a perfect score of 4 in two areas: Relations with the Community and Management of Resources. The CHED Assessment Team also gave Adamson University a score of 3 in the three remaining key areas: Quality of Teaching and Research, Support for Students, and Governance and Management.

In 2011, the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Survey listed Adamson University as one of the 15 best universities in the Philippines and among the top 200+ in Asia. In the 2015 Jobs and Salary Report by Jobstreet.com, Adamson University placed eighth among the top 10 favorite schools by employers when hiring fresh graduates.

Fr. Bañaga’s administration also raised the bar in the quality of education. The metrics of the students’ performance in the examinations given by the Professional Regulations Commission bear this out. The average passing rate of its graduates has always been above the national average. There were even years when they registered a 100-percent passing rate: Mining Engineering in 2004, Mining Engineering likewise in 2012 and in 2013, as well as Nursing in 2015.

The university has also fostered a culture of research among its faculty. It has set up Transnational and Distance Education program for working students and executives who can earn a master’s degree in 18 months, or a doctorate in 30 months.

Culture and the arts are the repositories of the Filipino soul. Adamson University gave a physical home to arts and culture with the inauguration of the renovated Adamson University Theater on July 15, 2005. This was formerly known as the St. Theresa Auditorium of the former St. Theresa’s College Manila.

Homegrown talents also showcased the fruits of their work with Ave Maria by Jessica David, which won as the Best Short Film-Student Category in the Catholic Mass Media Awards (2008). A harvest of cultural offerings have been seen on the stage ever since.

How to keep the past alive? Through museums and archives. This, Adamson University did, through the University Archives in the SV building. Formerly part of the Library Services Department, the Archives, together with the Museum, became part of the President’s Office in 2003.

Indeed, the falcon has begun to soar. One of the university’s greatest achievements is its ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Certificate System from TUV Rhineland, which Adamson University received on January 18, 2013. This certificate simply means that the university’s management system is at par with international standards.

The university’s service to the Church in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific is done through the St. Vincent School of Theology (SVST), the university’s theological institute located in Tandang Sora, Q.C.

There is a world outside of San Marcelino, and the university is only too keenly aware of this. CHED gave Adamson a perfect score of 4 for community service. What used to be lack of energy and support for this area has changed over the years. The Integrated Community Extension Service was established for graduating students who want to immerse themselves in the lives of the poor, the better for them to understand the country’s socio-economic problems.

The biggest achievement of ICES was the creation of the Vincentian Center for Social Responsibility, or the VCSR. It coordinates the outreach programs of the university. ICES has already implemented programs like Feeding Day, Day Care, Education Scholarship, Piso Mula sa Puso, English Proficiency, and medical-dental missions. These outreach programs were done in Cabuyao, Laguna, or in Towerville, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

For a university should school not just its students, but prepare them for the storm and stress of living in a developing country, whose destiny ultimately lies in their hands.