NVSU Delegates showcase international collaborations and best practices at SEARCA's Culminating Forum for the LevelUPHEI AFAR

Delegates from the Nueva Vizcaya State University participate in the Culminating Forum of the Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project of SEARCA funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) from 15-16 November 2023.

Represented by Dr. Melvin Allama from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Mr. Ventura Chinaman and Ms. Daisybelle Banido, both from the College of Agriculture, they are three of the eight grantees from NVSU who conducted their mobilities at Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia. This forum paves the way for the project alums to share their experiences through their participation in the activities co-organized by SEARCA with University Consortium host member universities such as KU and UGM. It serves as a platform to discuss the status of internationalization among Philippine higher education institutions and highlight the best practices of international collaborations and the importance of learnings imparted to the grantees and cascaded down to their respective institutions.

According to Dr. Allama, “Participating in these international collaborations strengthens partnerships with other institutions even abroad, and opportunities such as this enhance both my knowledge and skills on the trends of technologies and practices in our line of expertise.”

Overall, 30 participants out of 258 grantees from various State Universities and Colleges - Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines (SUC-ACAP) are in attendance at the said forum.

“Truly, this SEARCA initiative leveled up and is continually leveling up HEIs in the country. Mobility programs such as this should be replicated,” Chinaman stated.