ON TRANSITION, VISION, AND MISSION

USA faces AY 2021-2022 with continuity plans

by Shergen Q. Villanueva

Assessing the impact of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (CoVid-19) in the university’s curriculum implementation, the University of San Agustin eyes on abiding with the current continuity plan of the online management system and the flexible learning modalities for the academic year 2021-2022 ensuring an Augustinian quality of education.

Prof. Mary Ann Gumban, assistant to the President for Planning and Development, explained that the shift of the University to continue existing as an academic institution resulted in the benefit of the involved sectors.

“With the adaption of the [NEO Learning Management System] LMS, we were able to cope with the initial impact of COVID-19 where there were no face-toface classes allowed in all levels of our system of education. Aside from that, we also adapted online transactions using the Edusuite. This is really beneficial to most people, especially those who can’t go out, and who are challenged in terms of the border and health restrictions,” said Gumban in an interview with The Augustinian.

Consequently, Gumban added that the University intends to continue with the online system in respect to the resources invested in that regard and to foresee the situation before acting forward.

“We are going to continue using the online mode at least for the first semester and then for the second semester, we are going to transition but we are not going to fully operate the face-to-face. There [will] only [be] a number of days [that] we will assign for the students to come, especially those who are having laboratory classes. But then again, it depends on the success of the vaccination of the country,” she stated.

Furthermore, this continuation aims to make the students and the faculty be attuned in the situation of utilizing the online platform and blended learning.

“For our main concern in the University, we still have to take a look at the total situation and then we will adapt accordingly in order for us to continue. So, we will just abide by what is dictated by the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolutions] or by the national government,” added Gumban.

Moreover, when the pandemic impinged changes in the adjustments of the learning and teaching management systems, the circumstance posed challenges for the students and the teachers.

“As a teacher, it’s really challenging to keep up with the demands of the online and modular learning though the transition was made almost a year ago already. But I believe that everybody’s top priority right now is to be safe and unite to continuously lessen the COVID-19 cases. During this big battle against the harmful virus, I agree with the decision of the university to continue its preventive measures against COVID-19 and its current management of the university, including the online and modular learning and among others. All employees must work safely as students learn safely too,” expressed Angelica Panique, a teacher from the Basic Education Department – Senior High School.

Meanwhile, in laboratory works that emphasize an importance in the personal actuality of the experiments, a student shared her perception on the face-to-face setup of learning as one of the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department learners.

“As a Medical Technology student, I find online learning ineffective in clinical aspects. In our laboratory classes, for instance, we are unable to get hold of actual testing of samples and equipment. Although we do our best to cope with what is available today, I believe that the conduct of face-to-face classes is best for our department, and should be implemented as soon as possible,” shared Rhena Therese Tordecillas, a student from the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department.