Graduate School of Management

Joining the Aldersgate College School of Business and Accountancy’s faculty was a great pleasure.  As a CPA and a former dean of Accountancy of SMU, I consider helping produce fellow CPAs as a small contribution to God’s creation.  However, I am more at home with my designation as Dean of the Graduate School of Management (GSM) starting mid of August 2010.  As the former Dean and Graduate Programs Head of the SMU School of Public Administration and Governance for almost ten years and as faculty member of the Graduate Program of the School of business, for over 25 years, I am looking forward to be of service to graduate students taking up Master in Public Administration (MPA) and Master in Business Administration (MBA).  In AC, GSM students could graduate with two masteral programs-MPA and MBA.   I am very glad to hear about that and I am excited to motivate enrollees because I myself am an MPA-MBA graduate.

It is a pleasure and at the same time a challenge to be a part of the graduate education in AC. I would be happy to spearhead the realization of the GSM mission to train graduate students to become academically excellent, socially relevant and spiritually nurtured professionals and world-class citizens.  These goals, I believe can be achieved through the following:

1. To enable GSM students to achieve academic excellence, I am in favor of, and shall fully support the development of modularized  instructional manuals which shall be distributed in digital formats to facilitate individual and group learning on stand-alone and network computer communication systems. E-learning is now the “in” thing in this cyber age;;the GSM faculty and students should join the bandwagon or else, they would be left out.  As a dean with academic background and experience in education, business and public administration, I shall make experience and expertise sharing among faculty and students a strategy to make learning more interactive and functional..I shall lead in training GSM students to become globally competitive and world-class citizens, public servants and entrepreneurs ‘by motivating them to develop critical and analytical communication, specialized and integrated management skills.  In addition to the regular classroom interaction, teachers and learners shall be required to set-up e-groups, class discussion boards, communicating class schedules & activities, submitting and returning tests and research papers trough online mode.  Students are required to register and activate their e-mails and cell phones and utilize these in regular communication with the faculty.  They are also enjoined to have seminars and educational tours abroad and locally.
2. To let GSM MPA-MBA students practice social relevance as an integral aspect of their professionalization, they are encouraged to conduct outreach and extension programs.  The outreach and extension program is not intended to teach the poor become beggars who are always expecting that somebody will be providing their needs.  They must be empowered to become self-reliant and self-sufficient by maximizing the utilization of their God-given talents and acquired skills.  It is anchored on the Chinese proverb which states that “Given man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach man how to fish and you feed him for  a lifetime.”For banks, cooperatives and sole proprietors/partners, and the MBA-MPA faculty and students can actualize what they learn by conducting seminars and training on Good Governance and Risk Management, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Financial Management, Risk-based Internal and External Auditing, Internal Control and Compliance, and Simplified Accounting. The philosophy is “maximize profit and minimize cost” and the principle is “profit is a necessity for business’ sustainability, but they should always remember their social responsibility to the people in the community where their business operates.For  national government agencies, local government units, foundations, non-government organizations and people’s organizations, MPA-MBA faculty and students can conduct seminars and trainings on Public Good Governance, Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, Revenue and Expenditure Management, Government Budgeting, New Government Accounting System (NGAS) and Electronic NGAs (E-NGAs), and Government Auditing. The philosophy that public servants should learn very well is “service above self”“ and their philosophy should be  “incur costs or expenses only if the benefits exceeds costs.”  Above all, they must not forget that “Public office is a public trust.”MPA-MBA students are also encouraged to show care and protection to Mother Earth and the Environment through tree planting and site clearing. They are also motivated to share their blessings with the less fortunate members of the community through  giving gifts and donations, and medical mission during Christmas and other occasions.  The GSM students, must, however, emphasize to the clientele that they should abide with this philosophy: “It’s not their fault that they are born poor but if they die poor, they must be answerable to God.”
3. To enable the graduate students a chance to gain spiritual nurture, they are encouraged to attend mass in their respective church, join religious organizations and render spiritual service. They must live in accordance with the Bible and the teachings of Christ.  They must be model of  good values and virtues. They should believe and use the power of prayer.  But most of all, they must realize that God help those who help themselves.  And if they love and extend help to their fellowmen, then they show their love for God. In AC, GSM students are made to understand that “what they are now is God’s gift to them; what they become is their gift to God and what they do is their gift to their fellowmen..”As initial actions, the following activities were planned to be undertaken from September 2010 to March 2011:
   1. Increase enrollment in the GSM,   The team composed of Dr. Beth Pascual, CIE Dir. Jonathan Palitayan and Dr. Pol Valdez campaigned for enrollees, visited the LGU of Villaverde, Quezon and Solano and the Philippine National Police Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Head Quarters to encourage enrollees to the MPA and MBA programs.  A list of municipal officials was downloaded as basis for planning marketing strategies to increase enrollment for the third trimester. For next school year, career campaign and enrolment marketing shall cover all the municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya.
   2. Conduct outreach extension programs.  The LGU of Quezon was considered as the adopted town of Aldersgate College. The mayor of Quezon signified his approval and all-out support for the program.  Hopefully LGU of Solano shall be the next to avail of our extension services.
      1. Help put up a cooperative.  The Executive Secretary of Quezon identified the need for establishing a multi-purpose cooperative in said town that shall serve as a little bank for the poor but persevering people.  (Note: AC shall conduct a pre-survey for the perceived need and pre-membership training shall be given to prospective member-founders of the coop.)
      2. Conduct training-seminar on entrepreneurship and how to put  up and manage  income generating projects.  After putting the cooperative, beneficiaries/participants, preferably existing micropreneurs engaged in income generating projects  shall be identified to attend series of seminars on entrepreneurship, financial management, product processing, marketing, etc.)
      3. Conduct Training to LGU officials particularly on Good Governance, Relations Management, Productivity Improvement and Quality Service Enhancement, Intrapreneurship, Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, Burnout and Stress Management, and Time Management.  As an initial move, the  team offered the services to the mayor of Solano and Quezon.  A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) shall soon be signed by the LGU’s Executive Officer and the President of AC.,

I hope I can live up to the expectations of the different stakeholders of AC- the Board of Trustees, the President, the management and staff, faculty, students and the community.  The job is indeed tough but with my training and experience and with full support from the Board of Trustees, the President and the Senior Executive Assistant for Education as well as Dean Dr. Elizabeth Pascual of the Graduate School of Educatyon and Director. Jonathan Daton Palitayan, Jr., of the Center for International Education, fellow faculty and support staff of AC, and with the guidance and blessings of the Lord, nothing is impossible.To officers and employees of the government national agencies, local government units, business sector, banks, cooperatives, and other non-government organizations, if you want to experience a different way of learning,    we enjoin you to enroll in the MPA and MBA programs of the AC Graduate School of Management. You shall not only earn a diploma which you can use as a decoration in your wall but also receive a lifetime passport to a gainful employment and lifetime professional and personal advancement and satisfaction. .