SOME 21 delegates from various universities in Southeast Asia joined the workshop on "Harmonizing University Policies in Postgraduate Micro-credentials" hosted by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) at its office in Los Baños, Laguna on May 6 and 7, 2024.
SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said the workshop is part of the activities of the Postgraduate Micro-credentials (PMC) in Food Security and Climate Change (FSCC) project, which is funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) program.
The delegates came from the Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), and Universitas Brawijaya, all located in Indonesia; Maejo University (MU) and Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand; University of the Philippines Los Baños, Central Luzon State University, and Visayas State University in the Philippines; and Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Malaysia, which joined the workshop online.
Gregorio said the two-day event was facilitated by UGM as the lead of Work Package 3 on Micro-Credential University Policies and Quality Plan which aimed "to develop strategies, agreements, and frameworks regarding the establishment and quality assurance of micro-credentials, with a focus on FSCC."
Also the head of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) secretariat, Gregorio, in welcoming the delegates, highlighted the crucial role of policies in ensuring quality education.
He urged everyone "to keep an open mind about the underlying contexts and premises of the policies" and for the delegates "to actively participate in the workshop discussions to benefit the universities and the UC."
Associate Professor Buncha Chinnasri, PMC-FSCC project leader and the UC executive officer from KU, reported on the latest activities and milestones of the project and discussed what is expected from the current workshop about the upcoming deliverable deadlines of the funding agency.
At the start of the workshop, Dr. Prakash Murgeppa Bhuyar, MU International Industry, and Agriculture Innovation Research Center director/assistant dean, shared the details of the training on the development of modules that was held in Bangkok, Thailand on April 22 to 26, 2024.
Meanwhile, Dr. Irwan Endrayanto Aluicius, UGM Directorate of Academic Innovation-Division of Academic Studies head, presented the findings of a survey conducted among the project members, which aimed to understand the policies and guidelines related to micro-credentials in their respective universities and countries.
The delegates were divided into three groups who also presented their discussions and drafted a plan to harmonize the diverse policies of the universities. It was later on presented for critiquing and further refinement by the delegates during the second day of the workshop.
Gregorio said a draft report on harmonizing university policies to support micro-credentials was developed by the end of the workshop.
In his closing message, Budi Guntoro, UGM dean of the Faculty of Animal Sciences and UC executive officer, acknowledged the differences among the project partners' university academic rules. However, the workshop was a testament to the partners' willingness to find similarities amid the differences, he said.
Since 2023 and running through 2026, Gregorio said the PMC-FSCC project aims "to provide short-term courses through micro-credentials focused on food security and climate change concerns and will also make use of technological advancements to offer online learning modules that address the twin issues of food security and climate change."