KEEPING TRUE to the saying ‘play to your strengths’, for his first year in office, Vice President for the Loyola Schools John Paul Vergara plans to improve the school’s systems through his specialization—technology and data management.
“What I intend to bring in as a way of following through on these efforts (of the previous VPs) is the use of data and metrics to support planning and the use of technology for knowledge management.”
He also intends to maintain what have already been started by his predecessors.
“The VPs before me have already set up much of the necessary systems and structures that enable the Loyola Schools to function well and grow further,” he said.
Efficient data generation
Vergara said that he would like support offices such as the Office of Admission and Aid (OAA) and the Ateneo Placement Office to easily send information to other offices and departments to help in their plans of action.
“I intend to convene a committee to determine which kinds of data and metrics the support offices could generate that would help the schools and departments plan at their level,” he said.
He explains that, even before, some offices and departments have been requesting specific information from the said support offices. The administration, for instance, requests for admissions data from the OAA.
However, not all units request for data which may aid their respective departments, thus leading to Vergara conjuring up such plan.
“This way, the units do not need to request the data anymore—data is regularly generated and metrics are regularly obtained and pushed to the departments for their planning and monitoring.”
He stressed that only pertinent information will be sent to the different offices accordingly.
Reference Section Librarian Ana Grace Alfiler gave a nod at the plans. She said that since the library regularly communicates with the support offices and the students, library administrators could also contribute to the implementation of Vergara’s plans by helping with information dissemination.
Alfiler also said that “there are some data which I believe would be helpful to facilitate communications between offices and different sections or parts of the university.”
Technology in learning
Vergara said, “I intend to strengthen and expand the technology infrastructure for course management so that more departments are able to use it effectively.”
He plans to expand the use of software that makes possible open forums, online tests, and the submission of requirements electronically.
In fact, some departments have already started using such software. The Department of Information Systems and Computer Science have been using “Moodle.” The Department of Communication has been using “Blackboard” for its journalism majors.
For sophomore Ana Alfonso, the idea would be a great advance in learning.
She said, “I’m open to it because it seems more convenient and efficient for both students and teachers. It’s also environment-friendly since printing out several pages of paper would no longer be necessary in some possible respects.”
Knowledge Management
The administration is also included in Vergara’s plans of utilizing technology.
“On the administrative side, we will soon begin using Sharepoint, a document management system that will allow us to store and organize important documents such as course descriptions, curricula, school policies, committee meeting minutes, and the like, in a secure intranet,” Vergara said.
The software will provide access to such information that is stored in only one database, unlike in the former system where information is scattered in different personal computers in the university.
He said, “This way, when accrediting bodies like the [Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities] visit us again in the future, presenting the data they need will be a simpler task.”
