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Part 1
I was appointed Dean of my alma mater, the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business on October 11, 2019. It has been a little over a year since my appointment. A lot have transpired since my assumption of my work as Dean. Notable among these is the influx of Covid-19 pandemic and its many disruptive effects. The entire University of the Philippines and our College had to confront immediately the many ill effects of the pandemic. The school’s response to the crisis is amplified in my welcome talk entitled “Transformation through disruptions” to the VSB returning students during a virtual assembly on the first week of classes in September.
Most of my term as dean of the VSB has been under the dark clouds of the Covid crisis. But being the ever-optimistic person that I am, I have been actively engaged in the school affairs pursuing my “Looking in, Reaching out” vision and plans. This LIRO has been my self-imposed mandate in transforming the UP School of Business through all these disruptions…Covid related and otherwise. LIRO is focused on looking in the requirements of the school and tapping the internal resources and talent; while reaching out to and engaging with the various communities and stakeholders outside the school.
I am proud to report the results of the LIRO initiatives to date, after a year of my deanship.
First order of the day was to address the needs of the various stakeholders of the schools amid the Covid pandemic. This essentially involves ensuring the successful implementation of the shift from the face to face classroom interaction to the remote learning. The all-out effort for this required the transformation of mindsets and methodologies, instituting changes in work and study patterns, and putting in place the countless details to have the appropriate infrastructure and operating and academic systems effectively working in time for the school opening in September. These activities required a digital transformation, where the various members of the VSB ecosystem had to be converted to become netizens of the digital world, attuned to on-line engagements and using the various technology applications of Learning Management System, Zoom meetings, virtual interactions, digital library and references, and a revamped Course Packs prepared and distributed to the work from home students. Specific initiative in the college include the VSB links, a service of providing links to daily online news that are e-mailed to the subscribers; assignment of a focal person to handle the Remote Learning resources for use by students and faculty alike; the enhancement of the digital collections and services of the VSB library, and facilitating the online classes of a number of our students in a leading French business school during the summer.
We also focused on the welfare and requirements of the students even if they are still in study from home mode. I instituted a “We Empathize” initiative providing student-centered services, including mental health and psycho social referral and consultation services. We are closely coordinating with the student leaders of the 17 college-based organizations and the Student Council to discuss how we can address the various concerns of the students, including extra-curricular engagements. A recent survey that we conducted showed that 77 percent of our undergraduate students still want to pursue extra-curricular activities during these times.
There are so many things to do and to accomplish to have a transformation through the disruptions.
(To be continued)
Joel L. Tan-Torres is the Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979.
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