WHEN teachers Demetrio Quirino Jr. and Teresita Quirino founded the Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.), they aimed to provide the best education possible to students coming from lower- and middle-income classes. A little more than four decades later, it is their daughter’s turn to continue paving the path toward making this goal a reality.
Since 2003, T.I.P.—a private, nonsectarian higher-education institution specializing in engineering and computing degree programs—has been headed by its third president, Elizabeth Quirino-Lahoz, an educator by education, profession and advocacy.
A bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts (magna cum laude and class valedictorian) from Maryknoll College, a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Ateneo de Manila University, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education from the University of the Philippines and close to 40 years of experience in the education sector—Quirino-Lahoz has the expertise to lead T.I.P. into becoming the country’s premier institution for engineering and computing degree programs.
“The founder—my father—had grit and determination to grow the school from a small rented space 52 years ago to a two-campus institute,” she says. “He used to remind me that, when it is my turn to run the school, the students should continue to get value for their parents’ hard-earned money.”
T.I.P. currently educates 23,000 students in its two campuses (in Manila and Quezon City), with program offerings ranging from engineering, architecture and information-technology education to maritime education, business education and teacher education.
With Quirino-Lahoz leading the institution, T.I.P. is working on its seven-year vision of becoming the leading professional institute that prepares its students toward meaningful and fulfilling careers through employment in their professions or to becoming entrepreneurs.
“With the emergence of more dynamic, ever-advancing technology, and fueled by human desire for greater comfort and convenience in people’s everyday lives, the world is in need of more skilled engineers who can creatively solve real-life problems with their inventions and innovations,” she says.
“We want our graduates to become real nation-builders. After all, they are engineers and technologically oriented workers who, by the very nature of their programs of study, have the necessary foundation to convert such aspirations to reality.”
On outcomes-based education
IN its search for a unique educational model that would address industry needs, T.I.P.—upon realizing the benefits of outcomes-based education (OBE)—has implemented OBE because of its relevance. “OBE addresses the age-old gap between what the industry wants from graduates and what schools produce. OBE bridges the notorious mismatch between industry needs and quality of graduates,” Quirino-Lahoz says.
“OBE starts with the end in view, that is, the clear articulation of intended learning outcomes,” she continues. She clarifies that, “This educational model ensures that the needs of the industry are addressed.”
She further explains that, in OBE, the teacher is concerned not so much with the topics to be covered, but, rather, with the desired knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, or the outcomes the students need to attain at the end of the program, and building on these to adapt to changing needs in their professions.
Moreover, under OBE, an advisory board consisting of alumni, representatives of industry and professional organizations, is consulted to link industry and academe, ensuring that the curricula are shaped around the competencies needed in the workplace.
T.I.P. learned about OBE when T.I.P. officers benchmarked with the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in 2009. T.I.P. implemented Outcomes-Based Teaching and Learning (OBTL)/OBE, also in 2009.
Starting in 2009, T.I.P. also embarked on the upgrading of its engineering and computing laboratories to help students realize the student outcomes in a more challenging environment, using state-of-the-art equipment. Some of the equipment, to simulate actual conditions in the workplace, are the same as those used in the industry.
“We want current and future generations of Filipinos to become engineers and computing professionals, who will become nation-builders someday. As such, they can make a positive impact on the lives of their fellowmen by contributing relevant, real-life solutions to complex problems by creating innovative products and services.
Quirino-Lahoz elucidates that, “The ability to solve complex engineering problems and the ability to design systems that meet specifications within multiple constraints and in accordance with standards is what will distinguish an engineering graduate from an engineering technologist or an engineering technician.”
In a related development, T.I.P. recently became part of the USAID Stride (Science, Technology, Research, and Innovation for Development) program to develop model career centers in the Philippines. This means that T.I.P. will receive technical assistance to develop a model career center on its campus, patterned after those found in US universities.
Banking on accreditations
“NO school can claim excellence in a vacuum,” Quirino-Lahoz says, emphasizing the institution’s driving goal of reaching higher levels of excellence.
T.I.P. goes through the rigors of accreditation or external quality assurance to validate the levels of quality it has achieved, and to strive for more.
To date, T.I.P. has obtained international accreditation for 20 of its engineering and computing programs from the US-based Abet, formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the global gold standard in accreditation of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.
T.I.P. Manila was granted accreditation by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of Abet for its undergraduate programs in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. From the Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of Abet, it also received accreditation for its undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Information Systems and Information Technology.
T.I.P. Quezon City, on the other hand, was granted accreditation by Abet EAC for its undergraduate programs in Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering; and Abet CAC for its undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Information Systems and Information Technology.
The Information Systems (IS) programs of T.I.P. are the first and only IS programs accredited by ABET CAC in South Asia.
Moreover, T.I.P. also has recognitions from the Commission on Higher Education: autonomous status for T.I.P. Quezon City and deregulated status for T.I.P. Manila; Center of Excellence in Information Technology Education for both T.I.P. Quezon City and T.I.P. Manila; Center of Development in Computer Engineering for both T.I.P. Quezon City and TIP Manila; and Center of Development in Civil Engineering for T.I.P. Quezon City.
T.I.P. also has levels of accreditation from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation under the umbrella of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines, among others.
Quirino-Lahoz shares that the implementation of OBE and the process of undergoing the rigors of accreditation have resulted in changes, not only in terms of the curriculum, but also in the outlook of T.I.P. students.
Quirino-Lahoz, who has been with T.I.P. since 1978—and has, therefore, seen the growth of the institution—says that T.I.P. students have become more self-confident because of their increased ability to exhibit the clearly defined intended learning outcomes and graduate attributes while in school, and, eventually, the program educational objectives in their chosen careers. T.I.P. students, for example, have been honed in their ability to evolve optimal design solutions in their capstone design course.
These outcomes and attributes include not only professional competencies, but also critical thinking, problem-solving skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, and social and ethical responsibilities, among others.
“We further added tremendous value to our students and graduates, most especially in terms of international employment mobility, including mobility as entrepreneurs, with the student outcomes and graduate attributes they now possess,” she says.
The lady executive also believes, for example, that with Asean 2015 in the horizon, the recent international accreditation of T.I.P.’s programs will make T.I.P. graduates more globally competitive in the job market.
“This is because earning a degree from an Abet-accredited program assures prospective students [and employers] that the program is committed to using best practices and innovation in education, [and] the program is guided by its industry, government and academic constituents through formal feedback [www.abet.org].”
“Abet accreditation is one of the best legacies T.I.P. can give its students, who are enrolled in these 20 programs, who come from the lower-and middle-income classes. Our financially challenged students gain access to the best education possible—a practice consistent with the aims of my father,” she concludes.
Image credits: Alysa Salen