Tokyo NODAI hosts 30th University Consortium Executive Board meeting
The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) held its 30th Executive Board meeting on 16 – 18 November 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Twenty-four delegates participated in the meeting hosted by Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) in its Setagaya campus.
This year's Executive Board meeting was highlighted by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the institution of the Joint Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) program, the review and revision of the UC Travel Grants, and the membership fee structure. The UC also welcomed Universitas Brawijaya (UB) of Indonesia as a new Affiliate Member.
Founded in 1989 as a commitment made among five leading agricultural universities in Southeast Asia to promote beneficial cooperation by optimizing utilization of resources and expertise, the UC has since expanded its reach and activities through collaborative researches, annual Summer Schools, and annual Graduate Forums, where hosting is rotated among member universities.
The MS FSCC project, spearheaded by the UC with Kasetsart University as Project Leader, involves nine other universities in Europe and Southeast Asia, and is partially funded by ERASMUS + under its Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education program.
With its increased visibility due to increasing collaborative programs, the UC has received several expressions of interest from other universities to become associate or affiliate UC members. With this, it is envisaged that the UC will further strengthen its dynamic linkages within and outside the Consortium in the coming years.
SEARCA Co-Sponsors 2nd IGEARD Conference
SEARCA co-sponsored the 2nd Internationalization of Graduate Education for Agricultural and Rural Development (IGEARD) International Conference organized by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Graduate School on 19-20 October 2017 at Acacia Hotel, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Philippines.
The conference, themed as "Enriching Graduate Education Delivery and Student Experience," gathered academicians and graduate students from local and international Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The conference served as a venue for knowledge-exchange on practices and trends to improve graduate studies in the Philippines.
Ms. Carmen Nyhria G. Rogel and Ms. Camille Joy V. Enalbes, Program Specialists from SEARCA served as panelist and discussant, respectively, in the conference. Ms. Rogel shared SEARCA's initiatives in terms of research and development in the fields of Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD) in relation to the proposed prospectus and postgraduate research agenda of the UPLB Graduate School. It is envisaged that through the improved Graduate School Prospectus, UPLB will attract the best and brightest applicants and increase its enrollment as contribution towards UPLB's goal of becoming a globally competitive graduate and research university.
The Panel Discussion on ASEAN Student Support Services aimed to present the available curricular and extra-curricular services for students in the region. Ms. Enalbes discussed the student and faculty grants offered by SEARCA and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Studies in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). She was joined by Dr. Buncha Chinnasri, Assistant to the President of Kasetsart University, and Dr. Noritah Omar, Deputy Director, Putra International Centre, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
The IGEARD Conference is an initiative of the UPLB Graduate School aimed to gather scholars and practitioners to discuss the underlying incentives, institutions, innovations, and practices that promote or impede the internationalization of graduate education vis-à-vis harnessing agriculture and rural development.