Academic Mobility Strategies and Challenges : The T.I.P. Experience
Dr. Cynthia C. Llanes
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Technological Institute of the Philippines
This paper presents the strategies and actions taken by the Technological Institute of thePhilippines (T.I.P.) to meet the challenges of academic mobility, specifically, its participationin the SEAMEO SEA-TEACHER program.
T.I.P. envisions itself to be a leading professional technological institution through outcomesbased education, and a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and an institution
whose graduates contribute to the welfare of society.
In support of the programs’ educational objective to produce graduates who are globallycompetitive, T.I.P. has partnered strategically with local and international colleges anduniversities and has kept close alliances with professional organizations, government agencies,
and industry. Through these linkage partnerships, various areas of cooperation were realized toenhance the institution’s capability in the delivery of its functions of instruction, research,production, and extension. Major areas of partnerships include cooperative education, capacity
building, collaborative research, industry commissioned projects, among others.
The varied organizations that T.I.P. has forged linkages with contributed in the improvement of
its curricula and education processes to become more relevant to the needs of society. Thus, theattainment of the institutional intended outcomes for T.I.P. graduates.
T.I.P. continues to expand its cooperation with international partners , with the end-in-view ofstrengthening faculty competence and enhancing academic learning and excellent performancethrough academic mobility.
1. Government Policy on Academic Mobility
The Philippine government programs on academic mobility are expressed through theCommission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 55 s. 2016
otherwise known as the Policy Framework and Strategies on the Internationalization ofPhilippine Higher Education. The CMO aims to 1) articulate the Philippine higher educationinternationalization policy to provide a national perspective and context for various initiatives
related to the subject of internationalization; 2) guide the Philippine higher education sector’sinternationalization efforts bearing in mind Philippine national interests, security and identity
while also contributing to the improvement of the countries competitiveness; 3) define thestrategies that underpin the various modes of internationalization; 4) set the principles to guide
Philippine Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in pursuing internationalization programs;5) encourage Philippine HEIs to adopt a programmatic approach to internationalization; and 6)
serve as basis for improving programs , policies and standards on internationalization activities,
cognizant of the need for appropriate government regulation for a cohesive internationalization

thrust and in affirmation of the Philippines’ efforts in upholding its global higher education
reputation
2. T.I.P Programs on Academic Mobility
In support of the government’s thrust along academic mobility, T.I.P. has implemented bothhome-based and cross border internationalization activities. Academic partnerships with local
and foreign universities were established for the sharing of resources, students and faculty
exchanges, and other collaborative undertakings.
2.1. Home-based Internationalization
The lack of financial capacity is a major challenge for outbound faculty members andstudents of T.I.P..Majority of T.I.P. students belong to lower economic bracket families andthe availability of government funding is very limited. Thus, only a few can afford to financean academic mobility activity.
With the constraint for cross border initiatives , T.I.P. has intensified the conduct of homebased or campus based internationalization over cross-border education through theincorporation of international dimensions in the curriculum and the learning process. Without
the need of going out of the country, international learning experience is provided through:2.1.1. the alignment of the programs’ curricula to meet international standards. .All
engineering programs and computing programs of T.I.P. are accredited by ABET, aUS-based accreditation agency. T.I.P. is also an ASEAN University Network-Quality
Assurance (AUN-QA) associate member. AUN is an international organization that
promotes regional cooperation among HEIs in Southeast Asia and around the globe
focused on student and faculty exchanges, promotion of ASEAN studies, information
networking, and collaborative research.
2.1.2. the integration of international teaching and learning materials in selected
programs, such as CISCO, SAP,ORACLE, ICDL, among others.
2.1.3. the conduct of joint projects with international content. International
partnership allowed T.I.P. students and faculty members to collaborate with theCalifornia Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), Jeju National University (JNU),
Korea, Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU), among others.
2.1.4. the holding of international conferences , seminars and workshops allowing
opportunity for a larger T.I.P group to listen to lectures given by international resource
speakers.
2.1.5. visiting professors from international academic partners to conduct lectures on
specialized topics in selected professional courses.
2.2. Cross-border education activities involving mobility of T.I.P. students, faculty andresearchers are limited to benchmarking activities and student exchange for internship.
2.2.1. Benchmarking activities with foreign universities is undertaken to learninternational best practices including new technology, innovative approaches (e.g.
Outcomes-Based Teaching and Learning of City University of Hongkong,
University of Sydney, Melbourne University , and Monash University ), novel
student services ( Career Services of Stanford University and UC Berkeley) , andinnovations adaptable to the culture and core competencies of T.I.P(e.g.Technopreneurship of National University of Singapore and UC Berkeley).
The T.I.P.’s vice president for academic affairs is among the 39 college anduniversity administrators and government officials from 22 countries who
participated in the inaugural round of the EducationUSA Leadership Institutes toincrease understanding of U.S. higher education and provide a unique opportunity
for reciprocal knowledge exchange between the United States and participating
countries.
The T.I.P. Career Center director recently went on a benchmarking visit toStandford University and UC Berkeley to gather more insights and career center
best practices, with the aim of further strengthening the capability of T.I.P. inmanaging its own career centers.
Key T.I.P. officials had a benchmarking visit at top ranking universities in Australia,
University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, and Monash University. They also
met with experts from the Institute of Engineers Australia, Assessment ResearchCenter, and Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The visit allowed
the T.I.P. participants develop capability on Competency Based Education(CBE)/Outcomes-Based Education (OBE); gain learning insights on CBE/OBE
from the selected top Australian universities ; identify good practices on thedevelopment of CBE/OBE teaching and learning systems; and establish networkwith higher education institutions visited.
Another team of key T.I.P. officials had a benchmarking visit on theimplementation of outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL) at the City
University of Hong Kong (CityU). The best practices on OBTL that weregenerously shared by the CityU OBTL Implementation Group are now being usedas template in the full implementation of outcomes-based teaching and learning atT.I.P. Another benchmarking visit was conducted to learn about the CityU’s
facility for interactive teaching and learning.
Members of the T.I.P. Academic Council visited the George Washington Universityin Washington, DC and learned best practices on student services and graduate
program administration.
2.2.2. T.I.P. became a signatory partner of the SEAMEO SEATEACHER Program in2016. Since then, it has been actively involved as a sending and hosting student
interns to and from universities in Thailand and Indonesia.
3. Challenges Faced in the SEATEACHER Program
As earlier mentioned, the lack of financial capacity is a major challenge for outbound studentsof T.I.P. Thus, the number of students applying for internship under the SEA-TEACHER
program is very minimal. Security risk is another barrier for students who are deployed as interns

in foreign countries that are susceptible to manmade and natural calamities. Parents are hesitant
to send their children for fear of their safety in dangerous places. Language barrier is always aproblem for inbound students who have difficulty communicating using the English Language.
Gender issue is another constraint for inbound students because T.I.P. has no facility for mixed
gender housing. Students of different genders cannot be accommodated within the sameapartment. Therefore , only exchange students of the same gender can be accommodated at agiven time.
4. T.I.P. Implementing Guidelines for the SEA-TEACHER Program
With the relatively short period of participation of T.I.P. in the SEAMEO SEA-Teacher program,the following implementation guidelines have been adopted: 1) A more rigid screening process
for inbound and outbound students to ensure that only those who are intellectually andemotionally mature students with financial capability can be considered; 2) Pre-deployment
orientation for all outbound students; 3) The conduct of orientation on Filipino culture and acrash course on English conversation for inbound students; 4) The provision of a dedicatedstudent buddy and faculty mentor for each inbound student; 5) Tapping of student organizations
to assist international students in adjusting to Filipino culture; 6) Participation of inboundstudents in local cultural trips and other related activities; among others.
5. Closing Statements
The T.I.P. participation in the SEA-TEACHER program opened opportunities for local andinternational employment with attractive compensation packages for its graduates. In theFebruary 2018 Jobstreet.com survey, T.I.P. was in the top ten most preferred schools byemployers to hire fresh graduates from, placing 7th in the survey.
Realizing the benefits of academic mobility, T.I.P. commits to positively respond toimprovement opportunities raised through assessment and evaluation results, formal internalmonitoring, and external reviews. It shall continue to explore possible sources of funds to allow
more student participants in the SEA-TEACHER Program, to further improve the program’s
implementation at T.I.P. , and expand its cooperation with international partners with the end-inview of strengthening student competence and enhancing academic learning and excellent
performance through academic mobility.
References:
1. CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) no. 55 s. 2016 . Policy Framework and Strategies on
the Internationalization of Philippine Higher Education
2. Technological Institute of the Philippines Strategic Plan. (2013-2020)
3. T.I.P.News. Jeju National University and T.I.P.QC collaborate in computer graphics
artwork exhibit. Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/251
4. T.I.P.News. USAID STRIDE consultants visit T.I.P. for Career Center Capacity Building.
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/255
5. T.I.P.News. DC House prototype in T.I.P. QC launched with USAID STRIDE visiting
professor.Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/266

6. T.I.P.News. T.I.P. joins Southeast Asia Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange Program
Retreived from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/288
7. T.I.P.News. USAID STRIDE consultants visit T.I.P. for Career Center Capacity Building
8. T.I.P.News. TIP Officials Benchmark with the University of Sydney on Outcomes-Based
Education.
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/212
9. T.I.P.News. TIP Officials meet with Australian Council for Education Research (ACER)
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/211
10. T.I.P.News. TIP Benchmarks at the University of Melbourne on Outcomes-Based
Education. Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/210
11. T.I.P.News .TIP Officials meet with the Institution of Engineers, Australia. Retrieved
from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/209 .
12. T.I.P.News . TIP Visits HongKong University for Benchmarking. Retrieved fromhttps://www.tip.edu.ph/node/165
13. T.I.P.News. T.I.P. ranks 7th place in Jobstreet.com Survey. Retrieved fromhttps://www.tip.edu.ph/article/TIP-ranks-7th-place-in-Jobstreet-Survey