The General Education Center (GEC), together with the Mindanao State University (MSU) Main Campus – Marawi, engaged in a benchmarking activity last 11 April 2025 at the Diliman Interactive Learning Center in UP Diliman to “learn about the operational dynamics of the [GEC] and its implications for student learning and engagement.”
Present in the activity were MSU – Main Campus’ Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Amerkhan Cabaro and Special Assistants Prof. Johara Alangca-Azis, Prof. Rohanifa Mama-Marohombsar, and Asst. Prof. Sacaria Gulam. They were welcomed by the GEC Director Dr. Anna Marie Sibayan-Sarmiento and staff members.
Given that the benchmarking was organizational in nature, much of the visit was centered on the structure and management of the GEC and how it allows for the fulfillment of the office’s three-fold task of coordination, research, and incubation.
For coordination services, the GEC shared how it establishes connections and cooperation among academic units, students, and faculty members inside and outside of UP Diliman by evaluating and processing GE crediting appeals, addressing inquiries about GE policies, benchmarking with various educational institutions, and conducting training programs for GE teachers such as LINANGAN: The GE Faculty Development Extension Program 2024-2025.
In terms of research, the office has discussed with MSU – Main Campus its latest GE Program Assessment study that seeks to better understand the GE objectives. Initiatives that involve the supplication of GE-related data to various institutions were also mentioned.
The GEC then highlighted its role in incubation by providing support for colleges and units that propose to institutionalize, revise, reconfigure, or adopt GE courses, with its success as evidenced by the 62 GE courses that the office has evaluated and processed as of 31 December 2024. Of special interest to MSU – Main Campus were the processes followed by all UP CUs for the proposal and institutionalization of new GE courses.
The benchmarking visit also became a platform for sharing best practices in ensuring efficient office operations, giving way for the GEC to revisit how the GEC Diliman Team, UPD GE Committee, and other offices within the UP Diliman Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs all converge to uphold the GE Program in the spirit of honor and excellence.
