Mariano Marcos
State University

MMSU moves programs toward AUN-QA certification, strengthens quality systems

By Bea Angelina Duldulao

In its bid toward ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) certifications for its programs, Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) kicked off its two-day AUN-QA Certification Application, Orientation and Workshop at the Center for Flexible Learning today, August 19.

The training aims to help academic programs with certification and improve quality assurance. It includes practical discussions led by Engr. Alexis Mervin Sy, the Quality Assurance Director at Far Eastern University Institute of Technology.

On Day 1 of the workshop, Engr. Sy shared his experience and insights on AUN-QA’s certification process, including its requirements, preparation strategies, and documentation, particularly for preparing the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and providing evidence to demonstrate how the practices of MMSU degree programs meet quality standards.

Anchoring the workshop is MMSU’s vision to become a premier university in Southeast Asia by 2033, with the university seeking to align its academic programs, processes, facilities, and other institutional practices with ASEAN standards.

In his message, MMSU President Virgilio Julius P. Manzano, Jr. urged participating programs to maximize the workshop as they begin working through the requirements for AUN-QA certification.

“Our vision is to become a premier university in Southeast Asia. So our arena right now is in Southeast Asia. We must measure ourselves with the standard of the ASEAN region,” Dr. Manzano said.

While he emphasized that the university’s processes must be at par with ASEAN standards, he also assured the administration’s support throughout the certification journey.

For Dr. Lawrence Eclarin, Director for Quality Assurance, this process reflects a larger purpose behind certification by making quality assurance an integral part of program management. “The goal is not to prepare for the visit. The goal is to make quality assurance part of everyday programme management,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, Vice President for Planning and Strategic Foresight Mee Jay Domingo reminded program heads that AUN-QA is no longer a distant goal and that no mountain is too high to climb, encouraging participants to be the architects of the university’s future.

“We are not doing this for our own personal benefits, but we are doing this for the imagined communities that we serve, specifically to our students,” Dr. Domingo said.

The workshop will continue from program-level preparation to site and facility assessment, allowing participating programs to further examine their readiness and the requirements they need to meet for AUN-QA certification.

As the workshop progresses from orientation and roadmap-setting to self-assessment, gap identification, and action planning, MMSU seeks to turn the AUN-QA process into more than a certification exercise. The activity allows academic programs to assess, identify areas for improvement, act on findings, and continuously improve, embedding quality assurance into programs as their core.