Six professors from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) conducted a two-day seminar on communication research in the MMSU so that students will gain insights on how to improve their craft in communication practices for instruction and accreditation purposes.

PUP College of Communication Dean Dr. Divina T. Tormon-Pasumbal said the seminar was the fruit of a partnership that was forged by MMSU and PUP through a memorandum of understanding in line with the two institutions' cultural and educational collaborative understanding.

Held last October 23-24 at the MMSU College of Medicine auditorium, the seminar was participated in by about 100 students taking up BA in Communication and AB English Language, and faculty of the MMSU College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) - Department of Languages and Literature (DLL), and Department of Social Sciences.

The participants were trained on how to apply the qualitative methodologies and tools in communication research, develop a strategic communication plan for the community, teach media content analysis, and appreciate theory in communication research. 

The lecturers also shared their best practices in communication instruction and accreditation to the DLL faculty.

Other members of the PUP team are Prof. Hemmady Mora, chair of the department of journalism; Dr. Ma. Lourdes Garcia, chair of the department of broadcast communication; and faculty members Dr. Edna T. Bernabe, Mr. Christwin Felix, and Assistant Professor Reynaldo Guerzon.

"I hope that this program serves as an avenue to explore other points of collaboration between the two state universities in the future," Dr. Tormon-Pasumbal said.

Meanwhile, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis thanked the PUP teachers for sharing their expertise with the MMSU students and their mentors, expecting that through the seminar, "the participants will be empowered to conduct communication researches that might contribute to knowledge production for inclusive and sustainable development."

"I hope to see some government-funded research proposals on communication, humanities and social sciences in the future," Dr. Agrupis said, urging the DLL instructors to produce a creative media product that could help the university communicate its research outputs to a wider audience.

"It is a given fact that we are conducting many research studies here at MMSU, but I believe that our gap is on how these technical outputs be popularized and disseminated to our clientele," she said.

"I hope that the you can create strategic communication materials so that our research outputs that we generated will reach their intended audiences. This is one field where MMSU can effectively glocalize," she added.