The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) launched on Monday (June 8) a series of trainings dubbed Online TUNNEL (Trainings Under the ‘New Normal’ Environment for Learning) to help its faculty members and personnel adapt to the New Normal environment.

This activity aims to teach the teachers and staff the skills in conducting online trainings that hope to effectively address the diverse training needs of their various stakeholders as they face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The activity runs from June 8 to 11 at the university’s Information Technology Center (ITC). 

Conducted in four batches until Thursday (June 11), the trainings will equip the 120 faculty members and staff how to set up online trainings and registration procedures, and how to use equipment, among other training requirements.

According to Dr. Aris Reynold V. Cajigal, director of the Extension Directorate (ED), the participants were selected from various academic departments and units who will serve as trainers in various future seminars.

“This is a significant move to continuously provide the necessary skills to our internal and external stakeholders of MMSU under the new normal,” Dr. Cajigal said.

For her part, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis thanked the Extension Directorate and ITC for coming up with the training, hoping that the online TUNNEL “will be our compass in treading the road of viability and to altogether rise against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Let not this unseen enemy stop us to continue our mission of producing knowledgeable and skilled manpower who serves our stakeholders better,” she added. 

Dr. Agrupis said the creation of a flexible learning hub and online TUNNEL are among the university’s initiatives to make MMSU ready for Industry 4.0 (Industrial Revolution).” 

She urged the sponsors of the activity to explore on how to organize other online TUNNEL trainings for extension, research, and production, “to further help other stakeholders in these thrusts.”

The Online TUNNEL was approved by the MMSU Administrative Council in its meeting on May 22 and it is being organized by the university’s ED and ITC offices in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the College of Industrial Technology (CIT).

Since the training is being conducted face-to-face, Dr. Cajigal assured that limited number of participants per batch is being enforced, and that health protocols such as physical distancing and wearing of face masks are strictly followed. --by Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. (StratCom)