Monday, October 08, 2007 Academic Excellence: A virtue for SWU By Jenara Regis Newman
MAKING academic excellence a virtue is the aim of Southwestern University’s (SWU) new president, Eldigario D. Gonzales, who has a doctorate in public administration from the University of the Philippines. He comes to Southwestern after 10 years of being president of the Western Mindanao State University.
Dr. Gonzales says he has not found it difficult to adjust in dealing with SWU’s board of directors as he has been dealing with the board of regents in the state university. His first task here was to make an institutional assessment of SWU, identifying strengths and problems, in order to set the direction for the university to strengthen the academic base for excellence. As he says, “Precisely because I have studied in universities where the graduates make a name for themselves, I would like to bring this type of scholarship to SWU for students and faculty, to have an organizational structure responsive to this vision.”
He finds strength in the medical and paramedical colleges of the university. He finds potential for growth in the other college offerings – like criminology, engineering, business, tourism and information technology, and bacherlor of arts. He considers the college of veterinary medicine, the only one in Central Visayas, as part of the university’s social responsibility, and would like to add a college of agriculture, also as part of that responsibility.
What is exciting and new is his plan to have distance learning for graduate studies, and to have a ladderized curriculum for some colleges where a student, if he cannot afford to go to a higher year, will already have a degree he can use to enter the work force: as caregiver after first year of nursing; as tourist guide or aide after two years of BS Tourism; as scuba diving instructor after a year or two of physical education; and as front office staff, aide or cook in the hotel and restaurant program.
In graduate school, there will be a new offering, a doctorate in physical therapy, the first in Asia. And in all colleges, he would like to see the maximization of the use of computer technology in the delivery of higher education.
Dr. Gonzales says he is passionate about excellence in higher education. He knows he has limits as to what he can do in the university, especially in internal policies, but he has the board’s support for strengthening the academic base in his pursuit for excellence.
Dr. Gonzales has homes in Zamboanga and Quezon City. While his family is not yet here, he spends his free time reading, doing his exercises, going to church, and more reading. He is, as he emphasizes, passionate about excellence so even in his spare time, he thinks of ways to make academic excellence a virtue of the university he now serves, Southwestern University.
