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Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) closed 2020 with success as it obtained a three-star overall rating from the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Star Rating System from the United Kingdom. The institution received the information from the QS Intelligence unit last December 22, 2020.

Ever committed to its institutional goals, MCL is constantly on the lookout for credible and esteemed accrediting bodies or rating systems that would attest to the kind of education it offers, according to Engr. Maribel G. Songsong, MCL’s Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The QS Star Rating System is one such performance-based metric system that encompasses the key aspects of MCL’s mission. It gives star ratings to higher education institutions (HEIs) and universities, providing their students and other stakeholders a picture of their strengths and distinct values while recognizing achievements in various areas of operations. Each HEI that applies for QS Stars undergoes a rigorous evaluation process in a range of categories, and receives a rating for each, along with an overall rating.

Categories for rating

The four criteria and eight categories included in MCL’s evaluation are the following: Core Criteria, with Teaching, Employability, Internationalization, and Academic Development or Research as categories; Learning Environment/Facilities Criteria; Specialist/Program Strength; and Advanced Criteria, with Social Responsibility and Inclusiveness as categories.

Besides the three-star overall rating, MCL received a five-star rating for Employability, proof of the competence of its graduates as professionals in their own fields; a four-star rating for Facilities, for its smart campus and drive to deliver an advanced learning experience for students; and, in being true to its mission to contribute to the solution of industry’s and society’s problems through the various engagements of students with communities, three-star ratings for Social Responsibility and Inclusiveness. Through this, the institution has leveled up its national stature, assuring students and stakeholders of its dedication to its vision.

Commitment to excellence

“In spite of the pandemic and the uncertainty brought by COVID-19, MCL is committed to delivering quality education and in preparing our students for the global workforce. The achievement of a three-star rating in QS in these trying times is truly a resounding testament to MCL’s determination to live to its promise,” said Engr. Anthony Hilmer S. Medrano, MCL’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

“This achievement is a result of the hard work of faculty and students as well as our administrators and staff,” he added. “MCL will continue to improve its systems and devote itself to fully achieving its vision of becoming a global steeple of excellence in professional education.”

The journey for QS Stars was initiated by MCL’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, who envisions MCL to become a globally recognized institution producing graduates at par with international counterparts, with the QS Stars rating being one of the strategic goals in place for realizing it.

“QS Stars are a way to assess institutions more broadly than through rankings, taking into consideration dozens of set indicators based on global standards and best practices. The 3-star rating awarded to MCL further proves that not only is it one of the best schools in CALABARZON, but is also one that can hold its own in both national and international stages; and is supplementing evidence that an institution’s young age is not a hindrance to achieving excellence,” said Dr. Vea.

“With it, we are able to pinpoint MCL’s strengths while recognizing what can be improved upon. May this achievement be a reminder and an encouragement for the MCL community to continue working together to ensure continuous quality improvement, and to always aim higher – consistency and the drive to go beyond will surely lead to the award of more QS Stars.”

A collective effort

Having been inspired by Dr. Vea’s leadership and commitment to realize MCL’s vision, a team composed mostly of department and college heads was created to help in completing the requirements in accordance with the QS Stars methodology. With collective effort, the team collated data sets and evidence used to satisfy the performance metrics, which were then reviewed and consolidated by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs before being submitted to the QS Intelligence Unit.

“The full support and cooperation of the team made it possible to accomplish the requirements in due time,” shared Engr. Songsong. “I wish to convey my gratitude to the entire team. It was a long but worthwhile journey, considering the challenges we faced from doing the arduous tasks due to the pandemic crisis. Ultimately, we were able to reap what we sowed because of the hard work and commitment of everyone involved in realizing this goal.”

Gearing up for more QS stars

“Rest assured that with the Continuous Quality Improvement process in place and with the imbued culture of excellence and virtue in the MCL community, we will continue to maintain a high standard in delivering our commitment of quality education for our students and stakeholders,” continued Engr. Songsong.

“With this, it is our hope for MCL students to continue well in their studies, be inspired to fulfill their dreams of becoming professionals who are globally competitive, and be able to contribute to the nation and the society. May this three-star rating inspire us even more to keep moving forward and continue innovating to improve our systems and processes so that we can contribute to nation building by producing competent professionals with desirable character.”

Being MCL’s first rating for the system, the overall three (3) QS Stars and the evaluation done has given the administration helpful insights on both the institution’s strengths and the areas that need further improvement. Gearing up for international recognition, the next step for MCL is to achieve more QS stars in the future by focusing on strengthening its internationalization program. This includes forging partnerships with international HEIs to do collaborative research and attracting international students for exchange programs in the coming years.

“Success comes with great responsibility, strategic planning, proper communication and coordination, as well as commitment and teamwork guided by strong vision and leadership,” added Engr. Songsong, reiterating that MCL will continue to push to the limits to reach for more QS stars.

Administrators and staff from Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) have been named winners of the Blackboard Award for Professional Development this August 2020.

The award recognizes those who use Blackboard programs to support and enhance their faculty and staff’s training and professional development. This can include anything from creative learning opportunities to on-the-job training in the newest technologies and should display an organization-wide dedication to innovative development programs.

Founded in 2005, the annual Awards recognize and honor innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community of practice, where millions of educators and learners work every day to redefine what is possible when leveraging technology. Winners are selected by a cross-functional team of Blackboard experts.

“Designing an employee development program aimed at making co-workers shine and succeed despite a challenging backdrop is a rare experience. We may only get to do this at a time of a global pandemic!” Asst. Prof. Angelia shared. “I am grateful to this team for the push they gave to achieve the goals of the projects under the #samaOLL program — Learning During the Quarantine (LDQ), Interactive Learning Assets for Digital Delivery (iLeaD), self-paced Blackboard courses for MCL faculty, and MCL Lifelong Learners. Most of all, I admire the grit and positive mindset of the MCL community at such a difficult time. We inspire each to grow together as a team, everyone included, #samaOLL.”

The program name “#samaOLL” is a play on the modern Filipino saying “Sana all” and OLL, which stands for Opportunities for Lifelong Learning.

“We’re pleased to honor this year’s Blackboard Award winners for their commitment to improving the educational experience for all learners through EdTech and sharing these insights with the broader community,” said Lee Blakemore, Chief Client Officer and President, Global Markets at Blackboard. “We’re proud to partner with institutions who are innovating to advance student success.”

MCL’s team was announced alongside other Blackboard winners during TLC Asia Pacific, Blackboard’s annual user conference held virtually last August 26 to 27, 2020.

Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL), through its Admissions Office and Office for Educational Content Management (OECM) and in coordination with its faculty members from the colleges and MCL Senior High School (MCL-SHS), is holding MCL CyberCamp 2020: A Walkthrough of MCL’s Virtual Learning Spaces this July 21 to August 21.

“We made sure we covered the relevant topics as freshmen take their online academic courses for the incoming school year. It also gives them a chance to practice answering assessments, discussion boards, and connect online with their peers and mentors,” said Asst. Prof. Abigail Joy Rodelas-Angelia, OECM Director. “Exposure to these skills is crucial to student success, that’s why their participation in CyberCamp can propel them to do better in their academic courses. This way, they can warm up to a learning platform that may otherwise be unfamiliar to them.”

“This year is remarkable and exciting because not only will MCL offer online courses, we will also offer fully online degrees, and the CyberCamp experience will give students a head start on our platforms,” Asst. Prof. Angelia continued. “While it’s a fact that younger students are more comfortable with technology (Czaja, etal., 2006), there’s still a learning curve that students need to surpass in order to be more familiar and competent with the use of apps and tools related to learning. It is the team’s hope that this learning curve will be less steep for students who joined this course.”

Based on comments from participants, CyberCamp 2020 has been successful so far in helping students adjust to the New Normal that is online learning.

“We are overwhelmed with the response and positive feedback from new MCL students regarding their experience,” shared Asst. Prof. Angelia. “It is not only a chance for new students to get to know MCL better, but it is also an opportunity for the mentors to get to know how creative, talented, and smart this new generation is.”

New MCL-SHS students and college freshmen may join CyberCamp 2020 by logging in to Blackboard Learn, the MCL LMS.

In an effort to help with the nation’s ongoing fight against the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Malayan Colleges Laguna’s (MCL) College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS) formed a team to develop a web-based dashboard to track the number of COVID-19 cases in the province of Laguna and provide important data at a glance.

Spearheaded by CCIS Dean Khristian G. Kikuchi, the team is composed of Prof. Dennis A. Martillano; alumni John Noel J. Corpuz and John Disonglo; 4th year students Gwyneth Escarda, Mark Anthony V. Hernandez, Cedric Flores, and Joseph Lazaga; 2nd year students Michael James Gnilo and Miguel Cellona; and 1st year students Job J. Lipat and Charmaine Eunice I. Rabano.

“After the suspension of online classes last April 3rd, I thought that this is a great opportunity for us to develop something useful for our country,” shared Dean Kikuchi. “Since the first day that the Philippines recorded its first COVID-19 case, I monitored the daily figures given by the Department of Health (DOH). However, these data are too general, based on the total running numbers, and doesn’t show the specific trends for a region or province. This is when I thought of developing a dashboard showing important information related to COVID-19 cases for the province of Laguna.”

The CCIS team aims to provide relevant information on the ongoing COVID-19 cases in the province down to the level of cities, municipalities, and if available, even to the level of the barangays. With the goal to give everyone hope, the dashboard will be highlighting the number of recovered cases and remaining active cases. It may also be viewed using mobile phones.

“I want to share to our students the opportunity to do something noble and of service to our country during this time of crisis by utilizing their skills and knowledge,” emphasized Dean Kikuchi.

With the project currently in its initial phase of development, the team will be including other features that will ensure that data presentation is more comprehensible and easier to navigate for anyone accessing the dashboard.

“I know that we are not used to this kind of situation before and thus we are experiencing difficulties in facing the challenges of this crisis,” Dean Kikuchi said as a final message for the community. “Let us keep our faith to God for He will never leave us in these trying times. Enjoy the moments with our family members, still keep in touch with our friends and loved ones, and if possible, extend our support and help to our fellow Filipinos in our own ways. Stay home and stay safe. And we will definitely see each other again very soon.”

“Being the first international research interns of Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) was pressuring yet an accomplishment”, according to 4th year B.S. Chemical Engineering students Regine Clarisse Dipasupil and Gweneth Ysabelle S. Pasco who underwent a short-term research internship at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Hsinchu, Taiwan from October to December 2017.

Their journey started when their batch, the first to work on their thesis in their 4th year, had a meeting with their potential advisers. Gwen and Regine became interested when MCL’s Research Director, Dr. Liza B. Patacsil, gave a brief introduction about her research. They immediately applied to her as advisees and she offered them to be part of her project under the MECO-TECO Program of DOST-GIA, which gave them the opportunity to do their research in Taiwan for 3 months.

“Na-realize namin na magandang experience ‘yun saka maganda rin sya sa resumé. Noong una, sinabihan nila kami na baka ma-late kaming grumaduate kasi hindi nila kami pakukuhanin ng courses. Nag-take kami ng risk. Tinimbang namin yung advantage at disadvantage, lamang yung advantage,” the two shared.

(We realized that it would be a great experience and that it would look great on our resumé. At first, we were told that we might end up graduating late because they would not let us take our courses. We took the risk. We weighed the advantages and disadvantages, and realized that there are more advantages.)

Their research is about the removal of copper and lead in waste water using capacitive deionization (CDI). CDI is an emerging technology for water desalination with the use of an electrical voltage applied between two electrodes.

“Mataas din ‘yung efficiency ng CDI katulad ng current technology na ginagamit for water treatment dito sa Pilipinas, or much better pa. Cheaper din sya. (The efficiency of CDI is just as high as the current technology used for water treatment used here in the Philippines, or even better. It’s cheaper, too.) Economically, it would help the Philippines develop, save a lot of money, and produce more potable water,” Gwen explained.

“Mostly kasi sa mga water treatment technologies natin, meron silang by-product. Parang naglinis ka ng tubig pero nag-iwan ka ng dumi. ‘Pag CDI, walang slurry by-product. So nilinis mo na yung tubig, wala ka pang dumi na na-produce,” Regine added.

(Mostly with our water treatment technologies, there are by-products. It’s like you cleaned the water but you also produce new waste. With CDI, there is no slurry by-product. So you will have clean water without waste by-product.)

After being away from their families for almost three months, experiencing going back to the dorm at 11:00 PM or 12 midnight, eating at convenience stores, interacting with different nationalities, living in a dorm with two accommodating Vietnamese, and sleeping for two to three hours a day, Gwen and Regine would say that the whole experience was all worth it.

But among other struggles during their internship, their biggest challenges happened in the laboratory, where they experimented for 12 hours, 7 days a week.

“Working in the lab was very challenging, that we came to a point that we felt inferior to those taking up their Masters and Doctorates,” they admitted. “Mingling with different nationalities having different cultures was not that easy but we were able to deal with them and ended up making new friends. Too much pressures of having to accomplish our deliverables was hard, but there is some kind of self-fulfillment after we had achieved our objectives.”

Aside from their lab hours, they had to answer their 15-unit online courses, which were all majors, and were all in PowerPoint presentations that they had to study on their own.

Coming home more matured and with new goals, they both confirmed that studying and doing research abroad not only benefits skills and abilities, but also develops a better perspective in life.

“Mas mag-i-strive kang mag-aral kasi masasabi mong ayoko nang hanggang ganito lang. Marami pa palang opportunities na pwedeng makuha ‘pag ginawa mo yung best mo at ‘pag nag-explore ka,” they said.

(We have to strive harder with our studies because we wouldn’t want to settle for less. We realized that there are more opportunities out there, you just have to do your best and always explore.)

For future researchers and chemical engineers, here’s what Gwen and Regine have to say: “Take the risks. Dapat hindi kayo mag-set ng boundaries sa sarili mo. Dapat open ka sa lahat ng possibilities. (You shouldn’t set boundaries for yourself. You have to be open to all of the possibilities.)”