Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna

Careers
Services
Request for Documents
Parent Portal
Apply Now
Ask Us
Engage

Global Strategic Partnerships Finalized in Delhi, India

By: Cinderella Manalang

At the sides of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) 2025 Conference and Exhibition held in Delhi, India, from March 24 to 28, 2025, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna (Mapúa MCL) inked several partnerships with universities for global engagement and collaboration.

Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) were formalized and signed between Mapúa MCL and the following partner universities:

Northcap University is located in Gurugram, one of the start-up hubs of India. The MOU was signed last March 24, 2025 at the Northcap University Campus with Commodore Diwakar Tomar (NM) Retd., Registrar; Prof. Sharda Vashisth, Deputy Dean of International Affairs and Head of Multidisciplinary Engineering; Dr. Manoj Kumar Gopaliya, Dean of Academic Affairs; Prof. Swaran Ahuja, Advisor of Academic Affairs; and Dr. Pooja Sabharwal, Coordinator of International Affairs., representing the Indian university and Prof. James Ronald O. Mesina, Assistant Vice President for External Relations and Global Linkages representing Mapúa MCL.

On March 25, 2025, additional MOUs were signed with Chandigarh Group of Colleges and Presidency University. Representing Chandigarh Group of Colleges were Mr. Asimjot Singh Chahal, Head of the Department of International Affairs, and Mr. Sarbjit Singh, Manager of the same department, while Dr. Sivaperumal Sampath, Pro Vice Chancellor and Director of International Relations, represented Presidency University. On March 26, 2025, agreements were formalized with Üsküdar University, represented by Gürkan Dinçer, Erasmus and Exchange Program Manager, and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), represented by Assoc. Prof. Unggul Wasiwitono. The partnership with Chandigarh University was finalized on March 27, 2025, with Dr. Rajan Sharma, Executive Director for International Affairs, signing on its behalf. These ceremonial MOU signings were held at the Yashoboomi Convention Center in Dwarka, India, where Mapúa MCL participated as an exhibitor in the Asia Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Expo and Conference, reinforcing its commitment to global academic collaborations.

Prof. James Ronald Mesina shared optimism that these MOUs will be the start of a meaningful collaboration with these universities from three Asian countries that will focus on research, student and faculty mobility, and potential transnational education activities in Engineering, Information Technology, and Communication disciplines.

According to the head of Mapúa MCL’s Office for External Relations and Global Linkages, there are ‘low-hanging fruits’ in internationalization that we can grab with these partner universities stressing that colleges can always be creative in delivering their curriculum in teaching and learning. For instance, curricular programs on research and development of capstone projects in Engineering and IT, may be globalized by inviting foreign partners who are experts in these fields as panelists and technical evaluators. In this sense, we participate in home-based internationalization activities as defined by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 55, Series of 2016 that sets the policy framework for internationalization among higher education institutions in the country.

Moreover, academic seminars and conferences may also be globalized by putting in international lecturers from partner universities as speakers. Faculty members of partner universities are also willing to collaborate in jointly supervising students’ thesis and research activities.

“At the end of the day, internationalization is about enriching the teaching and learning experience by maximizing the use of available technology and expertise of our collaborators. Our stakeholders such as the faculty members, students, alumni, and school administrators must grab these opportunities to take our programs to greater heights in getting to Mapúa MCL’s vision of being a global steeple of excellence in professional education and research,” Prof. Mesina added.

For more information about collaborative partnerships and global engagement, interested parties may contact the Office for External Relations and Global Linkages through email: [email protected].