On August 10 – 15, 2014, nine college administrators (4 religious and 5 lay administrators)
and one (1) lay personnel flew to Singapore for a 5-day book selection and benchmarking
to selected universities in Singapore. Prior to departure, the Collection Development
Team has been given a short orientation on the St. Thomas of Villanova Libraries’
budget and collection development priorities of which the following disciplines/programs
were given emphases: psychology, mass communication, accountancy, financial management,
human resource development management, marketing management, hotel & restaurant management,
tourism, nursing, electronics & communication engineering, computer engineering,
industrial engineering, computer science/information technology, criminology, general
engineering and general education.
The Collection Development Team was composed of the following religious and lay administrators
and academic librarians, namely: Rev. Fr. Cristituto A. Palomar, OAR (College President),
Rev. Fr. Albert A. Pellazar, OAR (VP-Academics), Rev. Fr. Domingo E. Saladaga, Jr.,
OAR (VP-Finance), Rev. Fr. Samuel L. Eyas, OAR (Director of Religious Education),
Mrs. Jennifer B. Escobar (Dean, College of Arts, Sciences & Nursing), Engr. Norman
G. Tallud (Dean, College of Engineering, Computer Studies, and Technology), Ms. Rosalita
P. Samoy (Dean, College of Accountancy, Business Administration, and Hospitality
Management), Mr. Felipe R. Costuna, Jr. (Dean, College of Criminal Justice Education),
Ms. Aileen B. Suyo (Technical Services Librarian) and Mr. Marcial R. Batiancila (Director
of Libraries).
On the first two days, the Team visited and selected books and other reference materials
in the following publishers’ showrooms and warehouses: (1) Elsevier Science, the
publishing company which holds 60% of the world’s materials in medical and health
science and known for its high level collection of titles for Science and Technology;
(2) Cengage Publishing, a multi-disciplinary publisher on Allied Health and Nursing;
(3) Sage, a reputable publisher of books related to education, psychology, business
and public administration; (4) Taylor & Francis, a distribution company of all
publications of Taylor and Francis and also other agency titles like American Psychology
Association; (5) Cambridge University Press, a multi-disciplinary publisher whose
strength lies in English learning and teaching materials, literature, social Sciences,
engineering and business; and (6) Wiley, a multi-disciplinary publisher which cover
the following disciplines: accountancy, agriculture, arts & architecture, business
& management, chemistry, computing, culinary & hospitality, earth, space & environmental
sciences, economics, education, engineering & materials science, humanities, law
& criminology, life sciences, lifestyle, mathematics & statistics, medicine, nursing
& dentistry, physics & astronomy, psychology, reference, social & behavioral sciences,
veterinary medicine & world languages.
On the third and the fourth day of the visit, the Team has benchmarked with three
prestigious universities in Singapore, as follows:
1. Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore’s first autonomous government-funded
university offering undergraduate, graduate, and PhD programs in Business Management,
Accountancy, Economics, Information Systems Management, Law and the Social Sciences.
A premier university in Asia and internationally recognized for its world-class research
and distinguished teaching with an emphasis on generating rigorous, high-impact,
multi-disciplinary research that addresses Asian issues of global relevance, SMU
faculty members collaborate with leading international researchers and universities
from USA, Europe, China and India as well as with partners in the business community
and public sector through its research institutes and centers;
2. Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is the fastest-rising Asian university
in the world's top 50. The university has colleges of Engineering, Business, Science,
Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and an Interdisciplinary Graduate School. NTU
is also home to world-class autonomous entities such as the National Institute of
Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore,
and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering. In the QS World
University Rankings 2013, NTU was ranked 41st globally and 7th in Asia. NTU’s international
standing has risen rapidly in recent years and it has been consistently ranked within
the top 1% of universities globally (77th in 2008; 73rd in 2009; 74th in 2010; 58th
in 2011, 47th in 2012). In October 2013, NTU climbed 10 places to be ranked 76th
worldwide in Times Higher Education's World University Rankings. For the first time,
NTU is ranked 1st in the world for industry income and innovation, a big jump from
last year’s 15th place;
3. National University of Singapore (NUS), a leading global university centered in
Asia and Singapore's flagship university which offers a global approach to education
and research with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. NUS is well-known
for its research strengths in engineering, life sciences and biomedicine, social
sciences and natural sciences. Major research thrusts have been made recently in
several fields such as quantum technology; cancer and translational medicine; interactive
and digital media; and the environment and water. The University also strives to
create a supportive and innovative environment to promote creative enterprise within
its community.
Indeed, these universities are the top performing educational institutions in the
ASEAN Region of which SSC-R de Cavite would look up to in improving its organizational
performance and on how the institution can maintain its competitive advantage in
this part of the country.
This international trip was made possible through the sponsorship of MegaTEXTS, Phil.,
Inc.
