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Overview

The Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension’s 2008 Report

Olga M. Nuñeza, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension (OVCRE) had another banner year in 2008. Like most institutions dedicated to the generation and promotion of knowledge and technology, the OVCRE had to cope with rising challenges in a highly-competitive world with increasing knowledge-based needs. Conscious of this challenge and in support of the Institute’s vision of achieving excellence in its programs and activities, the OVCRE in 2008 set the directions of its research, development, extension and production (RDEP) initiatives on the increased generation, acquisition and application of knowledge and technology; an active R&D results dissemination and transfer of technologies; a responsive R&E capability building activities and community involvement; a strengthened R&E policies for increased RDEP activities and; the forging of sustained synergies for collaborative RDEP undertakings.

The different departments and units of the OVCRE had effectively responded to these challenges by working singly or together in pursuing activities significantly contributing to its accomplishments for the year. The efforts of the Department of Research (DR) were directed towards the promotion and implementation of research activities and policies. The Department of Extension (DE) took charge of many extension and community outreach activities. The Technology Application and Promotion Unit (TAPU) pursued activities related to the acquisition, development and transfer of appropriate bamboo, ceramic and building technologies. Lectures of faculty members and research publications and their dissemination were carried out by the Multi-Media Information and Dissemination Unit (MMIDU). The Center for Local Governance Studies (CLGS) and the Regional Center for Human Rights Education (RCHRE) were engaged in advocacies supporting sustainable local development and governance and the advancement of advocacies and human rights education, respectively.

In 2008, a total of sixty seven (67) research projects were conducted by Institute researchers. Twenty two (22) research projects were undertaken by the different departments and units of the OVCRE including the DR - supervised faculty researches, seven (7) of which were internally-funded while 15 were funded by other local or foreign institutions. The rest of the research projects were implemented by the different colleges of the Institute.

Ninety (90) reported extension activities involving skills training, capability building, technical consultancies and technical assistance to internal and external clientele were carried out by the OVCRE, the different academic units, and non-academic offices during the year. The various colleges in the Institute implemented a total of 64 extension projects in 2008.

Research efforts in the Institute were further strengthened by the implementation of two research policies that granted incentives to researchers. Researchers received monetary incentives for every R&E output published in internationally refereed and ISI certified journals. Another recently-approved incentive award was the monetary merit-based Incentive Award for Paper Presentations in International Conferences.

In 2008, the VCRE participated in several conferences and training programs: four (4) international, one(1) national and eight (8) regional and, local conferences, trainings and programs. The VCRE presented a paper, ”Diversity and Endemism of Vertebrate Fauna in Mt. Malindang, Philippines” during the International Conference of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Parimabo, Suriname, South America. Her other international involvement included the DAAD program for International Deans Course for Southeast Asia in Osnabrueck and in Berlin, Germany; ”Invasive Species Program” in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia and the 2008 Island Species-Led Action (ISLA) in Guam, USA.

OVCRE achieved another milestone in 2008 for the establishment of the Knowledge Management Center (KMC) in the Institute (BOR Res. No. 202 s. of 2008). Recognizing that knowledge is vital to the creation of a sustained competitive advantage in the pursuit of organizational excellence, the VCRE conceptualized the proposal of the KMC after her attendance in the International Productivity Conference on Knowledge Management in Bangkok, Thailand on January 17-20, 2007. The KMC aimed at institutionalizing measures that would integrate and link MSU-IIT’s information platform with knowledge dissemination in order to bring cultural change to the Institute by encouraging all stakeholders to involve themselves in the learning, sharing and networking processes.

OVCRE was tasked to pilot and implement the two forms of KM, the visual and the IT-based knowledge repository and their preparations. One unique feature of the OVCRE KMC was initiating the conduct of weekly meetings directed at knowledge sharing, knowledge dissemination and staff interaction to enhance a knowledge-creating capability towards the development of new knowledge, change in values and concrete achievements.

Collaborative activities were also actively pursued during the year. As the Regional Coordinating Center (RCC) of the Philippine Association of Tertiary Level Educational Institutions in Environmental Protection and Management (PATLEPAM), the Institute joined in PATLEPAM’s Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Program, a Philippine Climate Change initiative. The DE was assigned to conduct the energy audit in the Institute through actual visits and distributions of survey forms to all offices. The audit results should form the basis for policy formulations in energy conservation within the Institute.

Other collaborative efforts included the conduct of externally-funded research projects. Linkages for funding support, research and extension projects and publication exchanges were actively pursued in 2008. Institutional tie-ups with DOST, CHED, SEARCA PATLEPAM, DAP, NOMCARRD, and NorMinCoHRD were further strengthened through collaborative undertakings.