(L-R:) Asst. Prof. Remsce Pasahol, Dr. Finaflor Taylan, Dr. Joane V. Serrano, Dr. Chai-Lin Kao, and Professor Yong-Chao Su
On 02 May 2025, a team of UPOU officials led by UPOU Chancellor, Dr. Joane V. Serrano, met with Kaohsiung Medical University’s officials to strengthen collaborations and explore other possibilities under the UP VINTA program, the International University Social Responsibility (IUSR), and other internationalization initiatives.
Dr. Taylan and Dr. Serrano discuss partnership opportunities with Vice President Kao.
The UP system, through UPOU, promotes the uplifting, upskilling, and reskilling of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) through the UP Ventures for International and Transnational Academia (VINTA) program. It aims to give OFWs and their families access to UP’s quality education. Meanwhile, the IUSR framework, promoted by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education (MOE) and Taiwanese universities, aims to foster global engagement, address sustainability challenges, and promote shared experiences and strategies for social development. Both initiatives call for stronger ties between UPOU and leading academic institutions globally, like KMU.
Collaborations on Course Development
During the meeting with KMU’s Vice President for Global Affairs, Dr. Chai-Lin Kao, the medical university agreed to explore utilizing and promoting UPOU’s offerings among its faculty and staff, especially to improve their English language skills. This includes all degree program offerings, Continuing Education Programs (CEP), Microcredentials (MCs), and the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In addition, KMU would also explore the co-development of MCs and MOOCs with UPOU as part of the UP VINTA Program.
KMU and UPOU also have an initial agreement to explore the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) classes. In this method, faculty members from the two universities could co-facilitate classes, especially related to health sciences such as chemistry, nursing, and international health.
Meanwhile, the UPOU also met with Dr. Fan-Hao Chou, a professor from KMU’s College of Nursing. Dr. Chou happily shared that KMU is among the leading nursing schools in Taiwan and houses a rich knowledge resource base that UPOU can tap. However, the challenge is that most of these materials are in Mandarin. Co-delivering non-formal courses in multiple languages is a possibility for UPOU and KMU.
(L-R:) Dr. Taylan, Dr. Serrano with Dr. Chou and Dr. Su.
Among the banner programs of KMU is their Master’s in Long-term Care, which is tailored to their ageing population. This can be a great source of materials and experts for non-formal courses and trainings that UPOU and KMU can co-offer to nurses, caregivers, and other practitioners.
Hub for Global Engagement
The UPOU Team also visited the proposed IUSR Office, which can be a hub for mentorship and knowledge exchange between the two universities. The Office will be hosted by the College of Life Sciences under the leadership of Dean Sodio Hsum and Professor Yong-Chao Su, Edu-Connect Executive Director.
The Office can be a place where the two universities can plan the IUSR activities, such as the Project Lakbay, which raises youth awareness on global sustainability initiatives and empowers youth to participate in meaningful actions toward sustainable development. Here, Taiwanese faculty and students visit the Philippines, while KMU also hosts UPOU and its partners in knowledge exchange activities in Taiwan. The IUSR framework can also be tapped to expand research and public service initiatives for social transformation.
Dr. Su (far right) shows Dr. Serrano and Dr. Taylan the proposed office of the International University Social Responsibility (IUSR) and learning hub for OFWs.
KMU is also open to using the IUSR Office as a learning hub for OFWs, Filipino scholars, and other stakeholders who will take courses under UP VINTA. Considering the potential of the IUSR Office for stronger global engagement, UPOU committed to providing a similar facility in its headquarters in the Philippines.
Chancellor Serrano was joined by UPOU Faculty of Management and Development Studies Dean, Dr. Finaflor Taylan, and Asst. Prof. Remsce Pasahol, Program Development Associates for Linkages, during the UPOU’s visit to KMU. They were welcomed and assisted by Professor Yong-Chao Su, Edu-Connect Executive Director and Associate Professor at KMU.
Written by Anna Cañas-Llamas and Remsce Pasahol ♦ Edited by Remsce Pasahol
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