Florida-based Santa Fe College and Urdaneta City University in Pangasinan signed a partnership agreement establishing innovative virtual student exchanges on disaster resilience in local communities last July 28.
Visiting Santa Fe College President Dr. Paul Broadie and Urdaneta City University President Dr. Amihan April Alcazar signed the partnership agreement at the conclusion of a symposium on technical-vocational education held from July 25 to 28 in Makati City.
This partnership will allow students of the two higher education institutions to exchange knowledge and propose solutions that address pressing disaster-related challenges faced by their respective communities, such as hurricanes and typhoons. One program under this partnership is STEMTank 2023, which will train Filipino students to design resilient community essentials, such as disaster response shelters, using 3D printers.
The signing of this partnership agreement is the result of the U.S. government-funded Community College Administrator Program (CCAP), a five-week, U.S. government-funded exchange program that enabled 21 Philippine technical-vocational education representatives to discuss best practices and experiences in community college operations and workforce development with U.S. community college officials, legislative leaders, and senior policymakers in Florida last month.
“The CCAP is an exemplar of the evolving collaboration between U.S. community colleges and Philippine post-secondary education sectors, which include both higher education institutions and technical-vocational institutions,” Dr. Alcazar said.
“This year, we are celebrating 75 years of the Fulbright program and the incredible legacy of U.S.-Philippine academic and professional exchanges. The U.S. Embassy is proud to be part of the success of CCAP and looks forward to increased academic exchanges between our countries in the future,” U.S. Embassy Public Engagement Officer Pauline Anderson said.