In an effort to fast track its bid to become more competitive as a learning institution, the Manila Doctors College (MDC) invited two officials of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) for an orientation in preparation for the accreditation of the School’s Psychology program last July 15.
Dr. Rosita L. Navarro, PACUCOA Chairman, and Dr. Zenaida Austria, PACUCOA Accreditor, went on a campus tour of the College to assess the chances of MDC’s BS Psychology course passing the stringent requirements of the accrediting body
In the ensuing program, Dr. Navarro and Dr. Austria took turns enlightening the 46 participants including Mrs. Theresita O.Turla, MDC President, and key school officials on the technicalities of accreditation. Primarily, they define the process including its basic principles, processes, levels, values and benefits of being accredited.
The visitors also familiarized the audience with the structure of PACUCOA and its objectives, its member-schools, the programs it accredits, and the areas of program it surveys. They also presented the criteria for accreditations that also consist of the steps required in institutional self-survey, the timetable that must be set and, ultimately, the values that accreditation is putting forward to an applying institution.
During the workshop, a format of survey instrument and their respective criteria and standard was also presented. As a result, 9 PACUCOA areas were identified and their respective chairmen named. Accreditation criteria and standards were then identified. Dr. Navarro emphasized the importance of documentation and exhibits in each area. On her part, Dr. Austria elaborated more on the needed evidences especially in the area of laboratory and community development.
Dr. Armand Laguimun, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will lead the Accreditation program as Overall Chairman while Ms. Naomi N. Rosales, Program Head of Psychology, will act as Co-Chairman. They will draw support from 9 chairmen who will be responsible for an equal number of key result areas such as Purposes and Objectives, Faculty, Instruction, Library, Laboratory, Physical Plant and Facilities, Student Personnel Services, Social Orientation and Community Development, and Organization and Administration.
During the afternoon workshop, the participants were grouped into 9 representing the key result areas. They were tasked to discuss their respective concerns and to identify at least 2 strength and weaknesses in them. The area chairmen then reported their findings.
An ocular inspection of the school campus and its facilities capped the day-long affair.
Accreditation is a formal recognition of an educational program as possessing standards of quality or excellence based on the analysis of its operation in the context of its purposes and objectives. It is both a process and a result.