LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The new leadership of the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) urged its local, regional, national and international partners to help elevate the status of the higher education institution to a higher level to make its present and future graduates globally competitive in their respective fields of expertise.
Speaking before the simple turnover rites held at the BSU closed gymnasium Wednesday, BSU president Dr. Felipe S. Comila admitted his administration will be confronted with numerous challenges in most aspects of the academe, especially that the world has been struck by the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that ruined the gains achieved in advancing the state of education in the country.
However, he pointed out that the institution will find the appropriate avenues to work through the challenges and allow the institution to continue gaining headway to greater heights despite the prevailing difficult and challenging times.
The BSU president asserted the institution cannot efficiently and effectively hurdle the challenges that is besetting and will confront the institution without the active participation of the concerned government agencies, the local governments, the private sector and the stakeholders who are always ready to extend a helping hand for the university to be able to achieve its vision, mission, goals and objectives as enshrined in its road map.
“We will try our best to use the effects of the pandemic to the greater advantage of the institution as we do not want to be left behind in these difficult and challenging times. Surely, we will be able to empower our stakeholders to think out of the box on how to work through the effects of the pandemic and use the same to the advantage of the institution as we gear to move out and improve the school’s status in terms of competitiveness among other aspects of the academe,” Dr. Comila stressed.
According to him, the task given to him to lead the institution in the next 4 years is enormous as he will have to fill out the huge gap created between the university and its various partners which might take some time, but efforts are now being done to reach out to everyone to restore the solid partnership established in the past that made BSU one of the prestigious higher education institutions in the country.
He emphasized his administration will always be open to suggestions and recommendations from the public on how to further improve the university’s existing service and how it can be instrumental in improving the state of agriculture and ecotourism in the highlands it being an agriculture-based institution that should improve the status of farmers through the conduct of researches and infusing investments on post-harvest facilities, among other important facets of the lucrative trade.
The president stipulated that problems being encountered in the ongoing transition is part of the adjustments that have to be experienced but he assured the officials and employees that everything is under control and things will normalize once people are able to adjust to the policies that will be enforced. By HENT