BukSU preps up for MOU with UP Diliman

University of the Philippines Diliman College of Social Sciences UP Diliman and Philosophy Dean Dr. Maria Bernadette L. Abrera meets with Associate Prof. Walter I. Balane, Head of BukSU – Bukidnon State University BukSU’s Center for Peace Studies, on August 17, 2023 in the CSSP Conference Room, in Palma Hall, Diliman, Quezon City for discussions in preparation for the drafting and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Bukidnon State University and the University of the Philippines – Diliman, with the CSSP as its initiating unit.

Dr. Joy M. Mirasol, BukSU President, initiated this connection through an earlier meeting with Dr. Andres Ignacio, who is one of the faculty members of CSSP.

Mr. Balane relayed to Dean Abrera the intent for possible collaboration in the four fold functions of the university, including some key peace studies areas such as risk reduction, resource conflicts and environmental disaster risks, and geo-spatial research.

Dean Abrera, who assigned the Population Institute as the lead CSSP Unit for the engagement, offered benchmarking visits, faculty and student exchanges, two-way capability building initiatives, and collaboration in research endeavors. She hinted collaborations especially in CSSP’s and BukSU common programs such as Sociology/Social Sciences, Philosophy, and Linguistics. She also welcomed the invitation by the BukSU Center for Peace Studies for capacity building in Qualitative Research and related disciplines.

”We might be able to do joint research projects and co-sponsor conferences,” she added. She also invited BukSU to mount an exhibit in UP Diliman to showcase the university’s thrusts and asked to be invited in Bukidnon also where UP Diliman can do the same.

The two officials also discussed some common difficulties with sensitive research sectors as well as critical areas where joint research could also be possibly done.

Dr. Maria Midea M. Kabamalan, UP Population Institute Professor, joined Dean Abrera in the meeting.

Mr. Balane offered the meeting hosts with a gintawan, or traditional wrist band made of a vine, which is a product of the youth of the Bukidnon Daraghuyan in Dalwangan, Malaybalay City. The Bukidnon Daraghuyan are indiginous peoples stewarding an ancestral domain at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park.

Under the Deanship of Dr. Abrera, according to the UP website, CSSP envisions regional and global research and extension collaborations and is currently formulating multidisciplinary, relevant, and niche-building research themes to achieve this goal. A new extension activity, the CSSP Professional Education Series (PROFESS) was also initiated to provide continuing professional education for social science teachers and researchers in the country.

Dr. Mirasol, who became BukSU President in February 2023, has pushed for a Future-ready Smart BukSU. Her flagship Smart BukSU vision covers Smart Education, Smart Students, Smart Research- Development and Extension, Smart Governance, Smart Campus, and Smart Workforce.

The other research centers of BukSU under the OVPREI are the Center for Mathematical Innovations, Center for Educational Analytics, and the Center for Local Governance. (With reports from Center for Peace Studies).