VSU has just opened a brand new school year on August 23, 2021. This is the second academic year under a flexible learning setup.

Just like last year, a systemwide onboarding program for both faculty and students was held to prepare everyone for the class opening.

The Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA) through the Office of the Director for Instruction and Evaluation (ODIE) spearheaded the faculty onboarding program which ran from August 16 to 18, 2021.This was complemented with a separate onboarding program for newly hired faculty members which was held from August 19 and 20.

Simultaneous to the two day extensive training for new instructors was the general student onboarding program mainly organized by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services (OVPSAS).

Meanwhile, separate college onboarding programs were also held for the 8 colleges and 4 component campuses of the VSU system from August 23 to 27, 2021.

The faculty, student and the college onboarding programs followed a similar format to last year’s pioneering event with the faculty onboarding program exclusively aired on VSU Workplace while the general student onboarding program live-streamed through the official Facebook page of the university.

The college onboarding programs were independently organized by the component campuses and the different colleges of the VSU system with its broadcast mainly transmitted through Zoom with a simultaneous livestream through their official college Facebook pages.

Prizes flooded the faculty onboarding program

To add fun and excitement to the marathon training program exclusive for VSU faculty members, various prizes were given to selected winners of the online raffle and interactive games.

Prizes included flash drives, reams of bond papers, electronic loads, VSU products, and other items useful for online learning. These prizes were sourced from personal cash and goods donation of the various officials of the VSU system.

Important topics covered in the faculty onboarding program include strategic management, faculty rights and obligations, faculty development plan, gender mainstreaming and anti-sexual harassment policies of the university, quality assurance and program accreditation, workload matters, grading system, library services, health and wellness services offered by the infirmary, and a re-orientation on the VSU e-learning platform, among others.

Three new topics were included in this year’s faculty onboarding which include basic first-aid responses tackled by the College of Nursing (CoN), do-it-yourself physical fitness activities that can be done at home facilitated by the Institute of Human Kinetics (IHK), and the psychosocial support services for teachers discussed by the Office of the Dean of Students (ODS).

Dr. Beatriz S. Belonias, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, reminded all VSU faculty members to practice greater flexibility, extra patience and compassion in dealing with their students.

“In our second year into this new normal education, may we continue to uphold our last year’s battlecry that no Viscan shall be left behind. We should extend kindness to our dear students without compromising the quality of education that we have been known for,” Dr. Belonias said.

13,744 Viscans welcomed in the student onboarding program

VSU President Edgardo E. Tulin led in the ceremonial opening of classes in a virtual program that registered almost 3,000 live online viewers aired in the morning of August 19.

In his message, Dr. Tulin welcomed a total of 13,744 registered students of the whole VSU system composed of 1,319 students from VSU Alangalang, 1,270 from VSU Isabel, 2,377 from VSU Tolosa, 749 from VSU Villaba, and 8,029 for the VSU Main Campus located in Baybay City, Leyte.

The VSU President also reminded students to continue adhering to the guidelines set by the authorities in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. He also encouraged Viscans to become ambassadors of science in their respective homes by promoting vaccination especially for those people who are hesitating to get inoculated.

“As students of the premier university of science and technology in the Visayas, you have the responsibility to advocate for scientific advancement. I hope that by now, you already understood that it is only through science that we can defeat COVID-19. That’s why we also need your help in convincing many people, especially those around you, to trust science,” the VSU President expounded.

Dr. Tulin also added that vaccines are by-products of science and that they do work, no matter what their brand, especially in protecting people from contracting severe cases of the corona virus disease. Full speech of the President can be read here.

Among the topics tackled in this year’s general student onboarding program include admission and retention policies of the university, academic guidelines, student rights and responsibilities, appropriate online behavior of Viscans, the free education law, gender mainstreaming and anti-sexual harassment policies, library services, health and wellness programs including those specific for mental health interventions, auxillary services of VSU, the myVSU student portal, the VSU e-learning platform, anti-plagiarism tool available for both students and faculty members, importance of teacher’s evaluation, and the customer feedback system of the university.

Dr. Aleli A. Villocino, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services, closed the general student onboarding program by posing a challenge to the student leaders manning the different organizations of the VSU system.

“I would also like to address our student leaders to actively partner with us in OVPSAS so that we can formulate policies that will improve student services within our beloved VSU. We are already in our second year in this new normal setup, and I think it’s time that we get to rev up student proactiveness and leadership within our five campuses by organizing activities that will promote mental health and student camaraderie among Viscans,” Dr. Villocino said.

In case you missed both the faculty and student onboarding programs, professors and instructors can replay the entire faculty onboarding program in the VSU Workplace while students can visit the official VSU Facebook page for the recorded videos of the general student onboarding program.

The different college onboarding programs can be reviewed in the respective Facebook pages of your own component campus or college.

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