By Michael Aaron Gomez
Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) President Fr. Joel E. Tabora, S.J. signed on Wednesday, 7 August 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding as well as a Memorandum of Agreement with his counterpart, Fr. Dunstan Vinny Joseph, S.J., the Director of the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Institute for Higher Studies (SAG-IHS) for collaborative academic and outreach programs between the two schools for the people of Taunggyi, Shan State, Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Wednesday’s signing renewed the partnership between AdDU and SAG-IHS, which had begun in 2012. The Memorandum also indicated further points of collaboration between the two institutions, which includes developing “a roadmap detailing the plan of action towards SAG-HIS becoming a degree-granting institution;” AdDU providing assistance to SAG-IHS in “reviewing the latter’s existing curriculum for the purposes of developing it into degree programs for either Education or Social Work;” studying the “possibility of an offshore degree program for SAG-IHS…and implement the program as a transitional mechanism contributing to SAG-IHS being able to grant its own degrees;” and AdDU sustaining its outreach efforts in Myanmar through its Cardoner Volunteer Program. Relatedly, the Memorandum of Agreement also signifies the partnership between AdDU and SAG-IHS in undertaking the Ateneo de Davao University Cardoner Volunteer Program, which is a year-long volunteer service program offered to graduates and faculty members of AdDU.
This partnership is designed to serve the faculty and students of SAG-IHS from the rural communities in Taunggyi, Myanmar. The memoranda will be effective for five years after the signing.
