(JAN. 12)—Have you heard of AADO?
It’s a new office in UP Diliman (UPD). It stands for Academic Assessment and Development Office.
And, they’re in need of office staff!
The AADO was created with the approval of the UP Board of Regents (BOR) at its 1352nd meeting on Jul. 30, 2020. And it is mandated to ensure the achievement of the objectives of the University’s AADS (Academic Assessment and Development System) and strengthen UPD’s quality assurance (QA) measures.
The AADS is defined at the AADO proposal “as a system-wide mechanism that assures the Filipino public as well as national and international stakeholders that UP programs and delivering units meet standards of academic excellence as currently defined within the changing context of local, national, regional and global developments that have had profound impact on universities worldwide.” The BOR institutionalized AAD on Dec. 30, 2018 at its 1340th meeting.
In an email correspondence with Prof. Aura C. Matias, PhD, said AADO is currently operating virtually and is manned by only two people, herself, and Michael Madriaga, University Research Associate (URA) from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) on additional assignment,.
The first AADO director, Matias is Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology and Professor 12 of the College of Engineering and its former dean. She is also an ASEAN Engineer. Matias’s appointment as AADO director began on Jan. 1, 2021 and she will hold office until 2024.
She is concurrently the Center Director of the Philippine Learning Center for Environment and Social Sustainability (PHILCESS) of the UP National Engineering Center,
Matias said there are only “just me and Mr. Michael Madriaga (URA) from the OVCAA on additional assignment,” at AADO and that “He is allowed to report to me twice a week.”
As such the office is in need of more staff, “We are currently recruiting six non-UP contractual,” Matias said.
In a post Madriaga made on his Facebook page, the available positions are Junior Managing Researcher, Senior Research Analyst, Junior Office Manager and Junior Research Associate. The deadline of application is on Friday, Jan. 22.
AADO is under OC supervision because, “Quality assurance is a holistic approach covering strategic, process and information management systems that interact with each other for enabling the institution to improve its processes. It requires top management support and involvement of everyone in the organization. In higher education, quality assurance is both in terms of academic performance as well as administrative operational efficiency,” Matias said.
This early, AADO has mapped out the Office’s activities for the year.
The projects calendared for the first half of 2021: ASPIRE 40 and 5.0 with 100 participants set from February to May; PEEST Program/Performance Excellence and Evaluation Strategic Training Program (PQA/Philippine Quality Awards Road-mapping Workshop) in February; and Assistance to Degree Programs applying for External Assessment/Accreditation from January to June.
ASPIRE 4.0 and 5.0 will target the administrative staff and REPS from the degree-granting units (where each batch will train 50 participants).
PEEST Program (PQA Roadmapping Workshop) is a program designed to help participants appreciate and understand the critical value of PQA. The output of this workshop is to design a roadmap for UPD’s PQA application.
“We aim to win a PQA Award for UP Diliman within 2-3 years. This award will provide us with the affirmation that we have been successful in our quality journey,” Matias said.
Meanwhile, AADO will provide assistance to Degree Programs applying for External Assessment/Accreditation:
AUN-QA (BS Education; BS Political Science; BS Tourism; and BS Computer Science)
PTC-ACBET (BS Chemical Engineering; BS Metallurgical Engineering; BS Mining Engineering; and BS Materials Engineering).
“The AADO is UPD’s commitment to aligning its quality assurance initiatives with the UP System’s Academic Assessment and Development System (AADS). It is envisioned to provide QA-related programs, guidance, and support to UPD’s academic and administrative units,” Matias said.
For more information on AADO, visit their website at aado.upd.edu.ph