By Rusieljs G. Lunasco
The construction of the Christian Education Building began on June 19. CE Building will house Sunday School and Vacation Church classes as well as auxiliary organization activities.
Central Philippine University has started construction of the Christian Education Building.
It was three years ago when the University Church began campaigning to raise funds for the building. The Pastoral Staff, the Council, as well as the members saw the need for more rooms for the growing children’s ministry of the church.
“The Christian Education Building will be a big boost in the expanding ministry of the University Church specifically in the aspects of Christian nurture and discipleship,” said Senior Pastor, Rev. Cris Amorsolo Sian in a video for its fundraising campaign.
It was through the help of the administration as well as church members both here and abroad that paved the way for the realization of the project.
During the mid-morning worship service on June 21, 2020, Rev. Sian announced the beginning of the construction of the CE building.
Fabrication of rebars began on June 19 while concrete pouring commenced on July 3.
The Christian Education building, located beside the church will house the growing number of Sunday School and Vacation Church School Classes and auxiliary organization activities.
By Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso is the current General Secretary of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches.
Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, General Secretary of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, and faculty of the CPU College of Theology, delivered a presentation at the second Holistic Webinar of the Baptist World Alliance last January 18, 2022. The webinar was guided by the Theme, “New Models of Doing Church.”
According to the BWA Commission on Mission (https://www.baptistworld.org/), this webinar is “In response to the global impact of COVID-19 on the mission of the church.”
The webinar featured Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso who shared shared about “Leading the Church Beyond the Pandemic” and Lília Dias Marianno (Brazil) addressed how to “Be the Church Outside the Temple.” A powerful story by Asha Sanchu (Nagaland, India) entitled “Light in the Dark, Tiny Room” was also shared.
Rev. Narciso expouned what he contributed to Holistic Mission Guide published by the Baptist World Alliance. This guide was developed and released featuring over fifty articles from around the world. You may request a free copy from this site: https://baptist.lpages.co/mission-guide/
In this webinar, Rev. Narciso shared the following challenge,
“This Covid-19 pandemic presents new opportunities for us to rethink and reconsider our usual way of doing things as a church. This pandemic phenomenon is creating new realities, new relationships, new concepts, new ways of thinking and doing things. It is drastically changing our missional context and we are challenged to think “outside of the box.” Changes, innovations, readjustments and restructuring of our methods and approaches to doing missions are inevitable.”
By Cyrus A. Natividad
Rotary Club of Jaro Centraline with the CPU Rotaract Club in one of their mangroove-planting projects.
The Rotary Club of Jaro Centraline (RCJC), Special CPU Alumni Chapter is proud to announce that it is discussing plans to give scholarships for new work students of Central Philippine University for the First Semester 2020-2021. The new RCJC officers for the incoming Rotary Year 2020-2021 will recommend poor but deserving students who wish to continue and finish their studies.
It was learned from RCJC Immediate Past President, Evelyn Rose Catilo that new programs for student scholarship are under discussion. “There will be scholarship modifications due to the current pandemic,” Catilo said. “This new scholarship project is timely as the Rotary Year will start in July 2020 with the theme: “Rotary Opens Opportunities”, Catilo added.
The following are newly elected officers of RCJC who will be inducted in July:
President – Rene Grande Abordo
Vice President – Jec Dan Borlado
Secretary – Teresa Balogo
Treasurer – Shiela S. Inocencio
In Rotary Club of Jaro Centraline, it has been a tradition to provide scholarships in cooperation with Central Philippine University; awarding poor but deserving students. The RCJC continues to support the Rotaract Club of CPU, a campus organization that actively supports students in the campus.
by Edwin C. Laru-an
Nowlakha is a member of the CPU Lawn Tennis Team.
Name: Nikhel Supeda Nowlakha
Nickname: Baba, Negs
Height: 5’11”
Grade/year: 11
Playing Position: Singles
Coach: Alquin Flores
Hometown: Cabatuan, Iloilo
Achievements:
Champion – ISSC 2020
Champion – 18under BS Palawan Tournament, Iloilo 2020
Champion – 18under BS Palawan Tournament Roxas 2020
Semi-Finalist Integrated Meet 2019
Quarterfinslist – Batang Pinoy Nationals 2019
Scholar – Macs Crankit Tennis Tennis Academy, Sydney, Australia 2019
Runner-up – Paramatta Age Group, Sydney, Australia, 2019
Runner-up – Springwood Age Group, Sydney, Australia 2019
Champion – Regional PRISAA 2019
Scholar – Macs Crank It Tennis Academy, Sydney, Australia 2018
Semi-Finalist – Integrated Meet 2018
Runner-up – Philippine Sports Commission National 2018
Runner-up 16u BS- Palawan Tournament, Davao 2018
Semi-Finalist ISSC 2017
Champion- 14u BD Palawan Tournament – Dumalag 2017
Semi-Finalist- Integrated Meet 2017
Quarterfinalist – Palarong Pambansa 2016
Champion- 14under BD Palawan Tournament – Davao 2016
Quarterfinalist – Palarong Pambansa 2015
Bronze Medalist – Milo Little Olympics Nationals
Hobbies: playing drums, cooking, online games
Favorite Player: Sascha, Monfils
Most Memorable Game:
When I won over the ranked 1 national player in the National Milo Little Olympics.
Principle in Life:
No pain no gain. Practice until you don’t make it wrong.
What can you say as a player of CPU Golden Lions:
I am fortunate to be a Golden Lions player. Being a student-athlete of the school, you get the opportunity to improve your skills because of the facilities and with the best teammates.
Why did you choose CPU:
I believe CPU is the best school for student-athletes. Here, we have good facilities to improve our skills. We also have the best academic training. Although we give honor to CPU when we excel in our sport, we don’t get special treatment in terms of academics. I admire this school because it believes that we are student-athletes. So, there must be a balance between our sport and our academics.
By Cyrus A. Natividad
Montalvo has been a Junior NBA Coach going with the team in several ASEAN countries’ basketball tournaments. He is currently the Head Coach of the CPU College Basketball Team.
A Manila-based organization called “Pinoy Youth Dreamers” has tapped CPU Golden Lions Head Coach Matthew Jan Montalvo to coach in one of their online training sessions. Montalvo demonstrated to the online participants on July 6, 2020 his valuable basketball lessons.
Montalvo is a graduate of Central Philippine University College of Hospitality Management and has been a Junior NBA Coach going with the team in several ASEAN countries’ basketball tournaments. He is currently the Head Coach of the CPU College Basketball Team.
CPU Sport and Athletics Director, Mr. Edwin Caro Laruan said that, “CPU and the CPU Golden Lions are very proud of Mr. Montalvo, for having been tapped by Pinoy Youth Dreamers.”
You may visit Montalvo’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjOZS3gk0XLE5Kuuil7KPFQ
By Kristin Jesha Mari A. Sandig, AB Mass 4
It is now the second semester of the second year since online learning was implemented by my Alma Mater, CPU. Oh, how the world has changed! In the past, students had to travel to CPU to process their enrollment. Students had to endure the wait of pre-enlisting, advising, then falling in line for payment which takes a very long time considering the number of students in the university, after that there would still be verification. All of these were irritating yet marvelous experiences we had to endure. Now, it’s a different ball game. We enroll online. We pre-enlist, get advised, and check our schedules online.
It was at first chaotic for me to enroll online because I did not know what to do. There was one time I pre-enlisted a subject found on the pre-enlistment page and waited for it to go to the next step which never happened because the class was not given that semester. I had no idea what to do. Thankfully our department was reachable and they helped me settle the matter. So what are the steps to enrolling?
Step 1: Login to Centralian Student Services
What is the Centralian Students Services? Well, it’s the one that goes https://my.cpu.edu.ph which almost everyone should be familiar with by now. It’s the website where we can find out information. Classes, Registration form, and bills. This is very important. This is the key to all our online endeavors. There was one time I couldn’t access my account because I didn’t pay on time and was locked out. After paying, I waited for my account to be accessible but it wasn’t. It took me some time to figure out what to do. If you have the same problem just do this.
You can find a “Want to Reset your Centralian Account?” Message on the lower left portion of the screen. Click the blue here and it should take you to a page that allows you to reset. It will ask for your Student ID and email. After doing this you should be able to access your account.
For new students pre-enlisting, this isn’t the first step. It’s actually making the account to pre-enlist with. You will still need to go to the Centralian Student Services but you won’t be able to login since you don’t have a Student ID. You will need to ask for a Student ID. To do that you will need to create an account. On the welcome page on the upper left you will find a “Don’t have a Centralian Account?” It will ask you to click here so you can create an account. It will ask you for basic information which will be followed by an ID number given to you.
Step 2: Pre-Enlistment
Go to Subject Pre-Enlistment it will ask you to enter an active email address. It needs to be active because you would want to know when there is a reply regarding your enrollment. Then click on the Add Subject to list. This will show you the course curriculum checklist. Which subjects you should take for your course. Add the recommended and it will tell you to wait for the subjects to be reviewed and approved.
Step 3: Ask your department for updates
It doesn’t happen to everyone but there are times that it does. There are some classes that are listed but if without a teacher, it will end up to be not available for that semester. You might pre-enlist the subject and wait for it only for that subject not to be available. It is best to call the department to see what the status is. They will advise you what to do. For continuing students, there is the option of opening a special class in case the subject they need to take isn’t on the table.
(Note: Here is the phone and email directory: https://cpu.edu.ph/about-us/phone-directory/)
Step 3: Subject Assignment and Assessment
By this point, you will receive the email confirmation that your subjects have been approved and your schedule is sent to you. This is the chill part of the process. It’s the sign that you’re almost done. Yehey! Good job!
The next thing to do is how much you’re supposed to pay to be officially enrolled. You would need to check the Subject Assigned and Assessment and the enrollment process flow says that you will see your bill there but my page says differently. It always says Unable to find your subject assignment. For more information about the pre-enlistment, kindly visit your college or department. I had to get crafty in order to know how much I actually needed to pay. I would usually go to View Account Summary on the main page of my account then scroll all the way to the bottom. My student account ledger can be found here. I don’t know if it applies for new students but for continuing students they will be able to see their payments from the first time they enrolled. The bottom of the ledger will have my balance. It’s on to the last step after this.
Step 4: Payment
Tuition is payable through SM Bills Payment, Palawan Remittance Centers, and Banks. The official payment centers can be found on this site: (https://cpu.edu.ph/payment-options/). After the payment, you will need to send proof of payment to CPU Treasury. Email the amount remitted, your name, Student ID, and the bank/payment center along with a photograph of your receipt to cputreasury@cpu.edu.ph. There will be a confirmation within 3 working days.
With all of that, you’re now done. You are at last enrolled. All you need to do next is attend your classes diligently. See you online fellow Centralians!
Important Note: The process flow of the online enrolment can be found on this site: https://cpu.edu.ph/enrolment/online-enrolment-procedure/
Prof. Borlado during one of her online classes.
On July 6, Central Philippine University started its online class for the summer term. It was a new experience for both teachers and students as this was a new mode of learning for everyone. An instructor from the College of Nursing and a 1st year student from the College of Business and Accountancy share their experiences and difficulties that they encountered during their first day of online class.
“Transitioning from on-site to online delivery of a Nursing course subject presents a great challenge and significant change to educators such as myself. Mastering computer and technical skills, inputting modules online, redesigning the course outline, building a comfortable environment for learning online, etc. are some of the challenges for novice online teachers.
At the start of my online class, I reminded myself that challenges are inevitable, but they will be temporary. When you open yourself to innovation, new learning, and experiences, what follows will be less stressful and more meaningful.
As I continue to progress in this new normal, I discover that teaching online is more than just the mastery of a virtual management system of learning, software, and technicalities, but rather an exhilarating new phase in my teaching career, facilitating learning with creative and new teaching methods. As what Bill Gates said and I quote “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the students (kids) working together and motivating them, the teacher is still the most important.””
-Prof. Herme Agriam Borlado, Instructor College of Nursing
“This pandemic made me realize that education is a must and learning is a continuous process. Going into online class, I know that there will be a lot of experiences that will challenge, inspire, and enrich me to become a better individual.
I had mixed feelings the night before the start of our summer online class. I was also a bit stressed because we were the last batch to be informed about the join code to be used in our Canvas app. I was anxious about what’s going to happen but I was very excited to again be back in my schooling after how months of being in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, excited to learn new lessons and meet new teachers & classmates.
Our first session was a bit awkward because I only knew a few people from the group but I am thankful to our teacher for managing the online class well and for giving us proper orientation on what to expect in the coming weeks. With regard to our assignments, I’m happy because it was given to us ahead of time. I feel happy that our syllabus is organized and well-presented. The online class taught me to be more patient because there were many challenges that we encountered. For instance, the waiting time for our late classmates was caused by a weak internet connection or a blackout in their area and difficulty in using Zoom. So I suggest that our code be given to us ahead of time (1week before the class) so we could practice and be familiarized with Zoom/Canvas. We just need to help each other, be cooperative, and most importantly be patient because we are all in this together in facing the “new normal” of education in our country.”
-Kamille Christelle Denila, 1st year Financial Management Student
By Cyrus A. Natividad
Melba Capaspas- sale(CPUCN, Clinical Instructor and Research Coordinator).
On November 30 to December 1, 2021, Melba Capaspas-sale, CPU College of Nursing Clinical Instructor and Research Coordinator with her selected team members, attended the 16th E-Learning Forum Asia 2021-online upon the recommendation of CPUCN Dean Atty. Salex E. Alibogha. The forum was organized by the United Board and E-Learning Forum Asia. It was hosted by Unika SOEGI Japranata.
The forum focused on E-Learning and provided an avenue to advance knowledge in virtual teaching for international participants. Capaspas-sale said, “It was an online teaching; a revolution from the traditional face to face learning through the sharing of virtual experiences from different universities worldwide.” She added that “Researches on online learning were shared. Online learning pedagogy needs the preparation of learning-oriented devices and networks that are accessible and available to the students. These could be attained through the support of the school and parents. Digital Ethics is very important for teachers and students,” she emphasized.
Capaspas-sale shared the idea that teachers could utilize social games in giving learning tasks to students to make their online engagement more creative and enjoyable. These games “Could be applied to college students. Preparation of modules and presentations are done before the start of the semester. Innovative and creative presentation of topics, games and trivia are included.”
Participants appreciated the value of research dissemination through Virtual Conference. The conference let the participants feel that their research is important and not only as part of their requirement in the course but could be shared or translated to new knowledge.
From what other schools have shared, Capaspas-sale said that “I am happy and grateful that we are not behind new online innovations such as E-classroom (prepared online modules in Canvas and Digital ethics).
Central Philippine University College of Nursing maintains its academic integrity. Students are always reminded to observe netiquette. All courses in the University include an orientation on netiquette which is embedded in Canvas.
An observation from the College of Computer studies is that a hundred percent achievement in the E-Learning system in the University would be achievable in the near future.
By Rusieljs G. Lunasco
Elementary and Kinder Teachers had their training.
Faculty from CPU Elementary School and the University Kindergarten started a series of trainings on Schoology Learning Management System on July 2-3, 9-10, 2020.
4 teachers from the University Kindergarten, 34 from the Elementary School (including the principal and the assistant principal), as well as a librarian, a lab coordinator, 2 guidance counselors and a secretary attended the training. Also present during the training was CPU Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr. Irving Domingo Rio who observed the demo teaching.
“Schoology is very practical and easy to learn. I have been observing the training and I can see that the faculty are enjoying while learning the LMS. It’s nice to know that they’re all willing to acquire new skills through online learning,” said Dr. Rio.
University Elementary Principal Prof. Janet Jaco also shared her thoughts on the said LMS.
Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr. Irving Domingo Rio observing the training.
“For me, Schoology is a good LMS for basic education. It has a digital built-in classroom which means you don’t have to use Zoom or other apps to meet with your students. Parents can monitor their children’s performance in school since they also have their own account. As a principal, it’s easy to check on the classes and the parents as well. What we also appreciate about Schoology is that we get to have access to a lot of online resources.”
“It’s something new to us but it was very easy to learn. I cannot say that I’m an expert already, but we are taking it one day at a time,” said Elementary faculty member Mrs. Evamer Ruegg.
Schoology is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that provides all the needs of educators and academic institutions to create engaging content, lessons, and assess student understanding all in one platform.
Schoology is used in almost 1,000 schools all over the world.
By Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
The CPU Website placed 1st in uniRank’s 2021 Western Visayas Ranking and League Tables as the year 2021 ended. https://cpu.edu.ph also placed No. 16 among private schools in the country and No. 24 in the overall country ranking. It is notable that only one educational institution from Region VI entered the Top 30. The next school from the Western Visayas is the University of the Philippines-Visayas which is rank No. 34.
In uniRank’s latest regional ranking, CPU bested the University of the Philippines-Visayas, West Visayas State University, University of St. La Salle, and the University of San Agustin which placed second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
According to its website (https://www.4icu.org/about/index.htm#ranking): The aim of the uniRank University RankingTM is to provide an approximate global ranking of world universities and colleges based upon their web presence and popularity in terms of estimated traffic, trust/authority, and quality link popularity. This is especially intended to help international students and academic staff to understand how popular a specific higher education institution is in a foreign country.
CPU’s ranking is credited to the internet activity of its students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Let us continue to visit our website and read the latest news, announcements and memos. The online enrollment can also be found there as well the phone and email directory of the departments and colleges. You may also read the FAQ to answer your queries.
The CPU website is managed by the Office of Communications.
By Cyrus A. Natividad
The University Computer Service Center (UCSC) has been lending technical support and maintenance for online classes.
The University Computer Service Center (UCSC) is always ready to lend technical support and maintenance especially as the University prepared for the fully online class at all levels. The virtual classes need a stable internet connectivity, an infrastructure, and a Learning Management System.
UCSC Coordinator, Mr. Jojee Roy T. Juarez said, that during the lockdown period the UCSC upgraded its network lines, and installed wifi routers all over the university so that the classrooms will be ready for the online classes. Moreover, their 5 technical staff are always ready to troubleshoot network problems as well as hardware and software concerns. In addition, Mr. Juarez can also be seen in almost every webinar and online meeting for he is the one who sets up the online video conferencing software like Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, and others.
The UCSC also coordinates with the CPU Canvas Project Team with regards to the technical needs of the teachers.
The team is dedicated in “troubleshooting and coordinating with teachers and students in the virtual classroom operation,” said Juarez. Canvas is the official LMS internet platform that is being used in the collegiate and Senior High School levels. On the other hand, the Elementary School will be using Schoology as its LMS, and the Junior High School will be using Genyo Online Interactive Learning Portal.
By Nestle G. Taala
Pastor Malicia receives a native chicken as his prize from Dean Dr. James Cabarles.
As a reward for their hard work and productivity, Central Philippine University gave out Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos worth of native chicken and feeds to the two (2) most successful stewards of CPU-CPBC Chicken Dispersal Project namely Pastor Mirvin Cañete and Pastor Elizardo Malicia. They received their respective prizes from CPU on January 2, 2022.
With the goal of helping the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC), Inc. pastors with their livelihood projects; augmenting their meager income; and providing livelihood projects for their church members, Chicken Dispersal Project is a partnership between CPU and CPBC that started last December 2020 with 15 pastors receiving eight (8) chickens and two (2) roosters each. In this project, according to CPBC General Secretary Rev. Dr. Jerson B. Narciso, “the recipient who can produce more out of what they had received will be privileged to get incentives (additional chicken and feeds) from CPU.”
After a year from its implementation, Pastors Cañete and Malicia have the highest number of chickens. They had even given extra heads to their fellow pastors to raise it independently. Hence, the 60 heads of breeder stocks were given to the winners. It was added with six sacks of CPU Feeds. The remaining awards in the form of CPU Feeds will be given staggered. It is to ensure that the requirement of native chicken breeders for supplemental rations will be enough until they start to lay eggs.
The CPU-CPBC Chicken Dispersal Project is a continuing project for CPBC pastors and churches. The convention hopes that through this livelihood project, “we would be able to assist our pastors with their economic needs.”
Native chicken, as the specific subject of this project, “is easy to take care of compared to other farm animals. The production is faster due to the monthly production of eggs and chicks. The source of income can be eggs, chicks, and marketable chickens,” said Dr. Jaime C. Cabarles, Jr., CPU College of Agriculture, Resources, and Environmental Sciences.
Meanwhile, on a Facebook post, Rev. Dr. Narciso expressed his gratitude to University President Dr. Teodoro C. Robles, and Dean Cabarles for supporting this endeavor.
CPU, through Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando–on, author of Core Values of Central Philippine University, defines stewardship as “the proper and responsible management of life, position, possession, and other resources entrusted by God to man. This includes service, accountability, culture, and outreach.” Thus, CPU will continue to uphold projects such as this by recognition and aid.