MINERVA BC NEWMAN
DUMAGUETE CITY— Short courses and certificate programs will soon be available online at Silliman University (SU) at the Dr. Mariano Lao Studies Center to enable students from anywhere in the world to experience SU’s whole person education.
The Center is named after Dr. Mariano C. Lao, a 2018 Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee who pledged to donate Php20 million for the Center’s facilities and equipment, Dr. Betty Cernol McCann, SU president, unveiled the plan to establish the Center during The President’s Hour, a fundraising event on August 26, 2022 at Silliman Hall.
Once established, the Center will have its main facility located at the Portal East building.
Silliman University aims to position itself at the forefront of international and online distance education by offering short-term, online academic programs through the Center, to help expand the university’s reach of its existing academic programs through ICT-enabled strategies, McCann said.
The programs that can be completed online, including short courses and certificate programs, will include new topics that are interdisciplinary and globally oriented to develop new competencies among learners.
The University also wants to enhance and expand its partnerships and linkages through the Center, as it plans to develop academic programs and courses in collaboration with its network of alumni who are professionals in various fields, and its institutional partners in the country and abroad.
Lao supports the Center’s establishment as his way of “giving back” to his alma mater. He is also known for establishing in Silliman the Dr. Mariano Lao Innovation, Creation, and Invention Laboratory; Mariano and Lina Lao Hall Activity Center; Mariano and Lina Lao Scholarship Grant; Dr. Mariano Lao SOS Fund; Dr. Mariano Lao Educational and Emergency Support Fund; and the Dr. Mariano Lao Excellence Awards in Online Teaching and Learning.
