SEARCA gears up to implement online Strategic Communication Planning Workshop

  • By Jean Rebecca D. Labios
  • 31 January 2022

Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) continues the implementation of the Leveling Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project funded by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED). After the successful implementation of the 2nd Leadership Development Program for HEIs in the Philippines last year, SEARCA is now set to run the online Strategic Communication Planning Workshop: Enhancing Communication Skills for Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines (StratCom4HEIs) beginning 1 February until 14 March 2022 via the SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagements (SOLVE) platform.

ECLD-T4DU together with some of the StratCom4HEIs participants during the on-boarding session  on 28 January 2022.ECLD-T4DU together with some of the StratCom4HEIs participants during the on-boarding session on 28 January 2022.

The LevelUPHEI AFAR project aims to upgrade the institutional capacities of the State Universities and Colleges – Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines, Inc. (SUC-ACAP, Inc.) and its 75 members through Short-term Training Programs and Cross-visits, and participation in University Consortium activities. All events and activities under this project are by invitation only for SUC-ACAP member institutions.

Under the Short-term Training Programs component of the project, the StratCom4HEIs intends to boost the participants’ ability to articulate the role of public communication in higher education in the Philippines. It is designed to capacitate participants to describe the concept and elements of public communication, develop a public communication plan for their respective institutions, and learn essential skills in public communication. This online training workshop was designed in collaboration with the College of Development Communication (CDC), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

With 24 participants coming from 18 SUCs in the Philippines, StratCom4HEIs will help HEIs upgrade their strategic communication and communication for development methodologies amidst the current fast-changing landscape of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This online training-workshop consists of eight modules and seven workshops, which will lead participants to developing strategic communication plans for their respective home institutions.

SEARCA’s Education and Collective Learning Department-Training for Development Unit (T4DU) oversees the implementation of the training-workshop. Along with the Center’s Management Information Systems Unit (MISU), they will provide both the technical and administrative support for the program.