Category: CNUFeature

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CNU-CN honors 2019 NLE passers

Certified nurses from Cebu Normal University (CNU) who recently passed the 2019 Nursing Licensure Exam (NLE) were ecstatic as they were acknowledged during the Honoring Ceremony organized by the CNU-College of Nursing (CN).

Fellow CNU 2019 NLE passers enthusiastically cheered and made loud noises as the topnotchers of their batch were called to give their message during the event which inspired the nursing students from the lower batches (levels 1 and 2).

Members of the administrative council also gave messages to the students along with the parents, guardians, and teachers who witnessed the occasion that took place last Monday, January 27 at the CNU Tandang Sora Hall.

Dr. Daisy Palompon, Vice President for Academic Affairs, who is a nurse herself credits the culture of excellence in CNU: the administration, faculty members, and parents; and the learners as the basic foundation why CNU CN has kept the 100 percent passing percentage in the NLE for 10 years.

She said that the right environment, right people, and right students combined is CNU’s formula of success.   

Dr. Filomena Dayagbil, CNU President, acknowledged the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) who sponsored the event and the parents who have supported the graduates.

“Excellence has been our way of life,” Dayagbil said that it is CNU’s open secret why it has produced topnotchers for successive years.

She said that excellence is embedded in the culture of the University. She challenged the NLE passers to utilize the excellence that they have honed in the University to create significance in their future workplaces.

43 CNU nursing students from class 2019 took and passed the November 2019 NLE. Two of which are Jasmin Claire Tamang and Jorel Franco Antone Tangpuz who secured the 4th and 5th places respectively. Class 2019 batch is the 10th batch to garner a 100 percent passing percentage since 2010.

Tamang shared that it is her dream to become a nurse since she was young. She said that dreams are valid and attested that they really can be attainable.

Tangpuz imparted the importance of having a growth mindset than that of fixed mindset; to be malleable for change and development which he learned along the four-year journey in college. He encouraged lower batches to have the initiative to take hard projects and activities as an opportunity to learn and become experts in the field. (JDF)

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CNU holds Seminar on English Language Teaching Through LIPS

With Cebu Normal University (CNU) aiming to improve English teaching skills, several students from the College of Teacher Education (CTE) attended a seminar entitled, “Seminar on the English Language Teaching through Localization, Imitation, Practice, and Standardization” at the Eva Macapagal Memorial Arts Center yesterday.

Keynote speaker Dr. Faramarz Samifani, Assistant Professor in Japan’s Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare, shared his dissertation on the said topic.

He discussed his formulated method called LIPS (Localization, Imitation, Practice, and Standardization), emphasizing the importance of culture when teaching and learning a language.

LIPS encourages the students to imitate the teacher, allowing the practice of language through role playing, and broadens the learners’ concepts of the English language by exposing them to a variety of contexts.

When asked how he formulated LIPS, Samifani shared that it is through his experience and period development in CNU that enabled him to formulate this method.

“All over 40 years of living in five different countries and travelling more than 10, I suddenly put everything together on how we actually learn language,” he said.

He also furthered that through the seminar, students and teachers will be able to have an idea of what they can do more in the field of teaching as well.

Dr. Maria Nancy Quinco-Candosales, CNU Graduate School Chair, also expressed how seminars like these cause great impact on the students’ perceptions towards work life.

“It is very helpful if we are going to invite most of our successful graduates to come back and share not only what they have learned, but what they can give back in terms of how they have made a difference in the lives of the people,” she added.

Words by Orly Joromat
Photos by Jessa Louise Cabahug and John Paul Fajardo

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CNU: a multigrade advocate

Cebu Normal University (CNU) precedes mandated teaching strategies as the only laboratory school in the entire Philippines that trains multigrade student interns to equip future educators on how to teach students in an unconventional way.

According to Mrs. Imelda Montalbo, multigrade Student Teaching Mentor (STM), CNU is the only academic institution in the Philippines that has incorporated multigrade in its laboratory school after Philippine Normal University (PNU) and other schools have stopped integrating it in their curriculum caused by its decreasing demand in highly urbanized cities.

Multigrade is an education method where a teacher conducts classes to primary students of multiple grade levels in a single classroom. It is applicable to schools located in far-flung or mountainous areas where school teachers are scarce and are forced to teach many grade levels simultaneously.

Based on the 2019 A Review of Current Situation and Practices of Multigrade Schools in the Philippines, there are 8,379 multigrade schools out of the 38,911 public schools in the Philippines. In Region 7, there are 405 multigrade schools.

In support to the Multigrade Program of Philippine Education (MPPE) Omnibus Policy of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED), CNU next year will formally add a three-unit multigrade course in the curriculum of students taking Bachelor of Elementary Education during the second semester of their 3rd year in college.

CNU has started to incorporate multigrade in its Integrated Laboratory School (ILS) since 2002 where student interns are handpicked to teach a multigrade class of grades 1 to 3.

Now, it has been reduced to two grade levels (grades 1 and 2) after practicing the combination method of DepEd.

In the past, student interns assigned for multigrade were given orientation and field study before the actual training but in the new curriculum, all students will be taught multigrade regardless if they will be handling monograde or multigrade during their internship period.

Judilyn Fuentes, a multigrade Student Intern, said that it is good to include multigrade in the curriculum. She said that multigrade classroom management is challenging and student interns who would go through it would become hardworking afterwards.

Montalbo said that the instruction of multigrade is beneficial since most teachers will teach in remote areas. It will also provide good teaching experience and prepare student interns not just for monograde. She said that many teachers who have undergone multigrade internship have expressed their gratitude after being assigned in far-flung or mountainous areas.

Shejanie Camposo, a multigrade Student Intern who is a product of multigrade herself, mentioned that she now realizes the effort of her former multigrade teacher and is proud that her teacher had endured handling multiple grade levels at once with about 20 to 30 students per class in the mountain region without electricity.

Adielyn Caitor, a multigrade Student Intern, said she would consider practicing multigrade after college but would also put into consideration her health and safety.

Montalbo recommends other Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to bring back multigrade in their laboratory schools to train more student teachers to be ready for the actual field. (JPF)

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CNU partners with BCERT for its ERT

Cebu Normal University (CNU) partnered with Base Camp Emergency Response Team (BCERT), Inc. to establish and equip its own Emergency Response Team (ERT) in preparation for any emergency incidents in the University.

BCERT is a non-profit search and rescue group founded by Joseph Inosante and Paul Morris that provides trainings on disaster preparedness. They also give assistance during an emergency or an aftermath of a calamity locally and nationally. Members of the group have also been invited as resource speakers in one of the trainings in the University and have been instrumental in forming the CNU ERT.

CNU ERT was formally established last July this year after Lloyd Vincent Derasin, College of Nursing (CN) instructor joined BCERT and was able to motivate a group of his students to apply also. Derasin then became CNU ERT Coordinator and together with his students embarked on a mission of forming CNU ERT which aims to protect Normalites in times of disaster and emergency.   

CNU ERT started with six members, two of which are nursing alumnae and four are current nursing students. Together, they became BCERT’s junior strike team called Charlie.

Jade Mikaela Agot, 2nd year BS Nursing student and CNU ERT Operations Head said, “Since kami tanan kay gikan man CNU (Since all of us are from CNU), we all pledged to help out in forming CNU ERT, mao na kami pioneers (that is why we became pioneers).”

According to Derasin, student organizations from other colleges had actually made an effort in establishing an ERT like the Council of Liberal Arts and Sciences Students (CLASS) who acted as paremedics during last year’s intramurals. However, CNU ERT envisioned of having a university-wide ERT composed of the student body. Thus, after calling a meeting with the different college student councils, a unified group was then created. 

CNU ERT now has 44 applicants who come from all colleges of the University. Derasin said that the screening process is thorough and it really takes time to become a certified member of the group. Interested members should be committed to attend the trainings to equip them with the salient capabilities to successfully take on the responsibility.

BCERT has continually supported CNU ERT through the different partner trainings they give including Basic First Aid (BFA), Basic Life Support (BLS), vital signs training, and different simulation activities. BCERT has also donated equipment to the school and has shared their rescue tools during the Equipment Static Display that was held last September 30 to October 1, 2019.

BCERT has also assisted during the University’s Institutional Earthquake Drill this October and on the Intramurals week with CNU ERT, and CNU Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as the medical team.

CNU ERT and BCERT are now training other scouting units from other schools. (JDF)

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CNU bags FOI award

CNU is 2nd runner-up for the 2019 Freedom of Information (FOI) Award – State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) Category and is the only school in the Visayas to be part of the finalists this year.

CNU received a plaque of recognition conferred by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) during the 2019 FOI Awards held on December 12, 2019 at The Peninsula Manila, Makati City.

It was organized by the FOI-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) under PCOO.

There are five categories for the awards given to recognized departments, agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations, SUCs, and local water districts. There are three nominees per category.

On the SUCs category, the Kalinga State University-Main is 1st runner-up while Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) is the Champion. Both schools hail from Luzon.

The FOI award is given to government institutions who showed exceptional and significant contribution to FOI program’s progress and development in pursuance to Executive Order No. 2, series of 2016 which mandates government institutions’ transparency of public service for national development. It was approved and signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on July 23, 2016.

The giving of FOI awards is on its third year now which started in 2017.

CNU has extended its assistance to the FOI program as host during the conduct of the FOI Workshop for librarians on August 9 and the 2019 PCOO Roadshow and Campus Caravan which took place on August 27.

Public Information Officer Kim Francis Rodriguez who received the award on behalf of CNU said he’ll continue advocating for the programs of FOI by improving the services of PIO. He said FOI is important to fight corruption and is a basic criteria for good governance.

 “The right to information is every Filipino’s basic right,” he said. (JDF)

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CNU goes international for YMAC 2019

The University, which has been known for being a powerhouse of talents, has been all over the Philippines for academic and extra-curricular activities alike. But this time, it has exceeded expectations and broken barriers – it brought the prestige on a worldwide scale.

The Youth Models Asian Conference (YMAC) is a tertiary conference that emulates an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit which is participated by China and four ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines – with Singapore Polytechnic as this year’s host from September 30 to October 2.

Over the three days, the participants were expected to take on the role of ASEAN delegates to discuss economic, security, social, and cultural issues that affect their respective countries and the world as a whole.

Phoebe Godinez, a second year BA Communication major in Film Media student from Cebu Normal University (CNU), was one of the representatives of the Philippines and she said to have looked forward to the event as early as her coronation for Miss Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) in 2018.

“It was already announced that the winners of Mr. and Ms. PASUC 2018 would get a chance to participate in YMAC prior to the national competition and I was definitely excited for all the opportunities given to me especially the conference since it would be my first time out of the country”, she explained.

During her experience, she recalled that her team, Captain Planet and His Crew, was assigned to expound more on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 which was Responsible Consumption and Production.

SDGs are 17 global goals designed to answer pressing problems and create a sustainable future for the world.

Godinez said that their SDG mainly focuses on resource and energy efficiency, to which they pitched the solution of creating a Plastic for Food centers where people can come exchange their plastic wastes for food and their group planned to turn over their collected plastics to waste management facilities and recycling plants.

 She said she didn’t mind being the only Filipino in her group who were full of Singaporeans and Indonesians.

“I love seeing my new international friends and learning about their cultures knowing that I am also growing as a person”, Godinez said.

Towards the end of the conference, she said that all the participants, including her group, presented their projects in an exhibit and they had a mock ASEAN Summit then a closing ceremony.

“The most important thing that I learned from the conference is cultural intelligence – that learning and adapting to differences in tradition and culture enrich communication and action towards world problems”, Godinez stated as her overall impression of the event.

YMAC was a huge step for the university to get out and be in the international spotlight and this opens up another gateway of opportunities for students which can hone their capabilities and raise their awareness on various issues facing the world today and what are the possible sustainable solutions for these. (Rhina Tabada, BA Communication Film Media 2)

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Excellence is normal in CNU

Graduates of the three colleges of Cebu Normal University secured highest places in their respective board exams this year.

CNU’s three colleges – College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Teacher Education (CTE), and College of Nursing (CN) – have constantly proven their ability to hone undergraduate students well as they continue to yield top achievers in various licensure examinations for a good number of years now.

CAS groomed Shelter Anne Hernando (4th placer) and Jamaika Lyze Lumacang (9th Placer) during the October 2019 Psychometrician Licensure Examination. CTE tutored Rebekah Louise Rosito (5th Placer) during the September 2019 Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) on the Elementary level. Finally, CN prepared Jasmin Claire Tamang (4th Placer) and Jorel Franco Antone Tangpuz (5th Placer) during the recent November 2019 Nursing Licensure Exam (NLE).

“I am very, very happy that the tradition of excellence continues,” CNU President Filomena Dayagbil said.

“The name of CNU is actually tantamount to quality and excellence and we have proven it through the years through the efforts of our faculty, our students, administrators, and all the stakeholders,” she said.

CAS Dean Dr. Milagros Greif said that the CAS faculty and department chairs have looked into strategies to increase the percentage of board exam passers. An increase of 14.7 percent was recorded this year as compared to 2018’s passing percentage. She also said that they have tapped CNU Faculty Association Incorporated (FAI) to conduct reviews for graduating students which is cheaper than other review centers. Lectures have also been done where topnotchers from previous board exams are invited as speakers to share their experiences and insights. CNU CAS has produced five topnotchers in the Psychometrician Licensure Exam since it started in 2014.

CTE Dean Dr. Ethel Abao said that students can top the board exam since the culture of excellence has been established in CNU for a long time. She said that the practice of tests used in board exams help students to be accustomed to it. CTE educators from the college department and Integrated Laboratory School (ILS) also take turns in giving free review enhancement programs to students through their special project called Concerted Action to Raise Excellence (CARE). She admits that CARE still needs to be strengthened to achieve the 100 percent passing target. The three CNU campuses – Main, Balamban, and Medellin – should also work together in order to attain a higher percentage of LET passers, she said. CTE has produced 31 topnotchers in the last 10 years.

CN, on the other hand, has consistently been part of the top passers of NLE in the past 10 years and has been considered as one of the top-performing schools in the Philippines with a 100 percent passing rate. 48 CNU CN students have made it to the top 10 list in the last 10 years.

CN Dean Dr. Noemi Yntig said that the support of students’ family is a big factor to success along with the teachers’ constant follow-up on the students’ school performance. She said that success is achieved through collaboration. She also accredits the screening and elimination process during enrollment that selects the best students.

“Excellence is always a way of life for all of us here and it is manifested by our outcomes,” Dayagbil said. (JDF)

 

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CAS Dean wins national biotechnology award

Dr. Milagros Greif, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Dean was awarded as one of the outstanding Filipinos in the field of biotechnology.

She was recognized together with nine other awardees during the 4th Filipino Faces of Biotechnology Awards Night on November 26, 2019 in Quezon City. It was given by the Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO).

Greif said that she is very happy to receive such a prestigious award on the national level. She said she is thankful to Dr. Daisy Palompon, Vice President for Academic Affairs who nominated her and for Dr. Filipina Sotto, her mentor, and Dr. Laurence Garcia, Center for Research and Development Director who assisted her with the requirements. She is the only Cebuana to receive the award this year.

 

Greif has been awarded specifically as an outstanding researcher on urban pest control through biotechnology.

Greif said that she has studied mosquitoes for more than 15 years. She finished her masters in Biology specializing the study of insects. She also had her doctorate studies in Germany as a scholar in the field of Biology with a dissertation on biochemical, molecular, and microscopic studies in mosquitoes. After which, she worked in biological control, the use of certain bacteria to kill mosquitoes without the use of chemicals that disrupt biodiversity. She then replicated here in the Philippines what she learned in Germany, and modified it to adapt in tropical weather conditions.

She said that the biological pest control was applied initially in Balamban as part of her extension project.

“We tested it already but we are not yet on the process of selling,” Greif said.  

“I think mosquitoes are very interesting insects because they’re very small but the negative impact that they will bring to humankind is very huge,” Greif said narrating how her interest started after choosing it as a thesis topic when she took her master’s degree.

She said that a child dies of malaria every second and stressed that this is the reason why mosquitoes should be studied.

“It’s killing the lives of the people,” she said.

“Children are dying because of dengue and I really have to look into it, to study deeper and then find ways on how we can contribute in addressing this problem because it involves lives,” Greif said.

The Filipino Faces of Biotechnology Award was conducted by DA-BPO in time for the National Biotechnology Week held annually in the last week of November. It is given to Filipino individuals who have contributed to the advancement of biotechnology in the Philippines. (JDF)

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He Came: A Yuletide Thanksgiving

With a few days left for Christmas, hearts are filled with excitement and joy. Preparations are in full swing, and carols fill the cool yuletide wind.

The real essence of Christmas was made felt by the angelic symphonies of the Cebu Normal University – Chorale (CNU-C), warming the seventh floor of the Teaching Arts Centrum (TAC) building with joyous merrymaking on the first night of December.

Carols and cheers rekindled the audience’s spirits, and so did chorale’s solidarity as the night brought together its past and present members on stage.

Professor Darlane A. Yap, Director of CNU-C,
shared that the inspiration of the concert called “That’s Why He Came” was taken from the chorale members’ idea of Christmas.

“We have this [concert] because we want to launch the students […]. I made it a point nga rather than crab mentality, it’s the ‘bayanihan’ that we are doing so that we can maintain CNU-C,” Yap shared.

In medleys of yuletide serenades, the exemplary upbringing of both old and new generations of CNU-C showed their unwavering passion, talent, and shared love of music.

None had gone to waste.

The tiring trainings that required the students to tune both academics and passion, and the Saturday pauses from adulthood stress the alumni experienced were all paid off by the success of the concert.

Ivory Pauline Escarro, one of the alumni of CNU-C who joined the concert expressed, “[To] be a part of the chorale is [for] lifetime; naa na gyod ang commitment sa amoa even though stressed nami sa amoang trabaho.”

On the other hand, a perfect duet of happiness and intimidation sang at the back of the members’ head on days of rehearsals and performing with the alumni, knowing that they were the ones who had built the name of the chorale.

“Wala pa mi ingon nga nakaapas sa ilang level gyod. […] Kami, as for now, igo pa gadala sa pangalan but hopefully amoang ma-uphold ang legacy,” Ryle Winsley Ricaplaza, CNU-C president, shared in an Ang Suga interview.

During the event, the group’s vocal consultants Ritchie A. Asibal and Teodula Liz Cal stunned the audience with their solo performances on “We Are the Reason” and “Light of a Million Mornings”.

One of many songs that were sung are the Pater Noster by L. Delgado, Let’s Go Caroling by Sterling, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hanson, Feliz Navidad by Rooze, and Joy to the World by Handel.

As the special night neared its end, they performed local songs that hit close to heart such as Pasko Na, Sinta Ko by Cabasura, Sa Paskong Darating by Ramos et. al, Corpin’s Pasko sa Amoa and Ting-a-ling, marking a lasting memory to the listeners.

Music was the life that came when He first cried. With the tiles on the keyboard and strings of the violin, the voice of CNU-C gave birth to a night of spectacle and thanksgiving—one as blessed as the eve of His coming.

Words by Mikaela Jane Dagani and Leonel Quillo
Photos by Retlyn Ereca Ceballos

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CNU Balamban campus gears toward students’ welfare & development

Cebu Normal University (CNU) Balamban Campus has always strived for the development of its students in any good platforms available and possible. The University believes that the students’ welfare will always be its top priority in any undertaking, so that the students will soon become part of the country’s workforce and agents in nation-building. With this, different activities have been made for its clienteles.

Last October 30, 2019, the Balamban Campus celebrated the University Wellness Program in partnership with Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) Family Medicine Department and Philippine Red Cross Cebu Chapter that offered Free Health Consultation and conducted a Voluntary Non-Remunerated Mobile Blood Donation to the students.

It was spearheaded by Mrs. Ria Letigio, School Nurse, with the support of the Dr. Levi Atibula, Balamban Campus Director. It was actively participated in by the students, faculty members and non-teaching staff.

A symposium on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Health, and First-Aid Awareness was also done with the aid of the aforementioned University partners. The symposium was a very good reminder for everyone to be extra-mindful of their health and diet as they strive for a better lifestyle.

Furthermore, different Awareness Programs were also held for the students last October 30-31, 2019 about Drugs; November 6 to 7, 2019 for Gender; and November 13 to 14, 2019, a forum on Magna Carta for Women. This series of programs was done courtesy of the Gender and Development (GAD) Office in CNU Main Campus.

Through the symposiums, students acquired new knowledge that allowed them to widen their perspectives on different matters. Hence, the activities and events are great avenues for students to be more aware, careful, and educated as the University fulfills its vision and mission. It is also a way of living life with a purpose that is to serve humanity in all goodness. (AMB)

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