Press Release
UNO-R and SMART Grow in Partnership
SMART Network Services Assurance VisMin Head Menchie Quiñal and UNO-R President Fr. Sixto Bitangjol, OAR sign the agreement to commence with SWEEP Phase 2 while College of Engineering Dean Cris Taclobos looks on.
[September 30, 2008/ Manila] - The partnership between the University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos (UNO-R) and Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) has just been strengthened.
After four years of working together under phase 1 of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP), UNO-R and SMART enhanced the partnership by commencing with SWEEP Phase 2 and the Infoboard. These agreements were sealed during the university week celebration at the Bacolod City campus.
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of SMART who have unselfishly supported us not only in celebrating university week, but also in our educational pursuit of excellence. We share one noble task - quality education. SMART is simply amazing,” says UNO-R President Fr. Sixto Bitangjol, OAR.
At the MOA signing for SWEEP Phase 2, Engr. Christopher Taclobos, dean of the College of Engineering, also thanked SMART for providing them with state-of-the-art facilities and trainings on the new trends in Electrical and Communications Engineering (ECE).
Through the faculty immersion program, professors Noli Ortiz and Rolando Escalona were exposed to Emergent Telecommunications Technology. “I learned more about wireless communication, how it works and how to configure systems,” says Escalona. “Through this, I was able to improve my teaching methods by sharing actual experiences and presenting the video documentation of what I have learned to my pupils.”
Students were similarly given the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry through seminars, and to apply their knowledge in wireless applications development through the annual SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards. UNO-R shone during the last SWEEP Awards when 5th year ECE student Edward Warren Torres won the PalaECEpan quiz competition, which is held as part of the annual awards program.
“Through the seminars, we were able to learn the specifics of wireless communication,” says Brian Buenconsejo, a 5th year ECE student. “We gained more knowledge about sub-netting and networking, among others, and it helped us apply what we have learned in the classroom. We are very privileged to have the means to learn these things and thankful that this information is now within our reach.”
Aside from technical programs, SWEEP also teaches students to become responsible citizens through outreach and tree planting activities. Ria Dichosa, a 5th year ECE student, enthusiastically shares that the recent tree planting activity
“was a chance to venture to the other side of our profession, allowing us to widen our scope and to become responsible citizens.”
Moving Up
With the benefits that UNO-R has reaped during the first phase of SWEEP, university officials, as well as the students, are looking forward to another five years of partnership.
“The world has gotten smaller because of technological advances,” says Bitangjol. “SMART is giving us the opportunity to be part of the so-called global village. With easy access to information, we become smarter because of SMART.”
SWEEP Phase 2 provides partner schools with wireless broadband equipment and connectivity, additional trainings from SMART and its partners from Cisco and Trends.Net, continuation of the yearly Faculty Immersion for teachers and OJT for students, and the annual SWEEP Awards. Partner schools also get to participate in the annual School Congress where schools are invited to forums and learn from education experts.
UNO-R SIMs
UNO-R has also expanded the scope of its partnership with SMART by availing of Infoboard, SMART’s web-based group broadcast service. The service is available via a Smart Buddy SIM customized to meet the needs of UNO-R faculty and students.
The UNO-R SIM, which sports a look created by the university itself, was distributed for free among students who want to subscribe to the Infoboard as well as other upcoming services. SMART also treated everyone to a mini-concert top billed by the popular group Sugarfree.
With Infoboard, UNO-R can now send students information like class suspension advisories, announcements of school events and activities, among others. On the other hand, students can retrieve information like grades, tuition and class schedules. They can also send feedback via the service’s feedback module. All these features are available for a special rate of only P1 per SMS. Users of the UNO-R SIM can also call each other at a special price of only P3 per minute.
“Our lives at the university have become easier because of SMART. Infoboard gives us a wireless communications system that will help us, especially the students, to download information at a minimal cost,” says Taclobos. @