2008 is about to end and it needs to be higher and renewed again to retain and continue what have been started from this year to the coming year.

My academic year in UIC is quite fulfilling, challenging, and how could I say this, stressful?. Personal life is not an exemption to this. Anyway, the bottom line is that you are happy to serve and from the heart, you do want to advance the program you belong to and the institution as well that gives you the source of living for the entire year.

I will give you the highlights of our achievements and “downs” in our program this 3/4 era of academic yea. This was as well the response of long time request of our ITE alumni that wants to be updated with the latest happenings in the program and to UIC as well.

1. June 2008 - The academic started with a bang. Nearly 400 standing freshmen in our program that resulted to 6 sections for BSIT, 1 section for BSCS, and 4 BSIS respectively, not to mention the transferees, shiftees, and returnees. In totality, we had 757 determined students and aspiring to become ICT professionals. And for this, we were the highest when it came to the number of freshmen. Kudos to our program. This month was one of the stressful months I had, scheduling was not an easy task, attending the academic concerns of more than 700 students were no joke. We had a strong tie-ups with our industry linkages and signed up MOAs such as the Sutherland BPO, Concentrix (Formerly LInk2 Support) and etc. For the second time around, we signed a MOA for our community and academic linkages such the SPED Computer Development System that caters to the computer literacy of “super” rural places and schools in Davao City which have no access to computers and Internet. I was assigned to head and lead this computer literacy.

2. August 2008 - The significant event here WAS THE FORMAL VISIT OF THE ITE PROGRAM by the PAASCU. The program was evaluated critically in 9 areas but the accreditors were focusing on these 3 areas, quality instructions, efficient laboratory, and the competent faculty line up. The accreditation went smoothly, and the result will be given after 3 months.

3. September 2008 - Intramurals 2008 came, and we were declared as the Overall CHAMPION in all areas (Sports and Literary/Musical Events) . Engineering did not join this time since they were the champion for 11 years. But next year, it will be a good fight between the two giant programs.

4. October 2008 - Before the closing of the 1st semester, we competed in the 3rd Mindanao Wide ICT Quiz Show in Cagayan de Oro with the rest of the best colleges and universities in Mindanao. With lacked of preparations due to delayed communication from the organizers, we have managed to grab the 4th place overall. Good enough but we could have done better. Time is really an important element in all aspects. Anyway, I brought with me two seniors from BSIT and BSCS namely: Aiza Loraine Mencidor and Catherine Remolleno. Another milestone of the program was the participation in the prestigious 2nd National Philippine Inter-Collegiate Programming Contest in Cebu City, specifically at University of San Jose Recoletos. With more than 40 teams from all over the Philippines, the UIC-ITE Programming Teams have managed to nailed the UIC in the top 12 best performing schools in the Philippines. The UIC  have sent two teams named as Sitsiritsit Autobots and Alibangbang Decepticons teams. These were the teams we have sent to the 1st National Philippine Inter-Collegiate Programming Contest in DLSU Canlubang in Laguna, Philippines and that time we were in the top 10 best performing schools in the country. Though, we’ve missed the top 10 best performing schools, still we were proud of you! Cheers to that!

5. November 2008 - Welcome to 2nd semester, expectedly and traditionally as observed, there was a declined in the number of enrollees in all programs, but amazingly and unexpectedly, the ITE program has managed again to retain its 8 sections of determined freshmen. Well, generally, we have encountered some problems on faculty loadings (we lacked 2 full time faculty members),  room and laboratory assignments, and others. Those problems were solved for around three weeks, you imagined that I am carrying those luggages with me every now and then. The solutions? Hmmm… JUST SEE ME IN PERSON AND I WILL TELL EVERYTHING FROM STEPS 1 TO THE LAST and you will be amazed to it.

6. December 2008 - At last, the 3/4 academic year is here. This month was started with the celebration of the Feastday of the Immaculate Conception, the blessed mother of all. This month was exciting since all ITE students were waiting for this, the annual PSITS (Philippine Society of Information Technology Education Students) Region XI Sportsfest and ITE Nyt. This time, the Brokenshire  College hosted the event with free of charge. ITE Schools and Students from the region were gathered for a 2-day events. For the first time, UIC-ITE Program was declared as the overall champion this year. Congratulations guys for the job well done! We’re really proud of you!

But, have you remembered the PAASCU Visit last August, what was the result? The memorandum from the office of the University President was circulated to formally announce that the “Information Technology Education Program was granted an initial accreditation for 3 years”, that means we were granted a Level 1status with no interim visits/follow ups fro 3 years. Congratulations from Administration, Faculty, Students, and Staff. We made it!

Here’s the last achievement, the UIC SSG and from the Office of the Dean of College with the coordination of the Music Program and OSAD has initiated an Inter-Program Christmas Chorale Competition held at the UIC Main Auditorium. The 9 programs were required to perform and only 1 common song or piece to be performed on stage by all programs. To make the story short, again, the ITE program was declared champion in the first ever Christmas Chorale Competition. One good thing there, the University President congratulated me and the program with these words, “You’re my bet and my number 1!” This time, the pressure was with us and the challenge was for the rest of the programs.

All in all, we have so much blessings this year and we awe these all from God. The UIC-ITE Program is not just good in one side but a holistic program. You can see and witness the excellence of the ITE Program in academics and extra and co-curricular arena. We really mean our slogan that, “We don’t choose the BEST, we create them”.

We are always bringing out the best from and for our students. The breakthrough of our program today is the reflection of ourselves.

Merry Christmas and have a prosperous New Year to all!