January 14-15, 2025 – Gearing up for the 2^nd semester AY2024-2025, MPC holds IGNITE, the 4^th in a series of Ignite Programs since it started in 2023 at the 5^th floor of the New Academic Building.  Designed to foster professional development and preparedness prior to the opening of classes, the Ignite Program was an initiative of the College President and implemented by the Vice-President of Academic Affairs. Ignite ensures that the faculty members are updated on new College policies or changes in the curriculum or new teaching methodologies.

This year’s Ignite (Day 1) informed and enlightened the faculty members on the following developments:

A. HR Hour

With the goal of “Empowering Team MPC Toward Excellence”, the HRDO through the leadership of its OIC-Director Dr. Sheila I. Villanueva, Supervising Administrative Officer, sought to implement various strategies such as establishing a strategic HR, installing mechanism for agile succession, and building a culture of excellence. To this end, the HR has endeavored to:

1. Obtain a clear picture of MPC’s workforce by updating its database to come up with the general profile of both the faculty and non-teaching staff in terms of educational qualification and plantilla. To date, the MPC family has a total of 411 workforce, 284 of which are faculty members while the remaining 127 are in administrative positions. The 284 faculty members comprised of 19 faculty members with doctorate degree, 29 with academic requirements for their doctorate degree, 30 with doctorate units, 49 with master’s degree, 11 with completed academic requirements in their masters, 14 with earned MA units, and 1 faculty with no MA units. Of the 284 faculty members currently employed at MPC, 146 are holding permanent positions, 8 are temporary, 113 are part-timers in the undergrad, 16 part-timers in the Graduate School, and 1 COS. For the non-teaching staff, 81 non-teaching in are permanent, 1 secondment, 6 COS, and 39 job orders, totaling to 127.
2. Facilitate the 55 promotional appointments and 30 hiring/original appointments. The College is still to fill the remaining 36 plantilla positions for faculty and 21 plantilla positions for administrative position.
3. Currently facilitating the acquisition and installation of the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) for efficient and paperless transactions.
4. Install the Internal Rules of Procedure for Hiring and Promotion pursuant to CSC MC No. 19, s. 2005 (Model Merit Systems for Faculty Members of State Universities and Colleges and Local Colleges and Universities), 2017 Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Human Resource Actions Revised July 2018, and MPC Approved Merit Promotion Plans for Teaching and Non-Teaching Personnel 2024. And reintroduced the mechanism for the Grievance Machinery pursuant to CSC MC No. 2, S. 2001.
5. Introduce the new MPC Dress Code pursuant to CSC MC No. 16, s. 2024 on the “Revised Dress Code for Government Officials and Employees”.
6. Take lead in the PRAISE Program dubbed as “Honor’s Night” last December 2024.
7. Conduct Training Needs Assessment (TNA) in order to come up with trainings needed by the faculty and employees. With budget allocations for PRIME HR (PhP100k), training, rewards and recognition (PhP1.1M), and Holistic Well-being/Cultural Program (PhP100k), HR shall enhance the capability of the PRIME HR, spearhead the conduct of trainings based on the results of the TNA, PRAISE 2025, and 2025 Year-end Convocation, and facilitate a holistic well-being/cultural program.

B. MPC ReSOLES TBI

Dr. Dionell Chris Batoon, OIC-TBI Project Lead, introduced the ReSOLES TBI, short for Reinnovate Shoes and Other Leathercrafts for Entrepreneurship Startups Technology Business Incubator, MPC’s arm in driving innovation in the footwear and leathercraft industry and in promoting technology business incubator program which is seen to create jobs, innovation hubs, community, and drive economic growth. Dr. Batoon informed the attendees that the MPC is one of the 10 HEIs which received a 2-year DOST funding and assistance for the establishment of the TBI.

MPC TBI is focused on aiding business startups involving leather and alternative materials, energy-efficient manufacturing, smart footwear and leather goods, and e-commerce. So, if you are needing office space, mentorship, access to investors, networking, professional, and support from other entrepreneurs, you may visit them at their newly inaugurated office at the 3^rd floor of the new Administration Building, Marikina Polytechnic College.

The MPC TBI team is composed of: Dr. Chris Dionell Batoon. Project Lead; Prof. Anna Kristina Buday, ITSO Head; IRGO Director Jerry F. Napay, Jr., IBM Prog. Chair Arnold Johnsen R. Acedera, and Prof. Mary Grace P. Goño, DBA, as members.

C. Instructional Materials Development and Evaluation

Prof. Angelo Jabilles, OIC-Director, CIMDO, discussed the process involved when writing instructional materials and informed the faculty that the developed/written IM will undergo evaluation by a committee formed for this purpose, prior to its use.

D. Navigating Ethics and Maximizing Visibility on Google Scholar and ResearchGate

Dr. Glen R. Mangali, OIC-Director, RDO and concurrent OIC-Dean of Instruction, discussed ethical practices in academic publishing in online research platforms and increasing the faculty member’s profile’s visibility in Google Scholar and ResearchGate once they have already created an account since these two are powerful tools for enhancing visibility.

“Visibility in research is achieved through citation, transforming your work from solitary pursuit into a shared contribution that fuels the collective knowledge of humanity,” says Dr. Glen Mangali.

Specifically, he taught the attendees strategies on the following aspects: increasing research visibility and impact, optimizing their profiles in the two platforms, increasing citation rates and engagement. He also urged the faculty members to take proactive steps to maximize their impact through visibility because it is essential for academic growth.

*Note: Day 2 Ignite activities are posted at the MPC Official Facebook page.

Topic 1: Fostering Inclusivity in Higher Education: Strategies for Using Gender-fair Language in the Classroom (link here.)

Topic 2: Global Citizenship Education (link here.)

Topic 3: The Philippine Credit Transfer System (link here)

Topic 4: Integration of HALAL Food Standard Compliance (link here)

Click the link for more pictures:

https://sites.google.com/mpc.edu.ph/mpc-links/news-and-events?authuser=0#h.basi8vk4rjda

Records and Information Center

Photos: J. Bombita