Commensurate to CBSUA’s goal of enabling transformative and inclusive learning, through the efforts of the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Curricular Reforms and Development Office, a collaborative meeting with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)-Bicol was set on August 19, 2021, 1:00PM at the CDE Reading Room.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Ana E. Miraña, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Prof. Vergel Miraña, CRD Director, Dr. Marilyn Balderas, the Dean of CANR, Prof. Remar F. Canonico, BAT Program Chair, and five (5) faculty members of CANR. ATI-Bicol was represented by Dr. Franklin Bel T. Isip, Chief of Career Development and Management Services Section, and Mr. Froy P. Beraña.
The attendees agreed upon a proposed curricular offering for the target beneficiaries which initially includes four courses to be taken in one-year and is planned to commence on the 2nd semester of S/Y 2021-2022. The Micro-credential Certificate Program in Agriculture will be offered to ATI’s identifies farmers wherein ATI will conduct classes and monitor the farmers’ performance through the assistance of CANR faculty members. which will be submitted for the approval of the Board of Regents. The said collaboration also aims to empower the farmers and boost their morale since they will be able to study in an academic institution through the assistance of ATI.
It was decided that CBSUA and ATI will hold a Stakeholders Meeting on September 24, 2021, to be attended by the farmers together with the CBSUA and ATI representatives to identify the farmers’ needs. This will ensure that the crafted curriculum for Micro-credential Certificate Program in Agriculture will be appropriate for the learning needs of the farmers. Moreover, a 10-Day Training of Trainers (TOT) will be facilitated by ATI from September 27 to October 8, 2021, to be attended by 15 faculty members who, after qualifying for the training requirements will be given access to ATI instructional resources and will be given certification to teach Farm Business School.
Furthermore, the ATI-Bicol imparted another program, #Sarabay Channel which is an (Online Distance Training) tool that provides training and extension services to agriculture and fishery stakeholders. This will be the next step of the CANR-ATI Collaboration once the FBS Collaboration is in place.