A Journey towards Internationalization

The study delved into the quest for internationalization of the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in the Philippines based on the theory of James Williams, et al., (2016) and improvement of quality education in the ten areas of Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA). Opinions and convictions of the members of the Management Committee (ManCom) of the three campuses of the university who are academic deans, program chairs, directors and heads of support services were gathered using a 5-point scale. The three campuses were assessed of their readiness towards internationalization in levels of accreditation particularly on their ability to dispense quality education in a combined eleven (11) areas and domains, their trust ratings on the certification of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and accreditation of PACUCOA. Data were quantitatively gathered per campus during their two-day strategic planning workshop for the academic year 2016-2017. A total of seventy-three, proximately eighty-four percent (84%) of the attendees participated in the study. Faculty, Laboratories, Student Services and Community Outreach, and Facilities and Support System were found to be ready for internationalization and considered to be at par with ASEAN and global standards.  International Student Recruitment, Cooperation and Development Assistance, however were perceived to be areas of concern. Research Collaboration was perceived to be deficient that need to be acted with urgency. The middle leadership of the institution has high trust levels on accreditation and certification agencies. They are convinced that top leadership has high priority on the delivery of quality education. The institution is set to launch its campaign for international student recruitment and linkages with industries in local and in the ASEAN-member countries.