Office of the Assistant Vice President for University Partnerships and Internationalization (HE Memo#Y3.24)

HE Memo#Y3.24
29 April 2025

The Office of the Assistant Vice President for University Partnerships and Internationalization (OAVP-UPI) in Higher Education, under the leadership of Ms Ma. Cristina M Alikpala, was created effective 01 June 2023 with the initial mandate to “support schools’ internationalization goals

• by addressing the need for strategic and targeted partnerships and initiatives with universities abroad;
• by strengthening university partnerships with local and international bodies and cultivating new ones;
• by building on the strengths of both outbound and inbound student mobility programs;
• by finding opportunities for faculty, administrators, professionals, and staff to engage in internationalization activities; and
• by finding innovative ways of internationalizing the university in support of its mission and strategic thrusts.” 

On 29 May 2023, Fr Yap announced the restructuring of the President’s Cluster, transferring the Office of International Relations (OIR) and the Confucius Institute from the President’s Cluster to the Higher Education Cluster, under the OAVP-UPI.  On 08 August 2023, Fr Yap approved the transfer of Plantilla positions from the former University and Global Relations Cluster to the OAVP-UPI, thereby effectively dissolving the UGR Cluster and OIR within it.

Since then, the OAVP-UPI has undergone internal restructuring, with a steadfast focus on its mandate of supporting the collaboration and internationalization goals of the nine Schools of Higher Education, and a firm commitment to service delivery and client support. 

Three Movements

In its pursuit to fulfill its new mandate, the OAVP-UPI envisions itself as engaging in three movements.

Broadening:  In response to its mandate to support the nine Schools, the OAVP-UPI seeks to broaden the menu of support services that are provided for IZN activities in the hope of supporting a wider variety of Schools-driven engagements, activities, and initiatives.  At the same time, the OAVP-UPI seeks to broaden the swathe of the University population – be it students, faculty, or staff, that benefits from of IZN opportunities.

Linking:  The OAVP-UPI sees itself as a bridge-builder, seeking to make connections between internationally mobile students - both inbound and outbound – and students that don’t join mobility activities to ensure that the impact of such internationalization opportunities redound to a wider population. Another bridge it seeks to build is that through which information and resources can flow through, particularly, seeking to link (internal) demand for these critical resources (i.e. information, financial) with potential, external opportunities. To do these, the OAVP-UPI creates and manages a network of local and international partnerships that reflect the values and priorities of the Ateneo as a Filipino, Catholic, and Jesuit University.

Deepening:  Keeping in heart the identity of the University, the OAVP-UPI also seeks to deepen the impact of internationalization opportunities on the lives of stakeholders. It seeks to strengthen the underpinnings of engagement and internationalization in the Ateneo mission, particularly leveraging partnerships and internationalization opportunities to strengthen our teaching and learning, our formation, our research, and community engagement. The Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, and Ateneo’s Lux in Domino 2030 Strategic Plan serve as critical and meaningful guideposts in this deepening work.

Team Structure

To fulfill these mandates, the OAVP-UPI has been organized into functional sections, allowing each team to specialize in and deliver a core function of the Office.  These sections are:

1. Partnership and Engagement,
2. International Mobility, and
3. Internationalization at Home.

Partnership and Engagement (P&E) Section: This section forges strategic partnerships and cultivates relationships with foreign and local Universities, embassies, government and non-government organizations, that support and align with the academic mission of Higher Education. It seeks to serve as a knowledge and coordination hub for reviewing, crafting. and negotiating agreements, and providing guidance to internal stakeholders toward the formulation of active, equitable, and meaningful collaborations. For example, it can help with comprehensive project management advice, from conceptualization, planning, and budgeting, up to implementation and evaluation.  It also seeks out and identifies opportunities for resource mobilization for local and international collaboration in the areas of teaching, learning, and research. 

The Partnership and Engagement Section is headed by Ms Karen C Sunico.

International Mobility Section:  This section facilitates the inbound and outbound movement across international borders of students, faculty, and staff.  For students, the Mobility Section formulates pre-departure orientations and re-entry programming for outbound students to ensure that the experience is properly contextualized within the University’s mission of forming men and women for others. In addition to serving as the Home Department for inbound students, it designs and facilitates orientation programs, events, and activities to support cultural adjustment, to build community, and ultimately to foster intercultural learning and deepen experiential learning especially of the Higher Education’s 4 Cs. It also designs and administers a mentoring system for relevant student organizations to help form student leaders in support of student mobility. For greater accessibility, the Mobility Section also identifies and develops short-term programs for Ateneo students to partake in as a means to expand access to IZN opportunities for a wider population.  In the same vein and with relevant HE Schools, this section likewise seeks to develop and implement short-terms programs for foreign partners, to expand our exposure to foreign counterparts, and with the possibility of generating revenues for University.

For University faculty and staff, the Mobility Section disseminates information and facilitates access to international capacity building opportunities, such as Erasmus+ mobility opportunities.  It also facilitates the University’s engagement of reputable and experienced scholars and researchers to allow them to teach and conduct research in and with the University. In the development pipeline is the capacity to identify and develop systematic opportunities for Ateneo faculty to directly engage partner Universities abroad to promote the University and enhance reputation.

Finally, for all non-Filipino students, faculty, and staff of the entire University, the Mobility Section ensures the dutiful compliance with applicable immigration laws and is duly recognized by the Bureau of Immigration to process student visa / student permit applications on behalf of Ateneo students. In furtherance of this goal, the Mobility Section regularly interfaces with local regulatory bodies, such as the Bureau of Immigration, the Commission on Higher Education – International Affairs Service, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Professional Regulatory Commission, to ensure that University policies and protocols are aligned with regulations.

The International Mobility Section is headed by Ms Karla Julienne C Roxas.

Internationalization at Home (IZN@Home) Section: This brand new section in the OAVP-UPI designs and implements local programs that encourage Ateneo stakeholders to study, explore, and engage with other cultures to broaden their perspective and involvement in the world.  Additionally, this section seeks to encourage the purposeful integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the formal and informal curriculum to allow gains from IZN to accrue to all students within domestic learning environments.  Specializing in collaborative activities and events, the IZN@Home Section also provides administrative and modest financial support for international events held on campus to ensure cost-realistic, professional, and on-brand rollout.  As the Schools of Higher Education move to take advantage of technological opportunities, IZN@Home will provide technical assistance in support of international / partnered course / program innovations, such as collaborative online international learning and transnational education.  Finally, it also seeks to continuously monitor and evaluate the quality and impact of all IZN initiatives / programs to facilitate continuous learning, improvement, and innovation. 

The Internationalization @ Home Section is headed by Ms Carolyn Pile Natividad.

Operational Support:  Providing able support to all three sections of the OAVP-UPI is a core operations team with specialized functions in 1) data and information management, 2) marketing and strategic communications, and 3) office administration and budget support.

Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila

Under the supervision of the AVP-UPI is the Ateneo Confucius Institute, which was established through the cooperation between Ateneo and its partner Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou). It is the very first such institute in the Philippines, and since 2006 has been seeking to promote Chinese language, culture, and knowledge of contemporary China in the Philippine mainstream society. The Ateneo Confucius Institute offers Chinese language and culture courses all year round, as well as Chinese language teacher training seminars and regularly administers Chinese language proficiency tests.  The Ateneo Confucius Institute is managed and led by two Directors: Mr Cris Garcia from Ateneo, and Dr Huang Linjun from Sun Yat-sen University.

Our Wider Community

The scope of the Higher Education Office of the AVP for University Partnerships and Internationalization thus described indicates to us that our community is bigger than the campuses that we occupy. This office helps us broaden our perspective in light of our local contexts. 

I thank Ms Ma. Cristina M Alikpala and her team for working through the details of this process of reorganization in the OAVP-UPI. We also acknowledge the help of Ms Jenny See, Director of the University People, Team, and Organization Development Office under the Office of the VP for Human Resources.

I enjoin everyone in our community to lend support to the endeavors of the Office of the Assistant VP for University Partnerships and Internationalization by participating in its initiatives and taking advantage of the international mobility activities for students, faculty, and staff. Let’s continue to serve in the Jesuit mission of education through partnerships and internationalization.