By Genevieve Balance Kupang
May 7, 2026
Parallel Sessions: World University Networks for Innovation Meetings
A generative session at the 6th HLU Annual Conference and WURI 2026 Global Rankings Ceremony featured global leaders dedicated to collective learning and strategic thinking. WUNI-L President Dr. Robert Frederick Hayden Jr. presided over the Assembly on Networking, Collaboration, and Planning, fostering an environment for genuine institutional conversation.
NCNU faculty and students gathered as gracious hosts. Their presence reflects NCNU as a globally engaged institution and marks its historic distinction as the first Taiwanese university to host this gathering of innovative universities.
WUNI-L Networking, Collaboration, and Planning
Participants organized into four thematic sub-groups, each tasked with exploring a dimension of university innovation: 1) Curriculum Innovation and Digital Learning; 2) International Partnerships and Collaboration Models; 3) Institutional Transformation and Governance; and 4) Social Responsibility and Impact. After the focused group work, representatives from each cluster presented their outputs, offering a mosaic of ideas, commitments, and proposals. What emerged from these exchanges is a living record of what WURI institutions, at their best, aspire to do together: share best practices, forge purposeful partnerships, and hold themselves accountable to a world that needs universities to achieve excellence and create real impact. That is the spirit this article seeks to honor.
1) WUNI-L President Dr. Robert Frederick Hayden Jr. chairs the WUNI-L Assembly. 2) Reporting on his group’s discussion on experiential learning, project-based education, technology integration, and student mobility, Dr. Joel P. Sadol, Director, Mariners’ Polytechnic Colleges Foundation, brings personal authority to his presentation: he himself crossed borders for learning, completing his Master’s degree in Indonesia and his doctorate in Thailand. Photo credit: WUNI-L VP Dr. Yong Taek Min.
Theme 1: Curriculum Innovation and Digital Learning
The first group to present brought both scholarly rigor and lived institutional experience to the floor. Dr. Joel P. Sadol of Mariners’ Polytechnic Colleges Foundation, Legaspi City, Albay, delivered the oral report, while Dr. Yong Taek Min of aSSIST University submitted the written text. Their group included Dr. Cecilia O. Bucayong, Director, Central Mindanao University, and Madeilyn B. Estacio, Vice President for Academics, University of La Salette. Together, they represent Philippine and Korean higher education leadership, each institution navigating its own terrain of innovation and reform.
At the heart of their discussion is a candid observation: despite decades of curriculum refinement, a persistent and troubling gap remains between what universities produce and what industries actually need. Current curricula, however well-intentioned, are largely anchored in two dominant frameworks. The first is Outcomes-Based Education, or OBE, which orients learning around measurable competencies. The second is the CDIO framework, which sequences curriculum through four phases: Conceive, Design, Implement, and Operate.
Group 1 — Curriculum Innovation and Digital Learning. From left: Dr. Yong-taek Min; Dr. Madeilyn B. Estacio, Vice President for Academics, University of La Salette; Dr. Cecilia Bucayong, Director, Central Mindanao University; and Dr. Joel P. Sadol.
The group recommends inverting the CDIO sequence into what they call the IOCD model — Implement, Operate, Conceive, and Design — placing Implement and Operate ahead of Conceive and Design. In practical terms, this means students encounter major courses, hands-on application, and operational learning during their junior years, and engage with conceptual and design-oriented work during their senior years. The logic is compelling: students who first learn to do and to function within real systems are better equipped, when the time comes, to conceive and design those systems thoughtfully.
That is a curriculum philosophy rooted in humility about how human beings actually learn, and it deserves serious attention across WURI institutions.
Theme 2: International Partnerships and Collaboration Models
Group II on International Partnerships and Collaboration Models of the WUNI-Leaders Assembly. Members: Dr.
Ji Sang Park (Bob), GyopoolAI Co-Founder; Dr. Allan Peejay M. Lappay, Director of Alumni, External Relations,
and Advocacies, SPUP; Dr. Cecille Claron, Director for Quality Assurance and Internationalization, SPU QC; Dr.
Hazel Siromoni, Pro Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives, CU; Dr. Korsiney N. Cabasis, Vice President for
Administration, SMCII; Dr. Sonny Soriano, WUNI-L PRO and Director for External Affairs and Linkages, UCU;
Dr. Asuncion P. Pabalan, Director of Planning, Quality Assurance and Risk Management, HNU; Mr. Erven
Noay, Director for External Affairs, SPUD; Prof. Jeffrey M. Caoile, DIT, Head, Student Leadership and
Development Unit and Adviser, University Student Council; Prof. Julie Ann M. Malicay, MIT, College of
Information and Technology Education; Prof. Patric V. Mole, MIT, College of Information and Technology
Education; Dr. Wendell L. Galapate, Director for Research Innovation Development Enterprise, SDCA; Dr. Joel
Matamis, Dean, School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, SDCA; and Dr. Genevieve Balance Kupang, BCU IRO
and WUNI-Leaders Secretary.
Dr. Sonny Soriano, WUNI-L PRO, reported on International Partnerships and Collaboration Models, articulating the group’s vision for cross-border institutional cooperation. The most immediate expression of that vision unfolds on May 23 and 24, 2026, beginning at 10:00 AM Argentina time (9:00 PM Asia/Manila), when WUNI-Leaders and WUNI-Experts join the World Humanist Forum (WHF) for the Fifth WHF Assembly. This marks the third time these networks are collaborating with the WHF community. The Assembly’s theme is: “Towards a Universal Human Nation: Moving Forward with Collective Actions to Build a World Based on Solidarity and Non-Violence.”
1) Dr. Sonny Soriano (UCU), WUNI-L Public Relations Unit representative and Group II reporter, presents the group’s framework for international partnerships and collaboration models, anchoring the discussion in four strategic pillars: joint research initiatives, faculty and student exchanges, co-hosted events, and global benchmarking. 2) Dr. Genevieve B. Kupang (BCU), WUNI-Leaders Secretary and WURI Historian, facilitates Group II’s session with visible delight following Dr. Hazel Siromoni, Pro Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives of Chitkara University, India, who shared meaningful and replicable models of international collaboration.
At the center of the group’s proposal is the Humanista Global Impact Alliance (WUNI-L-HGIA), an international collaboration initiative designed to strengthen higher education institutions through innovation-driven, human-centered, and sustainability-focused partnerships aligned with the core principles of WURI. The HGIA proceeds from a conviction that universities are more than centers of learning; they are catalysts of societal transformation. The Alliance operationalizes through six distinct partnership pillars.
The first pillar, Academic Mobility and Global Learning, focuses on creating international exchange opportunities among partner institutions. Students under this framework participate in semester exchanges, hybrid learning immersion, and cross-cultural academic experiences that deepen intercultural understanding and sharpen global employability. The second pillar, Industry Linkages and Innovation Collaboration, moves the university outward into the ecosystem of industries, startups, and innovation hubs, creating conditions where real-world learning is integral to academic formation rather than supplementary to it.
The third pillar addresses Faculty Exchange and AI-Driven Knowledge Sharing, promoting collaborative teaching, virtual exchanges, and international dialogue on artificial intelligence, sustainability, and future-ready education. The fourth pillar, the SDG Talks and Global Peace Advocacy Forum, engages students, educators, researchers, and peace advocates in structured conversations anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, nurturing leadership, empathy, and social responsibility among the next generation of changemakers. The fifth pillar supports Research and Innovation Partnerships through collaborative publications, interdisciplinary studies, and innovation outputs aligned with WURI categories, including Industrial Application, Crisis Management, Student Mobility, and SDG-Based Initiatives. The sixth and final pillar, Extension and Community Innovation, ensures that student-developed solutions reach communities as livelihood innovations, social enterprises, and grassroots responses to local challenges.
To sustain this, the HGIA proposes a series of four international conferences within a single year, each addressing a distinct dimension of humanistic innovation: a Global Education Transformation Summit, a Sustainable Innovation Forum, an AI and Digital Collaboration Congress, and a Global SDG Peace and Community Impact Assembly.
That fourth conference points directly to something WUNI-Leaders already know well, and its spirit finds its most immediate expression in the 5th World Humanist Forum Assembly, which convenes on May 23 and 24, 2026. The HGIA and the World Humanist Forum are not parallel tracks running beside each other; they are convergent movements, both committed to placing human dignity, peace, and sustainable development at the center of institutional purpose. The fourth HGIA conference, with its focus on peace education, SDG advocacy, and community engagement, mirrors precisely what the World Humanist Forum has been building across its successive assemblies. For WURI institutions already engaged in the humanist tradition, the May gathering is both an opportunity and a logical next step: to translate the commitments made in NCNU’s lecture hall into the living conversations of a global peace forum.
What the HGIA ultimately offers is not a program but a philosophy made institutional: that innovation is most powerful when it is human-centered, that partnerships are most durable when they are built on shared values, and that universities fulfil their highest function when what happens inside their walls changes what happens in the world outside them.
Theme 3: Institutional Transformation and Governance
Reporter: Dr. Ronnie Pasigui, Vice President for Research, Planning, Development, and Extension, University of Cagayan Valley
WUNI-L proposes a strategic framework for institutional alignment with the WURI agenda through four critical pillars. Leadership must be codified as a key institutional driver through strategic plans, KPIs, and a hybrid approach that combines top-down administration-led vision with bottom-up faculty and staff-initiated grassroots innovations. Ranking readiness requires metric-driven alignment where all institutional activities — research, extension programs, and student initiatives — explicitly demonstrate how they contribute to societal impact and innovation as defined by global ranking bodies. Capacity building through regular workshops ensures stakeholders understand international standards for documenting and presenting their work.
Implementation requires two structural changes: policy innovation that transitions governance from “policing” to “partnering” by incentivizing excellence through financial rewards, in-kind benefits, and specialized narrative support to help translate technical achievements into compelling innovation cases; and organizational change through establishing a dedicated Office of Institutional Transformation and Global Rankings with devoted personnel responsible for monitoring metrics and ensuring cross-departmental compliance. The report concludes that true alignment with WURI occurs when innovation ceases to be optional and becomes a mandatory institutional metric, transforming the organization from a traditional entity into a global leader in innovation.
Institutional Transformation and Governance Members: 1) Dr. Ronnie Pasigui, Vice President for Research, Planning and Development, and Extension, University of Cagayan Valley; 2) Prof. Dr. Alvin A. Sario, International Relations Officer and Dean, College of Arts, Sciences, and Education, University of Santo Tomas, Legazpi; 3) Jose B. Ballesteros, PhD, Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Saint Anthony, Iriga City; 4) Sheila Balid Bordado, VP for Digital Transformation and Director, Quality Assurance, Naga College Foundation, Inc.; 5) Dr. Marilou L. Agustin, VPAA, Union Christian College, La Union; and 6) Grace L. Alejado, Head of Planning, Development, and Quality Assurance, St. Paul University Dumaguete.
Theme 4: Social Responsibility and Impact
Community Engagement, Sustainability, Societal Impact, and Inclusive Education | Reporter: Richard D. Narciso
During the session on university-led community engagement, participants highlighted the integration of outreach into regular curricula and extracurricular programs, frequently utilizing student-led action plans that span two months of preparation and two months of implementation. To successfully sustain these initiatives and fulfill mandatory 50-hour community service requirements, institutions actively collaborate with local government units (LGUs) and NGOs. These vital partnerships expand the university’s societal footprint, stretch limited institutional resources, and provide structured external environments where students translate academic learning into civic responsibility.
.Members: Antoniette Lacerna, St. Paul University, Quezon City; Christian Nindyaputra Octarino, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Indonesia; Raihana Mohd Raffi, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali, Brunei; Nor Surilawana Sulaiman, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), Brunei Darussalam; and Richard D. Narciso, Notre Dame of Tacurong College.
To ensure consistency and accountability, universities are increasingly embedding service learning and specific national modules into their core curricula, which encourages faculty to align both coursework and research with broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Parallel to these community initiatives, institutions are advancing educational equity by admitting more learners with special needs. To effectively support this demographic, participants agreed to formalize dedicated resource rooms, invest in specialized teacher training, and utilize professional psychometric assessments to determine student fit, while exploring a mix of scholarships and modest fees to keep these support services sustainable.
This is the 5th in a series of 9 articles. Here are the links to the preceding articles:
The 6th HLU Conference and WURI 2026 Global Rankings Ceremony at National Chi Nan University
Where the Stones Speak, the Flowers Delight and the Trees Protect
The 6th Hanseatic League of Universities Annual Conference Opens at National Chi Nan University (3rd of 9 Series)
Future Transformation of Universities in the AI Era: 6th Hanseatic League of Universities Annual Conference (4th of 9 Series)
Stand by for the 6th through 9th articles in the series.
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Photo Credits: NCNU and Dr. Yong Taek Min.
About the Author:
Dr. Genevieve Balance Kupang is Dean of the Graduate School and International Relations Officer of Baguio Central University, Baguio City, Philippines. She also serves as WURI Historian, Secretary of the World University Network for Innovation Leaders (WUNI-L), and Board Director of the Cordillera Association of International Relations Officers (CAIRO). A peace educator, applied cosmic anthropologist, and humanist activist, she is a co-author of a finalist book at the 43rd National Book Awards administered by the National Book Development Board of the Philippines, and a contributing writer for Pressenza International Press Agency.
