from: http://www.mapua.edu.ph/announcements/mapua_malayan.asp

GOING FOR UNIVERSITY STATUS

In this day and age the multidisciplinary approach to solving problems has become the rule rather than the exception. Schools have adapted by allowing students to take more courses for credit across disciplines. They have designed courses where teamwork of students across departments is the norm. They have instituted new degree programs to develop intellectual capital across a wider range of academic fields of study. They have imbued their students with a broader outlook in appreciating the challenges of the day.

In the U.S. engineering education community, this multidisciplinary problem-solving approach is clearly reflected in the program outcomes advocated by the ABET. An academic degree program has to demonstrate that its graduates are "capable of functioning in multi-disciplinary teams" and that they "understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and social context." In voluntarily subjecting ourselves to an ABET Certification process, we have made known to all and sundry that we subscribe to and espouse these outcomes.

The requirement of a General Education component by the CHED is a big help in this regard. But a school can do better than this by having degree programs in various other disciplines. The depth of its faculty in a discipline becomes significantly enhanced. If perchance a program’s development leads to the establishment of graduate degree programs, then this depth becomes unassailable.

Having faculty and expertise in individual disciplines is just a start. Things get to be more exciting and meaningful in the interplay of the various disciplines: biotechnology, computer science, electronics engineering and mechanical engineering; health sciences and information technology; business and technology; psychology and artificial intelligence; the social sciences and physical infrastructures; languages and computer science; all engineering and information technology; all engineering and environment, etc.

If knowledge be the currency of educational institutions, it would be hard to argue against an attempt to put scholarship and professional training on the foundation of a broader universe of academic degree programs and in the context of interacting bodies of knowledge. This is principally why the Mapua Institute of Technology is going for university status. As good as it is, the Institute could become an even better technology school with this move.

In transition, management has reserved the name Mapua Institute of Technology and its logo with the Department of Trade and Industry. Mapua Institute of Technology shall be the name of the university’s College of Engineering and Architecture. It shall be alongside other Colleges named after other personages, i.e., San Lorenzo Ruiz College of Health Sciences and E.T. Yuchengco College of Business and Management. The university itself shall be called Malayan University. In the transition, while we are trying to be eligible for university status, the collection of colleges shall be called Malayan Colleges. Accordingly we are now working to change the name of the corporation from Mapua Institute of Technology to Malayan Colleges. The CHED-NCR has just approved this corporate name change.

"Mapua" has been synonymous with quality engineering education for a long time. In preserving the precious name "Mapua", this can remain true moving forward, even as "Malayan", we hope, will eventually become synonymous with quality education in general.


Reynaldo B. Vea, Ph.D.
President
badtrip talaga yang mga hayop na yuchengco na yan. tsk tsk. pano na kaming mga alumni ng mapua. diba. syempre iba pa rin pag mapua un. para na lang mawawala ung school na pinagtapusan namin. una ung mapua high tapos ngayon naman eto. tsk tsk. sana man lang mapua university na lang. wag na nilang tanggalin ung pangalan na mapua. badtrip talaga.