Mr. Jesus Freddy M. Baldos, OPO Head, as guest of the “DYDC Special Talk on COVID-19”
To facilitate the delivery of the extramural courses in this new normal, OPO had acceded to the invitation of the VSU Radio DYDC FM 104.7 on the talk show dubbed “DYDC Special Talk on COVID-19” on July 30, 2020. The show made use of a radio as a platform in disseminating essential information about the Distance Education (DE) Program of the University. During the show, the newly designated head of the Online Programs Office (OPO), Mr. Jesus Freddy M. Baldos, together with the program host, Mr. Buen Joseph Andrade, exchanged their views regarding the distance education program of the Visayas State University being facilitated by OPO. Dr. Nicolasa N. Florentino, Education Research Assistant of OPO, also shared her ideas about the DE program as she had been part of OPO for a long period of time.
The distance education program of VSU offers the Master of Agricultural Development (MAgDev) for almost four decades now and has produced a number of graduates in the program. Moreover, the MAgDev program, which OPO had been offering extramurally, continues to enjoy its Level IV Accreditation awarded by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.
The Online Programs Office (OPO), which is composed of the VSU Open University (VOU), Multimedia Development Center (MMDC), and the VSU Printing Press (VPP), has continuously coordinating the offering of the distance education program of the University. Though the first semester of school year 2020 – 2021 (August to December 2020) was very challenging because of the global pandemic brought about by the COVID-19, OPO was still able to manage a total enrolment of 65 graduate students (of whom 38 are new students, and 27 are continuing students) who took graduate courses offered extramurally. This is remarkably an achievement considering the 203.12% increase of enrolment which is much higher than the 32 enrolled students in the previous semester (January to May 2020).
As the second half of the year continues with the full implementation of the new VSU Organizational Structure starting on July 1, 2020, the Online Programs Office still exists but two offices attached to it have been separated—the Multimedia Development Center and the VSU Printing Press.
The radio guesting was made possible through the invitation of Dr. Christina A. Gabrillo, DYDC FM Station Manager, to feature the distance education program of VSU to the radio audience.