SAINT Louis University, through its College of Accountancy and Commerce (CAC), recently inked a partnership with the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) for the first ever “virtual classroom” instruction here in the Cordillera Administrative Region that will enable a highly-individualized and independent learning for both faculty and students who have undergraduate degrees in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Home Economics and Tourism to finish their masters degree in the convenience and comfort of their own home.

The “virtual classroom” offers a mixed mode method of learning by administering teaching-learning style via electronic means. It is synonymous to an E-Learning Training Program.

For updates from around the country, follow Sun.Star on Twitter

The introduction and development of E-learning in SLU-CAC in partnership with PWU concretizes the desire of both universities for a more efficient Web-based academic training program to a widely dispersed audience who cannot attend the standard classroom-based learning.

The E-learning program offers individualized instruction according to the individual’s specific needs and learning preferences. With the virtual classroom scheme, lessons are on-demand anytime during the student’s off-hours spent at home.

Students who cannot attend standard classroom instruction due to the demands of their jobs such as constant traveling will be benefited much by the virtual classroom because it will suit their schedules.

They can also program their pace while completing the whole module for the term period.

Upon enrollment in the program, PWU will create a virtual classroom where the students can interact with their teacher by accessing their lessons through a portal created by the PWU using a password that will be provided.

The cooperation is very timely because it complements the current Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management (BS-HTM) program that SLU-CAC has launched in June 2006. To date, about 3,000 students prepare for their career in hospitality and tourism-oriented institutions.

With the SLU-PWU collaboration, SLU will be able to secure quality education for the BS HTM program by enabling its current pool of faculty to acquire specialization and expertise in the tourism and hotel and restaurant industry.

The program is open to all faculty and students who intend to pursue their masters in HRM. Applicants who have business degrees but want careers in HRM are required to enroll in additional 12 units of BS HRM subjects at a university of their choice. The program, which is designed for five trimesters with comprehensive exams and thesis, is scheduled to start its first trimester by the second week of August.

On a broader spectrum, the graduates of the joint program will pioneer the MS HRM program should SLU-CAC decide to include the program among its post-graduate degrees.

The cooperation between SLU and PWU was firmed up through the joint leadership of Dr. Noel De Leon, SLU’s VP for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Reynaldo S. Bautista, CAC Dean. The Graduate Program Office and the Office of Linkages and Extension Program of SLU will provide the coordination services during the implementation of the program.

For more information on this new program, please visit or contact the author at the Graduate Program Office, tel. no. 442-4288 loc. 333.