Maximizing Individual Relevance in Research: The Unfolding of Potentials

Dr. Gary Garcia, Dean of the College of Business and Management, Southern Leyte State University
Dr. Allan Adriatico, Associate Dean of the College
Mr. Joshua Edson Ordiz, Head of the Research and Development Program of the College
Ms. Nathalie Jane Cinco, President of the Young Researchers Club
Fellow Faculty and Student Researchers

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Young Researchers Club in coordination with the Research and Development
Office of the College of Business and Management for inviting me to this 7 th Student Research Congress
with the theme: Maximizing Student Scientific Contribution: Positioning Higher Education within the
ASEAN Integration. It gives me great pleasure to be with you this morning at the opening of this research
congress where you are going to discuss matters affecting business, education and technology
developments.

Scholarly activity programs are essential components of the modern undergraduate curriculum.
They range from being practical to theoretical, from being static to dynamic, from being personal to social,
from being non-academic to academic, from being plain and ordinary to being critical and scientific.

As the title of this congress suggests, students of higher education institutions are not immune to
the changes and demands on the necessity of scholastic contributions for positioning the Philippines in the
ASEAN Integration within which we operate and participate.

Ms. Beverley A. Wakem, chief Ombudsman of New Zealand and the President of the International
Ombudsman Institute stressed that “the world today is confronted with the challenges created by the social,
political, educational, and economic conditions visible in the environment within which we work and live”.
These challenges are increasing that sometimes they breach the limits of our potentials and powers. There
is the challenge of power, technology, social stability, economics, and quality education – all these because
of the social and regional competition in disguise of the ASEAN Integration.

In most countries, there is a growing demand for academic and economic competence. Academic
excellence becomes the measure of economic competence. This increasingly requires

(i) PhDs to take post-doctoral studies and become research assistants to well-known scientists
here and abroad;
(ii) Business educators to discover new and effective marketing strategies that will assist
businesses to avoid bankruptcy and instead increase profits and sales; and
(iii) Computer Wizard and Technology experts to design and develop technologies that make
the world comfortable.

This generation of academic and economic competition challenges innovation and invention to be
a major part of the academic culture. Students, of course, are not immune to this. The current global and
regional crisis demands a reflective and creative action from among young and active minds to maximize
student contribution in the scientific community. This contribution will make us visible in the ASEAN
Region.

How prepare are we?

This congress will hopefully bring us into three important realizations if we want to be at par with
other higher education institutions in the ASEAN region.

First, Becoming Relevant by discovering one’s creative potentials;

Second, Being Relevant by taking and creating scientific opportunities; and

Third, Remaining Relevant by Creating Regional/International Programs for Student-Exchange.

Discussion Proper

A. Becoming Relevant by Discovering our Creative Potentials

The Southern Leyte State University envisions to be a high-quality corporate science and
technology university by producing science and technology leaders and competitive professionals.

This vision and mission of SLSU have the following implications in the aspect of “becoming
relevant”:

Every one of us must master the craft of unfolding potentials. The famous Adolf Hitler believes
that there is “A Superman” inside of us. He has that faith that this Superman is sleeping within ourselves
waiting to be awakened. Education. Learning. Culture. These are means to discover our potentials.

The issue of dullness, dreariness, less productiveness, and academic barrenness loses its
truthfulness and value when the unfolding of interest, knowledge, and understanding starts to happen. It
will be replaced with motivation, desire, creativity, and productivity. Here, research –the process of
unfolding -plays its important role: to equip us with the necessary cognition to become academically,
economically, and socially engaged.

Today’s activity is a manifestation that we have started to discover our creative potential as a
problem solver, a creative thinker, as a designer, as a researcher. Today we come to know (Barnett, 2009)
that we are contributors to various solutions of social, educational, business, technological and cultural
problems. We embraced research not because it is an academic requirement; not because it is a degree
requirement; not because it is university mandated; but because the society needs young and active
researchers who will lead the county in resolving issues and conflicts by providing tested and verified
research-based solutions and developments. In this manner, we are becoming relevant to the community.
 The relevance of every research congress among students or even professionals lies on how strong
is our belief that our research findings are significant contributors to the change we always dreamed of. We
start to tell the social world that higher education institutions are working for the solutions of threatening
problems in the community. We are coming into a deeper awareness of our social role. We are becoming
relevant by becoming aware that there is a need for a greater connection between the academe where we
learn and the society where we live. In this manner, we will maximize the unfolding of our potentials
through a series of academic activities like research in order to respond scientifically the social problems
we are facing every day.

Unfold your potentials and you will start to become relevant.

B. Being Relevant by taking and creating scientific opportunities

“To be” is “To exist”. “Being” is “Existence”.

The unfolding of the opportunities allows one to realize his/her own Existence. To be in existence
is to stand above others – to be recognized, to be honored, to be valued, to be familiar, to be accepted, to
be known.

The challenge for those who have unfolded their potential is to search and create scientific
opportunities. This opportunities better unfolds the creative aspect of every being, and in effect is seen and
recognize as someone knowledgeable in the field.

The Commission on Higher Education through CMO No. 75, series of 2017 urges every student
enrolled in the research subject to articulate and discuss the latest developments in the specific field of
practice. Today you are taking the opportunity to discuss in this research colloquy new and novel
information that will advance your field of specialization.

I said earlier that we had started to discover our relevance through research. We had unfolded our
potentials to contribute to the solution to persisting problems in the community. Without a cohesive
performance framework, however, it will be difficult to demonstrate this potential to everyone’s
satisfaction. Wackem (nd) said “back to basics” and thought about the existential focus:

 What can I do with my potential/s?

To stand in a congress like this is to add the university’s metric system of competitiveness among
other countries. By sharing our research findings, we are building within the university the culture of
research. Through a continued collaborative effort, the world will be able to see our research metrics
increasing and be recognized as Research University just like other member countries in the ASEAN region.

Being Relevant is converting potentials to an opportunity for significant contribution in the society.
C. Remaining Relevant by Sustaining the Research Culture in the University

Every university dreamed of being recognized as a research university. We have implemented

Nelson Mandela once said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over
it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Sometimes, the challenge to sustain the “being relevant” is the fear of the unknown – the feeling
of uncertainties and doubts.

The continued challenged we face in the research world are the following:

1. Diffidence. We are hesitant. We lack confidence that we can do things. We failed to believe
in our potentials.
2. The certainty of Knowledge. We doubt. We are not certain about things, about findings, about
the validity and reliability of quantitative data, about dependability and consistency of
qualitative data. We failed to see the relevance of our findings in the midst of non-significant
results.
3. Expert Knowledge. Until now, it is our challenge to identify a pool of experts that will assist
us in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of our research. Our goal of being
a research university depends on how strong is the foundation of our human resource in the
field of research.
4. We equate Research with numbers and Statistics. It is a continued challenge that some of
us still equate research with statistics. One should know that research can be completed even
without statistics. The use of statistical tools is just one of the many analysis available for the
completion of research work.
5. Problem Relevance. Sometimes our research problems do not respond to the thrusts and
programs of the government. Thus, many researches remain available in the shelves of our
library and failed to reach in the desks and tables of our policy-makers.

I believe the university had provided enough to lessen these challenges. We have to exert more
effort to totally eradicate these problems and move forward along with others in our pursuit to be
competitive with other universities in the ASEAN Region.

What we have now is a step closer towards competitive advantage in terms of research practices in
the region. We will continue to make more and more steps…closer to our goal…to be more relevant by
maximizing our scientific contribution to the community, thus bringing the university at par with other
universities in the ASEAN Region.

I looked forward to a productive research congress and possible research engagement with you in
Southern Leyte State University. Thank you and Good Morning.