Ateneo's John Gokongwei School of Management Earns Recognition as a CHED Center of Excellence in both Business Administration and Entrepreneurship
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) started a quest for excellence in business and management education in 2007 by inviting business schools all over the country to apply for recognition as Centers of Excellence – a designation reserved for colleges that have "exhibited an excellent ability to produce quality business and management professionals relevant to the needs of the industry, to conduct research that contributes to the body of knowledge in the field, and to engage in extension services that contribute to national development."
At the end of a year-long process of evaluation and review, CHED's search culminated in finding not one, but two Centers of Excellence: one in Business Administration, and another in Entrepreneurship, but both in the same school--- the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) at the Ateneo de Manila University. Thus far, of the more than 1,500 schools overseen by CHED, JGSOM is the only school that has met the stringent requirements for designation as a CHED Center of Excellence in any of its seven fields of business education.
Explaining the extra-ordinarily tough criteria and the stringent evaluation process that CHED used in evaluating which schools could be recognized as a Center of Excellence, Dr. Oscar Torralba, the head of the CHED Technical Panel, quotes Browning: "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's heaven for?"
"We have to raise the bar," continues Dr. Torralba, "if we are to develop graduates that are globally competitive. Our graduates should be as good as, if not better, than our peers around the world, because we all now realize that we are no longer isolated from the rest of the global market. CHED's vision for Philippine business education is anchored on 3 themes: global competitiveness, market responsiveness, and IT-enablement. Our schools should, at the very least, be compliant with these 3 themes."
However, being merely compliant has never been the goal of JGSOM and its hard-working Dean, Rudy Ang. As early as 2002, when JGSOM was launched, the school had already committed itself to a vision of becoming "a regionally recognized center of excellence and leadership in undergraduate business education, shaping its students into business leaders who are equipped to respond to the needs of tomorrow's world."
With this vision came the determination to implement and to deliver the goods. Aggressive recruitment, coupled with rigorous selection, has resulted in an impressive undergraduate student body. In 2006, over 4,200 high school students competed for the 750 slots in its freshman class for June, 2007. Of the 767 students who eventually made it, an impressive 24%, or one out of every four, had graduated with high school honors (including 31 high school valedictorians).
The assembly of intelligence and talent in the school is further honed by a first-rate faculty line-up that combines world class academic training with top-tier professional experience. "Our faculty hold advanced degrees from some of the most prestigious business schools in the world, including Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, and Wharton" says Dean Rudy Ang. "On top of that, many of them have held, or continue to hold top management, including CEO positions in some of the country's largest corporations. They offer our students an excellent balance of academic training and senior management experience, providing them with the dual perspectives of theory and practice when faced with important business decisions."
The formula of raw talent honed at the hands of seasoned faculty, of academic research peppered with real life insights, seems to be working well for JGSOM graduates. In the graduating class of 2005, for example, one graduate was offered a starting salary of P150,000 a month to work in the local office of a multinational consulting company. Other graduates, fresh out of college, received even higher offers to work outside the country.
JGSOM's focus on creating world-class professionals and entrepreneurs is consistent with CHED's aim of developing Filipinos who will be able to face the challenges the world has to offer. "The best protection for the Philippines in a globally competitive world," CHED's Dr. Torralba points out, "is not to put up walls, but to enable our own graduates, by giving them the competencies, skills, and standards that are at par with no less than the best schools in the world. We want to encourage the drive for excellence in our schools. Our culture values quality education and education is a great equalizer. You may not be as rich as the other people when you enter school, but if you study well in a reputable school, then the path to success should be open to you." Although Dr. Torralba is hopeful that a few other schools will eventually be able to also earn recognition as Centers of Excellence in business education, right now, only Ateneo's John Gokongwei School of Management has been able to fit the bill.