BY ASANGAN T. MADALE
The Mindanao State University-main campus marked a significant milestone in the history of the institution with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) led by Dr. Rasid M. Paca, Executive Vice President with the Universitas Islam Negri (UIN) Imam Bonjol, Padang, yesterday, October 11, 2023, Wednesday held at the President conference room in a simple ceremony, Settie Jehana 4th year education major said.
The said conference commenced with Ms Ayesha Merdeka M. Alonto, the MSU OIC-Executive Director of the Office of International Affairs and Linkages, introducing the esteemed visitors to the MSU officials who were present during the signing of the contract.
The visitors from UIN Imam Bonjol Padang included Dr Zulfis Zulfis, M. Hum, the Vice Dean of Ushuluddin and Religious Studies; Dr Welhendri Azwar, M.SI, PhD, the Vice-Rector on Students and Partnership; and Dr Martin Kustati, M. Pd, the Rector of UIN Imam Bonjol Padang. Present also were Engr Rasid M. Paca, J.D., DPA, the Executive Vice President of MSU, and other MSU officials.
After the signing, Ms. Alonto elucidated the provisions of the agreement to all those present in the conference room. These provisions encompass the exchange of research materials, students, academic staff, and more.
Prof. Jahara Solaiman, a faculty member from the English Department of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), who also attended the signing, expressed her positive remarks about the collaboration.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘖𝘜 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴,” she said.
She also reiterated its possible benefits for CSSH and other colleges in terms of increased collaboration, especially in faculty and research materials exchanges.
Another highlight during the signing was when Dr Martin Kustati shared insights about her university and its location while also extending an invitation for MSU to visit their institution in November.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘔𝘚𝘜 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘚𝘜,” she expressed.
The guests from Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Imam Bonjol Padang, Indonesia were warmly welcomed by the University officials led by Dr Paca at the Meranaw Cultural Heritage Center (MCHC) inviting the guests to a Pagana Meranaw.
Pagana Meranaw is a traditional feast among Meranaw people. It is a customary way of welcoming special guests and visitors, signifying their innate hospitality.
The program was graced by the presence of Prof Martin Kustati, M. Pd., the rector of UIN Imam Bonjol Padang. Prof Kustati noted the similarities of the cultures between their university and MSU-Marawi saying, “𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.”
Porf Kustati stated that she was happy to have a collaboration with MSU. She also shared that she participated in the different activities in the campus specifically in mental health.
“𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴,” she added.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two universities was also signed prior the program which Prof Kustati emphasized as “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.”
Dr. Amerkhan G. Cabaro, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, shared in his remarks that the collaboration between the universities, “𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴.”
Meanwhile, Engr Rasid M. Paca, DPA, the MSU Executive Vice President, pointed out in his message that the collaboration will be a source of incredible growth and transformation of both Mindanao State University and Universitas Islam Negeri.
“𝑊𝘦 𝘢𝑟𝘦 𝘤𝑜𝘮𝑚𝘪𝑡𝘵𝑒𝘥 𝘵𝑜 𝑛𝘶𝑟𝘵𝑢𝘳𝑖𝘯𝑔 𝑎𝘯 𝘦𝑛𝘷𝑖𝘳𝑜𝘯𝑚𝘦𝑛𝘵 𝘸ℎ𝘦𝑟𝘦 𝘤𝑜𝘭𝑙𝘢𝑏𝘰𝑟𝘢𝑡𝘪𝑜𝘯 𝘢𝑛𝘥 𝘪𝑛𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑎𝘵𝑖𝘰𝑛 𝑤𝘪𝑙𝘭 𝘵ℎ𝘳𝑖𝘷𝑒. 𝘛𝑜𝘨𝑒𝘵ℎ𝘦𝑟, 𝘸𝑒 𝑤𝘪𝑙𝘭 𝘣𝑢𝘪𝑙𝘥 𝘣𝑟𝘪𝑑𝘨𝑒𝘴 𝘰𝑓 𝑢𝘯𝑑𝘦𝑟𝘴𝑡𝘢𝑛𝘥𝑖𝘯𝑔 𝑎𝘯𝑑 𝑐𝘰𝑛𝘵𝑟𝘪𝑏𝘶𝑡𝘦 𝘵𝑜 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑔𝘭𝑜𝘣𝑎𝘭 𝘤𝑜𝘮𝑚𝘶𝑛𝘪𝑡𝘺,” Engr Paca added.
Said program concluded with a photo souvenir with Dr. Zulfis Zulfis M…H. & Dr. Welhindri Azwar while eating the yellow rice during the pagana meranaw.
