Vol02No02_Editorial

Forum

      Forum was the expression used by ancient Romans to designate the public square or marketplace where citizens assembled for judicial, political, or business purposes. A more recent use of the word includes a meeting or presentation involving a discussion usually among experts and often including audience participation. This is what was planned when the AIIAS School of Graduate Studies organized a forum on Quality in Higher Education. On September 2, 1999, a number of experts read their papers to a relatively large number of attendees. A question and answer period followed each presentation. There was opportunity for debate and in fact several dialogues became quite lively. It was meant to be a forum and we believe it was!

      Secretary of the Republic of the Philippines Department of Education, Andrew Gonzalez, reviewed the current situation of tertiary/graduate institutions in the Philippines. He presented an honest and realistic view of the threats to Higher Education in this country. He also offered recommendations for future development. Mrs. Mondejar-Dy of the University of Asia and the Pacific proposed a framework for human resource strategies in graduate schools, with particular attention to the Seventh-day Adventist educational system. She outlined a number of strategic steps to improve quality in graduate schools. Dr. John Wesley Taylor of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies argued for the validity of religious educational philosophy in our postmodern era. He chose six prominent themes to demonstrate how a Seventh-day Adventist Christian philosophy of education can transform educational practice and make it ready for this changing era. Dr. Vaughn S. Buaquiña of the Technological University of the Philippines analyzed a number of pitfalls in statistical hypothesis testing, a widespread tool in graduate education. He identified several areas where people have misused terms and concepts to present research findings as practically infallible. Father James O'Donnell did not present his paper due to the unexpected death of his brother. However, he was able to send to us the script "Positive Supervision and the Quest for Excellence" for inclusion in this special issue.

      The event left attendees with a further awareness of issues relevant to higher education. It is now our intention to present InFo readers with an account of these important presentations so that they may be extended to a much larger audience. Although the style a number of these articles does not follow the conventional format of scholarly articles, we are including the text in its original format (very much as they were read) to preserve the richness of the forum.

      It is our intention that the reader not only enjoy the papers of this issue but also engage in the ongoing dialogue on the topic of quality. And ultimately, we wish that this exchange of ideas may bring about many positive changes in higher education practice.

Julian Melgosa, PhD
Editor, Info Journal
Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies
Silang, Cavite , Philippines