By Prince Leander Palalon | March 7, 2021
Silliman University initiated the Online Career Clinic program, which aims to showcase all of SU’s undergraduate courses to students from schools around the country to boost the enrollment rate of the university.
The university ramped up efforts to promote its undergraduate programs in several schools in the country to increase the number of enrollees amid the pandemic crisis.
According to SU Recruitment Officer Atty. Yolanda Maxino, the said program is to improve the enrollment rate of the university, especially the departments with a ‘low percentage’ of enrollments.
The Career Guidance Program started at the beginning of the school year. Earlier in the second semester, the Guidance Division initiated a 12-day showcase program, set to start on March 1, involving the different colleges and departments of SU.
All colleges were contacted and asked to provide speakers and resource persons to assist in showcasing their programs. The career clinic is held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.
For the past months, SU has been reaching out to schools throughout the country. The target students of the program are those mainly from Visayas and Mindanao.
According to Atty. Maxino, the main purpose of this career clinic is to help guide Senior High Students and align them with their desired courses.
SU Marketing Assistant Ms. Krystle Ozoa said that “The program not only aimed to tell our prospective students about Silliman but to also help them in choosing the courses that they want to pursue in the future by letting them discover and learn about these courses. With this, we are ensuring that both the students and parents get their money’s worth in education.”
The program heads readied files such as e-brochures, videos, and testimonies, and coordinated with various organizations to expand the reach of the program.
The program also hit certain challenges, including the engagement during online video conferences, the sudden shift in the way of conducting this career clinic, the internet connectivity of the program members, and the scheduling, since the program relies heavily on the schedule of the schools.
“We had to equip ourselves to be virtually available for the participants. This (online video conferences) is quite new to us since we are not used to meeting through this rather than talking to you face-to-face.” Ozoa said.
The university’s career development program is well underway. It started during the first weeks of AY 2020-2021. The Online Career Clinic program is a part of Silliman University’s greater career orientation programs. Another example of these programs is the career development program that focuses on SU’s own Senior High students and assists them through orientation on their future careers.
The career clinic program is still ongoing and will last until the end of March.
