Mabalacat City College and Lone Star College Ink Partnership in Houston, Texas

June 21, 2022

Texas, U.S.A. - Mabalacat City College (MCC) and Lone Star College (LSC) signed an MoU on June 14, 2022 (local time) to seal the collaboration and agenda the partner institutions plan to undertake.

Present during the signing were LSC’s Dr. Dwight Smith, Mr. Mario Castillo, Dr. Carolyn Ho, Dr. Katharine Karuso and MCC’s College President - Dr. Michelle Aguilar - Ong, who were all delighted at the idea of finally moving ahead at the implementation of the various programs lined up in the collaboration. The signing was virtually attended by some members of the MCC faculty and administration.

Through EducationUSA, a program of the US Embassy which promotes U.S. higher education to students around the world by offering current information about opportunities to study at accredited postsecondary institutions in the United States, both institutions were able to connect and join in collaborative projects. Months ago, even before the MoU, MCC and LSU already conducted collaborative projects such as the synchronous classes on ECE121 and the Collaborative Online International Learning or COIL to name a few. Edward Inong, a faculty member of MCC who participated virtually in the MoU signing said that, “…it is great to learn not only from one another here in MCC but also from exceptional professors on the other side of the world, particularly from Lone Star College.” Another MCC faculty member Edmon Sampana who participated in the synchronous classes on ECE121 mentioned that, “this exposure or experience with the international academic community… is a good start to a more meaningful exchange of ideas, techniques, methodologies in teaching and learning.”

Lone Star College System is the largest community college in Texas with over 80,000 students and is the fastest-growing community college system. LSC is known for being progressive and innovative. It provides high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education and is committed to student success preparing students for careers in high-demand industries. It ranked third nationally in conferring Associate Degrees among all community colleges and has been named as one of the Best Workplaces in Texas by Fortune Magazine.

According to LSC COO and General Counsel Mr. Mario Castillo, “…our best students are culturally competent students. In order to have culturally competent students, you have to have internationalization, you have to have an understanding and knowledge of the world around you… I can tell you that I have benefitted from the exchange personally of faculty knowledge across international lines… We believe that having international partnerships is a part of cultural competency in an increasingly globalized world.”

MCC President Dr. Aguilar-Ong said, “there are so many things we can learn from American community colleges: from structure, governance, down to day-to-day operation. During my visit, I was very impressed with Lone Star College System’s current undertakings that we want to model it in the Philippines. I am sure that this partnership would not only benefit MCC but the whole Philippine education system.”

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