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A COLLEGE library where one can also order a cappuccino or latte and enjoy it while reading a book or studying for the next class. A school restroom open to all persons of any sex or gender. All students use only licensed software in class or at home.
These qualities may set apart CIIT Philippines-College of Arts and Technology from other technical educational institutions and multimedia arts schools, but these barely scratch the surface of what CIIT really is all about.
For the past 15 years, CIIT has introduced courses and programs that immensely contributed in closing the gap between knowledge and skills development of students and what the industry needs.
“It has always been part of the core of CIIT to innovate and close that gap, which was the main reason why CIIT was established,” CIIT President Sherwin O said in an open-house media briefing at its seven-story Interweave Tower campus in Kamuning, Quezon City on March 9, 2023.
O shared that when CIIT Founder and Chairman Elson Niel Dagondon put up Anino Games in early 2000s, the country’s first and largest game development studio then, he realized that a big gap existed between industry demand and higher education programs.
“Innovation is part of our DNA as it is one of our core values where we continuously improve the systems, processes, and our way of doing things,” O said, as he announced CIIT’s new next-level courses for the coming school year.
These courses are Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Senior High School-Accounting, Business, and Management (ABM) Strand, which are tailor-made for the next generation of business innovators and technology entrepreneurs.
He said the courses now complete the next-level educational ecosystem of the technology-driven school as envisioned by Dagondon when he opened the school in 2008.
O said the new courses are customized based on industry needs and standards as “validated and recognized by seasoned professionals and our more than 100 company partners.”
He explained that the courses will “equip our organizations as well as Filipinos with knowledge and skills that will allow them to be at par with international organizations.
“We believe that innovation through the use of technology allows us to close the gap much faster and for organizations to grow much faster,” he said.
According to O, CIIT students “experience their studies either through modular means or computers, taking away such advantages as having a sprawling campus.”
“The early adoption of technology, especially in our case, gives a big advantage to any type of organization and those who have their systems in place survive the challenge,” he said.
O said CIIT, guided by its core value of integrity, stayed with its two competencies that produce industry-ready graduates instead of introducing “profitable college degrees.”
“CIIT now has an ecosystem of innovators and creators who can make the ideas of its students a reality, much like how Silicon Valley fosters great talents,” he said.
O said the pandemic – when new business owners seized the opportunities as almost everything moved online – inspired CIIT “to go full circle and give the students a chance to turn their business ideas into reality.”
“CIIT has always been into arts and tech, but its unique entrepreneurship and ABM programs that will revolutionize the way a business is run using different technologies in its daily operations, like CIIT itself, now tie things together,” he said.
O said, “unlike most entrepreneurship and business management programs, CIIT goes beyond the usual expectation of discussing classroom concepts and creating traditional business models.”
“CIIT transforms the experience by also adding digital platforms and business-level tools to allow our students to turn their ideas into real tech startups,” he said.
“We focus more on the practical applications and see to it that we are agile enough to adjust the curriculum and tailor it to the needs of the industry,” O said, when asked how the new CIIT offerings compare with those from other schools.
“Each of the subjects in our BS Entrepreneurship and ABM programs is paired with industry-grade software used by local and international companies,” he said.
This industry-based approach to education and curriculum design, he said, enables CIIT to not only address the gap between the industry and education “but also to live up to its goal of producing next-level graduates.”
O explained the CIIT advantage: “We not only teach our students theories or concepts like marketing, operations, human resource, finance or accounting, but we also teach them how to optimize business tasks through various applications used by organizations worldwide. This enables them to execute their ideas immediately.”
He cited that, in marketing for example, CIIT goes beyond the ordinary curriculum by teaching its students how to actually create and launch Facebook advertising campaigns and analyze the reports.
In operations, as another example, CIIT teaches its students how to optimize clerical tasks using Airtable so they can focus more on growing the business.
CIIT also conducts annual consultation with its industry partners as well as relevant non-partner organizations for a curriculum validation and enhancement activity.
“The principal goal of our annual meetup and discussions with different institutions is to ensure that the industry-standard skill requirements and current trends will be adapted in the future and in the current programs offered by CIIT,” O said.
CIIT also offers scholarships and flexible tuition arrangements for the economically challenged but promising students.
Incoming or new students who graduated with honors from senior high school can avail of its Interweave Scholarship program, while the Top 50 successful applicants of the CIIT College Admissions Test are offered the Future CIITzen Scholarship Grant. Students in good standing but are experiencing financial challenges can avail of the CIIT Financial Aid.
He also explained that CIIT’s courses are tailored to foster a culture of innovation and encourage the values of integrity that the school has long espoused.
“Our courses are designed to harness the potential of technology and help our students develop the necessary skills to succeed in the digital age. We are ensuring them to be well-rounded and able to adapt to the ever-changing business landscape so they could change how businesses can be done in the country in the future,” O said.
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