Bearing the theme, “Breaking Barriers, Empowering Change,” the three-day conference featured inspiring messages and plenary lectures from prominent figures in education, namely, President-Elect of HLU and Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) President Dr. Noel Marjon E. Yasi; Former Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Dr. Aldrin A. Darilag; Former HLU President Dr. Samuel Martin Barbero; HLU Honorary President and Chair of the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) Foundation Dr. Dong Sung Cho; Carl Balita Review Center Founder and CEO Dr. Carl E. Balita; University of the Philippines Professor Dr. Dina S. Ocampo; and CHED Chairperson Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis.
Breakout sessions were also held in mutiple venues to feature various best practices of selected educational institutions in the areas of student support and engagement, student mobility and openness, ethics and integrity, entrepreneurial spirit, funding for sustainability, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) trend, empowerment-based management, and culture and values, which all happen to be categories under the WURI System.
Engr. Emir Lenard S.F. Sicangco, OUES Director, represented TSU in the conference as he shared a best practice of the University, the SARAP Tumulong (Social Action on Relief and Assistance Program), which ranked 52nd out of 100 entries in WURI 2024 under the category Funding for Sustainability.
In his presentation, Engr. Sicangco detailed the program’s simple yet effective mechanism for generating supplemental funding for the extension and volunteerism initiatives of TSU, highlighting that small amounts, when pooled together, can create a meaningful, sustainable impact.
The conference also saw educational institutions jump in excitement as the WURI 2025 Rankings were released on the afternoon of July 10, followed by the announcement of details of the WURI Global Conference 2025 to be held in Busan, South Korea in September.
TSU was successfully ranked in the WURI 2025 in three categories, namely, Student Support and Engagement, Ethics and Integrity, and ESG Trend, resulting in an overall global ranking of 256, which is 23 places higher than its 2024 ranking.
The 5th HLU Conference was organized by the Negros Oriental State University and co-hosted by Silliman University, St. Paul University – Dumaguete, and Siquijor State College (SSC).
