Negros Oriental State University hosted a benchamarking visit of the Graduate School of the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City today June 19, 2026.

The benchmarking aims to learn the university's exemplary graduate program practices, especially in relation to academic governance, curriculum implementation, faculty requirements, and student support services, research and extension development, quality assurance processes, and accreditation preparedness.

Dr. Chizanne Sarabia-Larena, Dean of the Graduate School, presented to the officials and representatives of USLS the different strategies and practices of NORSU Graduate School in the aspects of its GS objectives as aligned with national policies and global standards; program compliances; capability-building workshops; consortium with other universities; research publication and community extension projects. Meanwhile, NORSU Vice President for Student Affairs Services and at the same time, the program chair for MAED major in Educational Management, Dr. Cesar Estrope discussed the Horizontal Constructive Alignment ( HCA) and Vertical Constructive Alignment ( VCA).

This visit forms part of the continuing commitment to strengthen the academic quality, administrative systems, and quality assurance mechanisms of the graduate programs of St. La Salle and is part of their preparations for the forthcoming PAASCU accreditation of the Graduate School programs, particularly in the areas of Education and Business. An open forum followed after the two presentations.

Present during the benchmarking were Dr.Roulette Cordevilla, Dean from the College of Teacher Education, Dr. Benjamin Villagonzalo,University Research Director, Dr. Dindo de la Peña,Program Chair for Ph.D. Educational Management and Dept. Chair for Community Extension and Prof. Efreneth Alama, GS faculty for MASPED. On the other hand, the USLS team was headed by Dr. Eric Arthur Dio, Dean of the Graduate Studies in the University of St. La Salle - Bacolod.