As part of the partnership, a TROY delegation including Dr. Lance Tatum, interim dean of the College of Education; Dr. Earl Ingram, vice chancellor of University College; Dr. Rodney Davis, assistant professor of Educational Administration and Leadership; and Dr. Mike Rippy, assistant professor of Educational Leadership, will travel to the Philippines in May. They will provide a workshop for teachers, administrators and education majors at St. La Salle.

During the trip, Dr. Davis and Dr. Rippy will also meet with the nation’s top education leaders including the director of education for the Philippines to discuss issues impacting education in the island nation. 

St. La Salle, which is located in the city of Bacolod, has strenuous admission standards and a student body of approximately 10 thousand students. Dr. Rippy, who teaches on the Dothan Campus, set the wheels in motion for the partnership during a recent visit to the Philippines.

“I think it will be beneficial to our University and theirs,” Dr. Rippy said. “We will share innovative programs developed in the U.S. with teachers and administrators in the Philippines. It will also help our local schools recruit teachers who speak English well to help fill the current teacher shortage.”

Research indicates less than one percent of American college students study abroad. The partnership may lead to study-abroad opportunities for TROY students in the future, according to Dr. Davis.

“We are dealing with an interconnected world,” Dr. Davis said. “Our students need to be knowledgeable about the world and the best way is to study it first-hand.”

Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Troy University chancellor, has called for the creation of five study-abroad programs for each of the University’s colleges. TROY already has programs in place for photography, journalism and design majors interested in studying in locales from Africa to Europe; but this is the first international effort developed by the College of Education, Dr. Tatum noted.

“It gives us a first opportunity for the College of Education to reach outside the United States and answer the Chancellor’s initiative for international programs,” Dr. Tatum said. “It’s a way for Troy University to reach outside Southeast Alabama and bring a global perspective to our classes.”

Dr. Davis can not wait to share the experience with his post secondary education and educational leadership students.

“For me it is a chance to experience a new culture up close,” Dr. Davis reflected. “I want to bring back the ideas, the faces, the people and the ways other cultures do things.”

Organizers also hope Filipino educators will be encouraged to pursue graduate studies at Troy University, which has a reputation for producing quality educators.

For more information about the partnership, contact Dr. Rodney Davis on the Dothan Campus at (334) 983-6556, ext. 1-365.

Education majors and instructors at the University of Saint La Salle pose for a recent photo. Faculty members with the Troy University College of Education will present a workshop for pre-service teachers, educators and administrators in May.

Students stroll around the grounds of the University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod, Philippines. Troy University is teaming up with Saint La Salle to create opportunities for students from both universities.

Between classes, Filipino students study on the plaza at the University of Saint La Salle. Troy University faculty members plan to gather information about the educational system in the Philippines. They will share what they learn with education majors at TROY.

The University of Saint La Salle, which is located in Bacolod, Philippines, has an enrollment of approximately 10 thousand students.