University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) is now a member of the Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network, an international association of higher education institutions who have endorsed the 10 AFU principles and are committed to becoming more age-friendly in their programs and policies.
Dr. Melinda dela Pena Bandalaria, Chancellor of UPOU, through Dr. Alexander G. Flor, Dean of the UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS), sent a letter of interest to join the network and in endorsement of the 10 Age-Friendly Principles, namely:
- To encourage the participation of older adults in all the core activities of the university, including educational and research programs.
- To promote personal and career development in the second half of life and to support those who wish to pursue second careers.
- To recognize the range of educational needs of older adults (from those who were early school-leavers through to those who wish to pursue Master’s or PhD qualifications).
- To promote intergenerational learning in order to facilitate the reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages.
- To widen access to online educational opportunities for older adults to ensure a diversity of routes to participation.
- To ensure that the university’s research agenda is informed by the needs of an ageing society and to promote public discourse on how higher education can better respond to the varied interests and needs of older adults.
- To increase the understanding of students of the longevity dividend and the increasing complexity and richness that ageing brings to our society.
- To enhance access for older adults to the university’s range of health and wellness programs and its arts and cultural activities.
- To engage actively with the university’s own retired community.
- To ensure regular dialogue with organizations representing the interests of the ageing population.
“Being an open university, we consider inclusion as one of our core values. We are eager to formally extend this value to our senior population through the AFU Global Network,” states Dr. Bandalaria. In that letter, she also mentioned delegating Dr. Flor as the focal person to design and develop age-friendly programs by incorporating the Ten AFU Principles and encompassing UPOU’s threefold function of instruction, research and public service.
Dr. Flor stated that part of UPOU’s plan is to put in place an explicit policy to welcome and encourage retirees and senior citizens to the different formal and non-formal degree programs of the university, including the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offerings. Other initiatives will be: the conduct of intergenerational dialogue among UPOU faculty members; the development of generation-disaggregated demographic research analyses; and the design of age-friendly online instruction strategies.
In a welcome letter addressed to Chancellor Bandalaria, Professor Brian MacCraith, President of the AFU Global Network thanked UPOU for outlining UPOU’s commitment to the Ten Principles of an Age Friendly University. He continued, “As the activities of the AFU membership are diverse, the University of the Philippines expertise in engaging non-traditional students and developing opportunity to promote distance programmes brings an added richness to the membership.”
The AFU network was launched in November 2012 by Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland to provide opportunities for people of all ages to engage in education, wellness and cultural activities, and respond to the education needs and interest of the growing number of older adults. DCU will host the 2019 Annual Conference of the International Council for Distance Education, which is one of UPOU’s affiliations.
To date, UPOU is the only online and open university listed, and the only university in the Philippines and in the ASEAN region to be a member of the AFU Global Network. (ACLlamas)
