SKIA President’s Message on Reverting to June-May Calendar

Dear Members and Friends of the SKIA Community,

As we revert to the June-May School Year Calendar we remain dedicated to serving the Bangsamoro people and communities of Muslim Mindanao. Through this Islamic institution, I witness that we have been shaped by the founders, educators, leaders, stakeholders, innovators, entrepreneurs and risk takers who established the Sultan Kudarat Islamic Academy (SKIA) Co-Location campuses with wakaf (endowment) to SKIA instituted into a “Foundation College” system.

As I now reflect on the SKIA Family, we have a lot to be proud of, and prospectively be more excited about higher education and a university of the future. I extend my gratitude to our Board of Trustees, the alumni as well the entire campus community for their enthusiastic engagement. And all of you who are part of a new generation of the SKIA Family have the opportunity to create your own legacies to support our faculty and by whatever means or contributions to change lives in our campus.

Per Board policy the SKIA Strategic Plan 2019-2029 is a roadmap. Planning helped us navigate the impact of the COVID-19 restrictive conditions evolving into quality environment learning. This is not a static document, but rather a cycle of strategic priorities that drive alignment of positive changes to common standards crafted by Education Commission (EDCOM II).

There are many points of pride at SKIA College to indicate its outstanding reputation. Given the positive feedback from the recently completed faculty review as well as the reaffirmation committee we look forward to the next steps in the gradual process. I believe also in our institutional vision to shift the momentum into the next academic calendar year.

First: I am pivoting a key leadership role model through internal searches. This quickly establishes the momentum designed to elevate SKIA standing as a research institution under MOU partnering with the Universitas Nadhlatul Ulama Surabya (UNUS), Indonesia. Spreading knowledge and ideas with flexibility allows the senior Administrators to immediately tap into the selected individuals among faculty holding tenure and full academic rank. Exchange programs enhanced by digital platforms for networks and communications provide the opportunities to collaborate, dialogue, learn, live and conduct research.

Second: I am advancing a pivotal curriculum mapping to pair Arabic and Islamic studies employing criterion rubrics of Muslim jurisprudence in order to deepen an instructional strategy by which we can assess preparations for Special Shari’a Bar courses and legal studies. By this approach, I am confident that informed and updated CHED Memorandum Orders will not only broaden but enrich the allied undergraduate programs in criminal justice and criminology, social work, the social sciences, and the pre-law courses.

Finally, faculty research output in 2024 is the top measure using new methodology in World University rankings across their core missions. Teaching reputation still ranks high and so underpins our student-staff ratio, faculty resources, graduation and retention to meet the demands of changing community of students, faculty and staff. Affordability and best practices if not best value justify our optimism for the internal searches.

Coming together every start of the academic year is welcoming, inspiring and reassuring. Always find time to follow us on SKIA Webpage.

Michael O. Mastura
President
Sultan Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat Islamic Academy Foundation, Inc.