SU Explores New Global Partnership

Seattle University has taken the first steps toward a partnership with a fellow Jesuit university in the Philippines that could lead to education abroad and faculty and student exchanges as early as next spring.

Discussions between SU and Ateneo de Davao University, which operates three main campuses in Davao City in Mindanao—the second-largest island in the Philippines—have been underway for a few years. Butch de Castro, PhD, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, visited the campus in June.

Dean de Castro notes that with both institutions sharing the Jesuit tradition and situated on each side of the Pacific Ocean, the partnership makes perfect sense to pursue.

“The opportunity to offer collaborative international learning experiences and develop scholarly initiatives will greatly benefit all SU students, especially those in our nursing and diagnostic ultrasound programs,” he says.

Among the programs that could be implemented through the partnership are a faculty exchange, sharing of academic resources and expertise, developing and implementing joint research programs, co-organizing joint conferences and workshops, international training and educational programs. There are also opportunities to support staff and students from the two institutions studying in degree and non-degree programs.

Earlier this month Provost Shane P. Martin and Karel S. San Juan, S.J., president of Ateneo de Davao University, formally agreed to begin the process of exploring how the two universities can work together.