A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on November 22, 2022 between AIIAS and AUP, facilitating the exchange of faculty members, and collaborations on research and content expertise between the AIIAS Business department and the AUP College of Business.
AIIAS President Dr. Ginger Ketting-Weller and AUP President Dr. Arceli Rosario signed the memorandum at the AUP Center of Graduate Studies in Puting Kahoy, Silang, Cavite, Philippines, surrounded by academic representatives of both institutions.
Under this agreement, bilateral cooperation between the AIIAS Graduate School and the AUP Center of Graduate Studies is pledged for the enhancement of their respective business programs.
During the signing, Rosario spoke about the significance of this agreement, speaking warmly about the relationship between AIIAS and AUP. “This is a historical moment where we have come together as servants of the Lord, whom we serve through education,” remarked Rosario. “We have come together to forge and cement our relationship.”
Ketting-Weller highlighted the importance of the collaboration between both institutions, which at one time coexisted on the AUP campus. “As we share resources with one another, particularly specific teaching and research expertise from the faculty of each institution, we are both stronger,” said Ketting-Weller. “We can accomplish more in collaboration than either of us could do on our own.”
Two documents were signed, namely, the renewal of a ‘parent’ MOA that provides for general academic exchanges between AIIAS and AUP; and a new secondary MOA that covers the specific agreements relative to the areas of business education.
AIIAS and AUP trace their origins to the early 1970s when the leaders of the Far Eastern Division of the Seventh-day Adventist church established a postgraduate program at Philippine Union College (the predecessor of AUP) to equip leaders for the Asia-Pacific region. AIIAS was eventually designated a General Conference institution, and currently serves graduate students from approximately sixty countries around the world.
