Aldersgate College Inc. (ACI), through its Research & Development, and Entrepreneurship (RDE) and BRIDGE Hub Unit, conducted a preparatory meeting last August 28, 2025, in anticipation of the upcoming 3rd Catalyste+ Engagement scheduled on September 15–26, 2025. The meeting gathered representatives from Catalyste+ Philippines, led by Sir Vener Valerio, together with ACI administrators, faculty, and technical personnel to discuss the operational and technical requirements of the partnership project.
The agenda of the meeting revolved around key aspects critical to ensuring a smooth and productive engagement. These included RDE personnel updates, roles and responsibilities in the project, coordination flow with Catalyste+, ACCI/IT and programmer support, technical requirements for data management and reporting, and system integration with digital tools. Specific focus was also given to identifying the lead unit and focal persons, establishing a communication protocol, and clarifying the unit responsible for Catalyste+ Engagement.
The discussion also highlighted the needs assessment process, where the status of preliminary assessments, data gaps, and priority concerns of ACI and local stakeholders were reviewed. Under “Other Matters,” the participants agreed on the scheduling of activities, mitigation of potential challenges, and assignment of next steps and tasks to ensure alignment between ACI and Catalyste+.
In line with this, the RDE and BRIDGE Hub Unit spearheaded an orientation with BSIT students last September 9, 2025, where they were introduced to the priority features of the Point of Sale Automated Management System (POSAM) that will be programmed and enhanced in partnership with Catalyste+.
As part of the engagement, ACI will be undergoing a POSAM Training, which will transition the institution toward a cloud-based operations system. Based on the POSAM System Needs Assessment – Catalyste+ Engagement (September 2025), several gaps were identified, namely:
* Internal Communication – Slow approval processes caused by reliance on paper-based communication and routing.
* Accomplishment Report – Difficulty in consolidating and archiving accomplishment reports across offices and departments.
* Procurement & Disbursement – Delays in processing due to manual workflows.
* Report Generation – Time-consuming and error-prone manual preparation of reports.
These identified challenges underscore the importance of the Catalyste+ collaboration in digitizing ACI’s internal systems, streamlining workflows, and enhancing institutional efficiency. The upcoming engagement is expected to bring in technical expertise, innovative practices, and sustainable solutions that will strengthen ACI’s operations and support its mandate of academic excellence, research, and community service.
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