The Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines has set its sight on attracting and retaining more foreign academics and teachers in a bid to continue its goal of improving teaching and learning, through a new partnership with US-based workflow processes company, Interfolio.
The partnership, finalised in late 2019, will see AIM implement Interfolio’s Faculty Information System to standardise workflow processes for faculty as well as improve their ability to communicate their research accomplishments, conference attendance and other scholarly activities.
“If we’re trying to attract foreign faculty we need to be using this”
“As a truly international institution serving executives and aspiring business leaders from nations across Southeast Asia, it’s imperative that we recruit and cultivate an academic workforce as global as the students we serve,” said AIM associate dean Jammu Francisco.
“Our engagement with Interfolio will enable us to maintain our competitive edge by attracting internationally-recognised research and teaching talent while empowering current faculty with the tools to focus on teaching, scholarship and service.”
Francisco added the implementation of the new system would help AIM meet its goal of becoming a “world-class institution” and offer services to faculty at the same level as other providers.
“In the Philippines and in a developing country context, this isn’t a very common platform or solution used, but if we’re trying to attract foreign faculty we need to be using this,” he told The PIE News.
“We’re putting our money where our mouth is, that when we say we’re a world-class institution, you pretty much expect the same thing that you can get in another university elsewhere.”
Andrew Rosen, chief executive of Interfolio, said lecturers and teachers were increasingly looking for institutions that could better help them communicate their academic credentials and achievements, such as tenure and research accomplishments.
“Talent knows no borders when it comes to a world-class faculty,” he said.
“As graduate institutions operate in an increasingly global context, innovation in faculty recruitment and engagement is fast becoming a prerequisite for competing on an international stage.”
Edtech has become a significant focus point within international education in recent years, with UK-based Atom Learning announcing expansion into Asia, Africa and the Middle East in late 2019.
