Four academic support staff have been trained by the Training and Program Development Division (TPDD) of the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution (OADR) in a 24-hour Course Training on Mediation, held on December 9-13, 2025, at the Le Monet Hotel in Baguio City. This training was in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education – Cordillera Administrative Region.
The training strengthens the complaint handling management in the higher educational institutions (HEIs). In addition, it supports achieving speedy and impartial justice by using alternative dispute resolution (ADR), such as Mediation, which helps unclog court dockets.
The University of Baguio has four recognized and trained mediators, as they successfully finished the course training, including Complaints Handling Officer Gepsy Rose Ammogawen, ARC Area in Charge and CODI member Melanie Banguete, UBLES Foundation of Discipline Officer Fay Ruizza R. Pagaduan, and UBHS Foundation of Discipline Officer Zhein Carlo Molina.
They were trained on how the mediation process could be applied to the disciplinary cases handled in the University, including its rules, guidelines, strategies, and proper procedures. The OADR also immersed the participants in other ADRs but focused more on the fundamentals of the mediation process and the roles of mediators as conflict managers, effective communicators, and process experts.
Participants from HEIs in the region have also experienced mediating a certain case in a Breakout Simulation Exercise on the Stages of Mediation and Crafting of Settlement Agreement.
To be recognized as OARD-accredited mediators, the participants have to undergo the remaining 16 hours of their 40-hour training course, which will allow them to practice independently, even outside the University they represented.
The University of Baguio commits to ensuring every complaint and disciplinary case goes along with the holistic growth and development of its students, anchored in its guidelines to SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
written by: Mr. Zhein Carlo Molina, UB OSA, UBHS Foundation of Discipline Officer
