USM Signs MOU with Vanuatu Institute of Technology in Oceania The College of Trades and Industries (CTI) of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on September 21, 2026, through a Zoom teleconference. The MOU establishes a framework for cooperation between USM and VIT in education, training, academic development, research, and professional exchange, while promoting institutional partnership, and collaboration in areas of common interest. Dr. Jonald L. Pimentel, USM President, expressed appreciation for the partnership, saying he looks forward to a fruitful engagement with Vanuatu as it will help hone students’ skills and further strengthen our institutional ties. In response, Mr. Wade Evans, School Principal of VIT, conveyed the school’s appreciation for the partnership. He also shared that VIT looks up to USM as a “big brother” and hopes to seek its advice and guidance from time to time. “We are not as big as your university, however we have big visions, to be internationally recognized institute of halal education and of technology. This partnership is really going to support that vision,” Mr. Evans remarked. The signing marked CTI’s first international linkage. The partnership came as CTI recently applied for Level IV accreditation from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) for all its programs. Representing the USM during the MOU signing were Prof. Bryan Lloyd P. Bretaña, Director for Office of International Affairs (OIA), Dr. Leorence C. Tandog, Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and Dr. Joel V. Misanes, CTI Dean and some CTI faculty members.

SOXAARRDEC Holds 3rd Quarter Executive Board Meeting CY 2026 at DA-AMRES

September 22, 2026

Published by Loynei Frias Sumalinog at September 22, 2026

The College of Trades and Industries (CTI) of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on September 21, 2026, through a Zoom teleconference.

The MOU establishes a framework for cooperation between USM and VIT in education, training, academic development, research, and professional exchange, while promoting institutional partnership, and collaboration in areas of common interest.

Dr. Jonald L. Pimentel, USM President, expressed appreciation for the partnership, saying he looks forward to a fruitful engagement with Vanuatu as it will help hone students’ skills and further strengthen our institutional ties.

In response, Mr. Wade Evans, School Principal of VIT, conveyed the school’s appreciation for the partnership. He also shared that VIT looks up to USM as a “big brother” and hopes to seek its advice and guidance from time to time.

“We are not as big as your university, however we have big visions, to be internationally recognized institute of halal education and of technology. This partnership is really going to support that vision,” Mr. Evans remarked.

The signing marked CTI’s first international linkage. The partnership came as CTI recently applied for Level IV accreditation from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) for its BS Industrial Technology program.

Representing the USM during the MOU signing were Prof. Bryan Lloyd P. Bretaña, Director for Office of International Affairs (OIA), Dr. Leorence C. Tandog, Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and Dr. Joel V. Misanes, CTI Dean and some CTI faculty members.

Loynei Frias Sumalinog

Loy has a habit of buying books more often than actually reading them. Also, he sets reminder to only drink two cups of coffee in a day, and forgets it every time.