Article by Lemuel Karl Tadios
CATBALOGAN CITY, Philippines—The second day’s afternoon session of the University-Wide Annual Faculty Development Training featured a timely and forward-looking discussion by Associate Professor Zaldy A. Jabiñar, IT Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences with his presentation, “Enterprise Resource Management System (ERMS) and Learning Management System (LMS): An Integrated Approach to Student Journey and Institutional Efficiency,” underscoring Samar State University’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation for institutional efficiency.
Mr. Jabiñar began by presenting the developments in the digitization of the Institutional Human Research Ethics Committee (IHREC) processes, a major step towards going paperless. This initiative aims to extend SSU’s services to researchers outside Samar, ensure easier monitoring in compliance with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), and provide a streamlined review process for possible presentation to the Board of Regents. He then highlighted the integration of ERMS with LMS, a technology he conceptualized and developed, designed to guide students in their academic journey while making processes more efficient for teachers and employees. The ERMS, which serves as the overall coverage of the system, is built on four core capabilities: centralized repository, real-time reporting, streamlined workflows, and scalable architecture. Its ecosystem includes integrated modules for admission, human resources, finance, student information, learning management, and alumni services—providing a holistic portal that students can access from enrolment until their transition as alumni.
A live demonstration of the platform showed how students can view their courses, grades, activities, calendar, financial records, profiles, and achievements in one interface, while faculty and staff also benefit from streamlined access to essential data. Embedded AI features tailored to students’ enrolled courses, make the system more responsive and user-friendly with a multilingual capacity configurable in English, Filipino, and Waray.
While the system is still under polishing and refinement, Mr. Jabiñar emphasized that the ERMS with LMS is envisioned as a “go-to application” with broader features and monitoring levels that addresses the limitations of older platforms such as Moodle. Notably, the Moodle-based LMS was first formally introduced in 2020 when the university shifted to flexible modality due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Concluding the afternoon session, Dr. Felisa E. Gomba, Vice President for Academic Affairs encouraged the faculty to embrace digital platforms, stating: “We need to appreciate what is in the digital classrooms; let’s think of opportunities if we are thinking of growing” reaffirming SSU’s continuing efforts to equip its faculty with digital competencies and to further strengthen institutional efficiency, ensuring that teaching and learning remain adaptive, inclusive, and forward-looking.