University of Nueva Caceres: A Future Thinking Institution

By Faye Tablizo-Natividad

Head, UNC Strategic Communications Office

EVEN though the future seems far away, it may not be so distant after all. The future may come sooner than expected. It may have even started today, and not tomorrow. Mark Strand and many others suggest that “The future is always beginning now.” The global pandemic, more than any time in history has brought us to reflect on the future. At the University of Nueva Caceres, we are future-ready. We are nurturing today, tomorrow’s citizens and leaders. We are writing today, tomorrow’s history.

In celebration of UNC’s 73rd Foundation Anniversary, anchored on the theme “Sustaining 73 years of UNCean Education and Transitioning to the University of the Future,” the UNC Human Resources Department, headed by our Talent Management Director, Prof. Divinagracia L. David spearheaded a life-changing webinar entitled ‘Transitioning to the University of the Future: A Webinar on Futures Thinking.’ The resource speaker was Dr. Lizan E. Perante-Calina, a distinguished educator, author, lecturer and the current President of the Philippine Futures Thinking Society.

The takeaways are great and grand; marvelous and many. No matter how vague or abstract the future is, it is not something we just wait upon, because it is in the future that we are going to spend the rest of our lives. At present, we need to think constructively and creatively about the future. Today, we have to anticipate and prepare for possibilities, no matter how unpredictable tomorrow can be. Right now, we have to engage strategic foresight and social forecasting to support sustainability, taking into account the prevailing trends, current conditions and circumstances. In our 73rd Foundation Anniversary, UNC will continue to celebrate and welcome a future that holds so much promise and possibilities.

I remember a beautiful line in a movie I watched more than 20 years ago. It said something to this effect, and this stuck with me: The destiny of man is like a kite. We hold part of it here on earth, while the other part belongs up above. Ralph Abernathy said it perfectly: “I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).