SU unveils Center of Leadership Excellence in Nursing
Unveiling of the Luz Sobong-Porter Center of Leadership Excellence (CoLEN) marker at the SU College of Nursing
Silliman University (SU) unveiled the Luz Sobong-Porter Center of Leadership Excellence in Nursing (CoLEN) under the College of Nursing, August 29, 2023 at the William Barry Thompson Hall.
Dr. Theresa A. Guino-o, SU College of Nursing (SUCN) dean, said the CoLEN is the focal program at SU for advancing nursing education, research, and policy development for improved health outcomes in the Philippines and the ASEAN region.
“(The Center) offers a network of educational programs and innovative strategies for health professionals to develop the competencies needed to lead and acquire vital knowledge and training. These, in turn, will be widely disseminated to assist policymakers, health practitioners, scholars, and service providers [for them to] make the best-informed decisions and actions in health and healthcare,” added Guino-o.
Guino-o said the Center is also an “asset and contribution to the high accreditation status of SUCN,” which is recognized as one of the only six Centers of Excellence in Nursing Education in the Philippines.
The Center was named after Dr. Luz Sobong-Porter, an SUCN alumna who became the first Filipina nurse with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing when she completed her PhD from New York University in 1967. An Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee in the field of Nursing Service in 1976, Porter graduated from SU in 1958 and served as a faculty member and assistant dean of SUCN.
Guino-o said the Center was named after Porter in recognition of her contribution as a “brilliant and internationally [known] nursing researcher, author, professor, and compassionate nurse.”
“(Porter) was instrumental in the inception of the PhD [in] Nursing [program] and the addition of [specializations] to the master’s program [of SUCN], namely: Parent-Child Nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing, and Psychiatric Nursing,” said Guino-o.
The unveiling ceremony of the Center also included a roundtable discussion on healthcare leadership with Dr. Brian S. Porter, son of Dr. Luz Sobong-Porter, as the keynote speaker.
Faculty, students, SU administrators, alumni, deans and directors of other colleges and schools, and representatives from SU Medical Center Foundation, Inc.; Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital; and the Dumaguete City local government unit attended the ceremony.
(Photos from SUCN and the Office of Silliman Online University Learning)
The CoLEN is located on the second floor of the William Barry Thompson Hall under the SU College of Nursing.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the CoLEN
