INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RESIDENCE BUILDING
St. Paul University Philippines (SPUP), in its one hundred years of existence, is one educational institution that grew and still is growing because it always tries to respond to the needs of its customers, both internal and external. The SPUP International Students Residence (ISR) with its trio of buildings is a staunch example of this paradigm of necessity.
More than three decades ago, that is, in the mid-seventies, the Sisters saw the necessity of providing the College girls a dormitory inside the campus that is conducive to study, safe, decent, clean and where they will spend less than if they were to board out of campus. So, in the space opposite the Sisters' Convent that was occupied by a small piggery, a long one storey building was constructed. They preferred to bring provisions from home and cook their own food.
However, as the world continues to become ever more interconnected, it is increasingly difficult to imagine how SPUP, as it ends its first century of development and prepares to begin its second, can fulfill its mission as a comprehensive university in Tuguegarao City without also continuing to develop its identity as a globally engaged and internationally committed university.
The academic environment has changed so that today global awareness and international experience are essential elements of university education. International experiences enhance students' academic abilities in several cognitive and effective areas, including critical thinking, information gathering, problem solving, decision-making, and ability to deal with change.
The University as an educational institution realizes direct benefits from international activity. Foreign students coming to our campuses bring fresh viewpoints to the University's various Schools and broaden the horizons of faculty and students. Faculty and students who work or study abroad return to the University to share a greater understanding of global inter-relatedness and new perspectives on their professional fields, as well as new perspectives on their own communities and cultural values. Recognizing and accepting global diversity encourages faculty and students to understand cultural and social differences within SPUP. The development of these new and shared perspectives represents a significant gain for the University, its faculty, and its students, as well as for the City.
In view of the University's increasingly international involvement, the ISR came to be. The ISR has four resident halls: St. Therese, St. Francis, St. Clare and Le Berceau.
The St. Therese and Le Berceau Residence Halls house guests, local/national/international, who came to the University for various purposes such as visit, as resource persons, exchange professors, etc. St Therese has thirty one rooms and can accommodate eighty seven guests. Of the thirty one rooms, seven are private, eight are for double occupancy and sixteen are shared by four occupants. On the other hand, Le Berceau has six rooms and can hold fifteen guests: one room is suite, three rooms are for double occupancy, and two rooms are for quadruple occupancy. Therefore, at one single time, SPUP has rooms for one hundred two guests.
The St. Francis and St. Clare Residence Halls are coed. St. Francis can house one hundred fifty two students and each has its own dining hall. There are on-line computer hookups in the dining hall. St. Francis Residence Hall has thirty eight rooms with each room having four occupants.
St. Clare has capacity for one hundred ten students and it's complete with its own dining hall and kitchen. The second floor has eleven rooms of which nine are for double occupancy and two rooms are shared by six occupants. The third and fourth floor have four rooms on each floor of which two are shared by six and two rooms are shared by fourteen students. St. Clare Residence Hall has a study room on every floor.
On the whole SPUP has space for two hundred sixty two resident students. Each hall is provided a television room where residents may spend some relaxation time. All rooms are air-conditioned.
LE BERCEAU
Comfort measured in love not in lux.
The Le Berceau guest house may not have the luxury of a five star hotel, but it uniquely gives the warmth and care of a mother to a Child.
"Le Berceau", or "the cradle", depicts the unstinted joy that the University expresses in welcoming its guests - likened to a birth of child, the arrival of a new family. And as much as every guest is a family, the University gives especial attention to every visitor and makes extra effort in making their stay a memorable as well as a fruitful experience of a person's journey towards spiritual growth. While a visit to the University would lead to an informal reciprocity of gifts and strengthened relationships, the University puts emphasis to its role of molding people towards the Christian Catholic personality and orientation.