Dr. Lizan E. Perante-Calina

Dean, Graduate School of Public and Development Management

Welcome to the Graduate School of Public and Development Management! 

New young faces, that light up bright hopes for the future of our country – this encompasses how I describe all of you right now. Allow me then to present to you our perspective of honing talents and resources the DAP-GSPDM way.

The task of continually equipping our public servants with practical and adaptive skills cannot be understated as challenges continue to assail Philippine organizations from all directions. There are calls for, among others, transparency in public affairs, managing delicate political transitions, accelerating local government units to become cities of the future, introducing new leadership frameworks in both the public and private sectors, and addressing the growing demand for professional care in light of new healthcare laws and challenges. Government is called to respond to these increasingly complex issues. While we dutifully respond to the needs of our respective organizations, in the process, we learn that these needs are becoming multi-sectoral and interconnected, and the possible solutions involve the inclusion of local communities and regions of nation-states alike.

As the Development Academy of the Philippines’ academic arm, GSPDM is at the forefront of responding to the needs of the Philippine bureaucracy, the private sector, and the rest of the country’s organizations to help all of them rise above the aforementioned challenges. Ever since its creation in 1994, GSPDM has achieved significant strides in its major role as: 1) capacity-builder of public sector human resources, and 2) as a facilitating agent for institutional synergy to spur change and sustainable development.

In GSPDM, we equip our students and research fellows with better handles in public management, provide them with theoretical perspectives and research tools so that as practitioners, they take an evidence-based approach towards inquiries in the social sciences. We strive to produce ‘pracademics’ to deepen the quality of scholarship and bring innovation to practice. Notably, GSPDM graduates have become successful in their chosen fields and made significant contributions to their organizations and the country as a whole.

To build upon and sustain the gains of the previous years, we at GSPDM identified our 8.0 Academic Direction towards 2024, which outlines the steps we will take in order to achieve our goal of becoming the country’s Center of Excellence in Public Management.

Indeed, there is so much more to be done especially at a time when people and organizations need to thrive in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Today’s grand challenges are large in scope, requiring significant innovation, long-term commitment, and paradigm shifts in thought and function. 

Amidst all these, GSPDM shall continue to be at the forefront of providing learning opportunities to equip our leaders with the right skills, develop their competencies, and assist them in realizing their roles as agents of nation building. Our country needs you as the professionals of the future. It is thus with great honor that we invite you to join us in this transformative experience!