Experimental Call Center Course Graduated Its First Batch
An experimental call center course developed by a business outsourcing firm has graduated its first batch of students.
The University of the Cordilleras (UC), the first school to test the Sitel Philippines-designed course in communications and technology application, honored 68 business management students who officially passed the course during graduation rites last August.
Sitel is also preparing to tie up with the University of Baguio (UB), which has obtained credentials for a specialized call center curriculum it plans to offer this year, the Inquirer learned.
Dr. Leonarda Aguinalde, dean of the UC college of business administration, said Sitel has been negotiating for partnerships with Baguio schools to secure a labor force once it expands.
Sitel president Danilo Reyes told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the firm plans to expand its call center services to include technical or marketing response systems for engineers, lawyers and doctors based overseas.
He said the Sitel course module would be offered as an elective for students, who want firsthand training in Sitel working processes.
Aguinalde said partnership arrangement with Sitel is ideal for universities because it opens doors to the $49-billion global industry.
For many universities, call centers offer them the means to increase the employment rate for their graduates, she said.
“We can graduate a [hotel and management] student, but she can look around and realize there are no new hotels or restaurants being built [to accommodate new employees]. It’s a condition [shared by] the rest of the country,” Aguinalde said.
She said UC also benefits from the “added competence” that the Sitel program offers undergraduate and graduate school students.
