Dubai professor Dr. Rommel Sergio has been honoured with the Outstanding International Educator award at the 1st International Summit of the United Federation of Filipino-American Educators (UNIFFIED) held recently in Washington DC, USA.
An Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management at Canadian University Dubai, Dr. Sergio adds the award to a growing collection of accolades recognizing his outstanding contribution to education, research and community service.
UNIFFIED was first established in New York and now has 15 chapters in the USA and 21 chapters in the Philippines. The Summit in Washington DC was attended by almost 400 educators from across the globe and Dr. Sergio was one of the 200 educators from different parts of the Middle East, USA and South East Asia to receive an award.
Dr. Sergio commented, “This recognition is an affirmation of accomplishment, and of the passion I have for teaching. Research and community engagement strengthen the core of academic competencies needed to teach minds and inspire people to do good. This would not happen without the support of Canadian University Dubai and some people in the community who have dedicated themselves to making things happen.”
For two years, Dr. Sergio has been advocating the “Educating Others How to Help Others” initiative, as Head of the Overseas Filipino Workers Counseling Program at the Philippine Consulate General for Dubai and Northern Emirates. His contribution in holding the ‘Counseling the Counselors’ program has brought tremendous positive outcomes in the service delivery of the Consulate’s psycho-social support.
Starting this initiative by donating his services for free, Dr. Sergio aimed to promote positive psychology to help his countrymen, and in doing so, support the UAE Ministry of Happiness agenda. In addition, he began training a group of in-house counselors at the Philippine’s Consulate General (PCG) to deliver counseling to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
In recent years, Dr. Sergio has been recognized both nationally and internationally for his innovative contribution to the academe, having been awarded, among others: Human Resource Management Outstanding Professor by the World HRD Congress; Presidential Award by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for Outstanding Overseas Filipino Worker – Individual Category; Top 50 Global Educators Award by The Oxford Journal; and International Journal of Business and Economics, Global Research Leader, by the International Association of Scholarly Publishers, Editors, and Researchers.
On his latest award, Dr. Sergio concluded, “I realized that there are a lot of things to be done to promote happiness and altruism. Other than innovative teaching and action research, I strike a balance by sharing a part of my expertise with wider society by giving my time, expertise, and support to the community I have chosen to serve unconditionally.’’
