[L-R] VP Dexter Lo, Dr Chona Echavez, Fr Mars Tan SJ, Engr/EnP Jefferson Vallente,
and Dean Christine Salvaloza

As the new school year begins, new scholarly and immersive opportunities await graduate students in Xavier Ateneo. Last 1 August 2025, an Agreement was signed between Rev Fr Mars P Tan, SJ, President of Xavier University (XU), and Dr Chona R Echavez, Director of the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture (RIMCU) under the Climate Change Adaptation, Dispossession and Displacement (CiCADD) Project.

The Agreement covers financial grants for students enrolled in either the Master of Engineering (MOE) Program or the Master of Geomatics for Disaster Risk Reduction (MGDRR) Program – to serve as Project Assistants to the CiCADD Project. The Climate Change Adaptation, Dispossession and Displacement (CiCADD) is a global project where RIMCU is one of the proponents. Similar Project Assistantships are also being offered to students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Sociology Program.

In 2024, RIMCU and the XU – Social Development Office (SDO) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in delivering CiCADD Project outputs that are science and evidence-based, and are useful to local communities in the Philippines and the other project sites. In doing so, XU students, faculty, formators and staff may be engaged in the project to optimize learning, knowledge exchange, and technology transfer.

Present as witnesses during the signing ceremony were Dr Christine May C Salvaloza, Dean of the College of Engineering, Engr/EnP Jefferson R Vallente Jr, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering, and Engr Dexter S Lo, Vice President for Social Development.

The Call for CiCADD Project Assistantships will be announced later this month.