BSU is still ISO 9001:2015 certified after a two-day follow up audit by TUVRheinland last October 23 and 24, 2019. The audit aimed to verify implementation of the established quality management system in conformance with the requirements of the standard, to identify opportunities for improvement to effectively implement the management system and to give recommendations for the maintenance of certificate. This was the first follow up audit since the University was certified on December 2018. BSU will have the re-certification audits in the next two years.

Eric Santos and Gogina Mendiola, TUVRheinland auditors, looked at how well BSU is providing tertiary education based on the ISO 9001:2015 standard, documented information, applicable statutory and regulatory requirements (CHED, DBM, COA) and other applicable requirements. Interviews of key personnel and process owners, observation of processes and verification of records were also done.

Being aware of the extra hard work and sacrifices of BSU faculty and staff towards the certification, President Feliciano G. Calora, Jr. asked for understanding and recognition that ISO is a part of the process for BSU to establish new standards and benchmarks.

“ISO is basically a tool for continuous improvement,” he said.

BSU has 80 processes of core and support services certified on November 2018 after a pre-certification audit by Quality Plus on July 2018 and the Stage 2 certification audit on October 2018. These processes are all in line with the University’s quality policy which states,”BSU is continuously committed to improve its Quality Management System, satisfy requirements of relevant interested parties and provide excellent service for quality education and innovative research aligned with sustainable development and client satisfaction.”

“Hopefully, as we go on and reach the three years, we will imbibe what ISO is and make it part of our everyday life and because it is already part of our everyday transactions, it will not actually be very difficult,” said Dr. Aurea Marie M. Sandoval, director of the Office of the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Office.

Ms. Bernadette C. Bagto, University Registrar, attested that going through ISO 9001:2015 certification has standardized University forms and procedures. Bagto believes that the standardized forms and procedures will eventually make the work of the University Registrar’s Office easier once the stakeholders will get used to them. The BSU Registrar is one of the process owners of the admission, enrollment, graduation and records management processes.

ISO 9001:2015 is the international standard specifying what a quality management system (QMS) is. The standard is used by organizations to show consistency in providing products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can be certified.ISO 9001 was first published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an agency of more than 160 countries. The present version of ISO 9001 was published in September 2015.

BSU began efforts for certification as early as 2010 when Dr. Calora was then director of the Planning and Development Office. //JSTabangcura