Notre Dame University

Notre Dame Avenue, RH 3,

9600 Cotabato City

GRADUATE SCHOOL

NAME: Jorlyn Baladjay – Solidum EdD 1

Course No.: Educ 734: Educational Planning and Evaluation
Professor: Dr. Estelita S. Gayak

SWOT Analysis of Southern Christian College (SCC)

I. Rationale

Southern Christian College was established as a non-stock, non-profit religious educational

institution in 1949 and as an educational arm of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.
Presently, it is a premier serving institution that offers complete education from basic education to
tertiary level. It envisions itself as a premier community – serving university and a catalyst for
social transformation through education grounded on faith, character, and service. It is committed
to produce servant-leaders who are instruments of social transformation through an education that
is contextualized, liberating, empowering, relevant, faith-rooted and responsive to the needs of the
people. It is further committed to the building of a caring and sharing society that loves God;
respects the Mindanao heritage; advocates justice, freedom and peace; and promotes sustainable
agro-industrial development towards a balance ecology that enhances the quality of life. SCC
welcomes students of all faith perspectives and supports the aims and goals of the ecumenical and
interfaith movements. In addition, SCC aims to develop a critical mass of leaders and managers
who serve God’s will and continue to seek more meaningful values of faith, service and character;
institutionalize an educational system that ensures the development of students who are competent,
liberated, empowered and responsive to the needs of humanity; optimize the integration and
utilization of learning and experiences from linkage with communities; and maximize the
utilization of resources as an integral part of educational processes. With SCC’s vision, mission,
and goals, it is known in the area as a great school and a school that leads its way (SCC Handbook,
2018).

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 At present, SCC is excelling and surviving under the leadership of a dynamic and visionary
school president, Dr. Edwin T. Balaki, with the support of the Board of Trustees, administrators,
faculty, staff, and with the cooperation of the parents, students, other stakeholders and partners.
SCC has also ample facilities and infrastructure that help enhance the success of the school
operation. SCC does not only provide services to the learners, but also has products that serve as
its income generation, such as the calamansi juice, buko pie, calabash wine( results of researches),
rice and feed mills, poultry, nature farm(resort), water for life, among others. Consequently, SCC
is making ways and possibilities for its sustenance and survival as a private institution.
In spite of the status and quality of the services the school is offering, it cannot be denied
that there are still some discrepancies, issues that need to be addressed or considered. With the
ever changing environment and system the school is experiencing, there is a need to be conformed
and meet the demands of the present condition and trends. It can be observed that competition
between schools in all aspects is evident. There are some instances that the performance of the
learners of the other schools in the municipality is being compared to the SCC’s learners, the
ratings in the board examinations, and even with the different competitions like the Mathematics
Olympics, Science Quest, etc. There are also times that the facilities of SCC are compared to other
school like NDMC which created an issue that NDMC constructed new building because SCC has
numerous physical developments. In terms of the human resources, it is evident that there are
employees who just finish their contract with SCC and look for other work opportunities. There
also some instances that SCC is challenged with the various scenarios in the community.
Therefore, SWOT analysis can be very beneficial for the school.
This SWOT analysis aims to determine the internal and external environments of SCC
through the identification and analysis of the strengths, weaknesses of the school, and the
opportunities and threats to which it is exposed. Based on the results, a recommendation will be
formulated for the school.

II. Results of the Survey

There were eight (8) hard copies of survey questionnaires that were distributed to students
(2), faculty (2), staff (2), and administrators (2); however, only three (3) were retrieved through
Facebook messenger, and e-mail: student, faculty, and administrator. I tried to reach out especially

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to a staff, but, he failed to send back the instrument. Thus, I only have data from the student,
faculty, and a principal.
Participant 1(P1) is a BSED graduating student of the College of Teacher Education (CTE),
Participant 2 (P2) is a full-time faculty who is an assistant professor by rank of the CTE, and the
Participant 3 (P3) is a principal of SCC- Elementary Training Department. Their responses are
presented in the tables that follow.

Table 1. Responses of the participants to the questions about the strengths of SCC.

STRENGTHS
1. SCC provides quality instruction/education grounded on faith, service, character which
ensures the society of the production of quality graduates.
2. known for its quality education as reflected in the performance of its graduates who
excelled in various fields/performs well in board examinations
3. produced two board topnotchers in Teacher Education in two consecutive years
4. has a visionary leader
5. strong faculty organization
6. performs the 4-fold functions of a higher educational institution (instruction, research,
extension, production)
7. strong faculty development (scholarships, seminars, etc.)
8. curriculum and program upgrade through voluntary submission to accreditations.
9. strong community engagement (extension programs), providing sustainable livelihood
to different local communities
10. The school caters the Tri-people and treating them equally.
11. frontliner in community services
12. reasonable tuition fee
13. constructed an administrative building
14. having visually impaired-friendly classrooms (i.e. chalkboards are not too far from the
front row, and the adequate incorporation of projected/electronic educational
technology)
15. well-equipped library system, campus-wide wifi facilities
16. Laboratory equipment and facilities (Speech laboratory, JEEP lab, computer Lab, etc.)
17. has own in-campus radio station
18. auxiliary services/ income-generating projects/productions such as Saranay Feeds,
Calabash wine, etc.

Table 2. Responses of the participants to the questions about the weaknesses of SCC.

WEAKNESSES
1. Completion of the graduate and postgraduate studies of faculties to make another step in
goal of universityhood of SCC.
2. human resources since there is a fast turn-over of employees particularly in academic
area and strategies in holding employees (e.g. added benefits)
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 3. consistency of some policies being implemented
4. faculty development program
5. comprehensive retirement benefits for tenured employees
6. lacks updated relevant faculty trainings and seminars for all
7. Ranking and salary scheme need to be improved
8. Lacks modernized and fully equipped laboratory facilities
9. P1 needs more development on manual and technical skills for persons with visual and
other impairments.
10. P2 needs more professional development about innovations in teaching and trainings
that can enhance supervisory skills.
11. SCC does not observe local advisories (e.g. suspension of classes) and does not
participate in some religious celebrations considered as local holidays
12. The school lacks emphasis on the physical education of college students
13. Infusion of military discipline and related courses such as ROTC
14. Support services such as the General Services Unit (GSU), and cafeteria
15. Unmaintained cleanliness of the campus (e.g. toilets and other facilities)
16. some employees providing student services are not approachable
17. some employees are insensitive to the needs of students and parents ( don’t work extra
time to cater those who are already falling in line for transactions)

Table 3. Responses of the participants to the questions about the opportunities of SCC.

OPPORTUNITIES
1. Strong linkages with local and international organization/linkages with government
agencies and other private organizations
2. strengthening parental involvement in school activities
3. The school should hire more maintenance personnel for the science building.
4. The school should provide more career and professional growth of its faculty and others
5. continuously revisit or update development programs
6. competitive salary (one of the reasons why many faculty leave for public schools)
7. information dissemination through different platforms (letters, sms, social media
8. More integration of ICT in the curriculum
9. There are a lot of mandates from the government agencies such as new policies from
DepEd to be implemented. This sometimes leads to confusion particularly in
10. delivery of services. On a positive side, this will develop her administrative skills
11. particularly in decision making (P3).
12. Promoting advocacies

Table 4. Responses of the participants to the questions about the threats of SCC.

THREATS
1. Geo-topographical changes (i.e. highway rehabilitation)
2. Other schools/state universities and TEIs especially those offering the same programs,
and those with free tuition fee.

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 3. Disease outbreaks
4. Potential insurgencies
5. Standards, policies, and/or legislations that might negatively impact the school: K to 12
( R.A. 10533), R.A. 10687 (The UNIFAST law), legislations to contain possible
COVID-19 cases
6. Unregulated/excessive exposure of students to social media (esp. activities not related to
the curriculum).
7. Online classes or distance learning
8. limited financial support both in campus and off campus activities
9. Low salary rate

III. Discussion of the Results

Based on the results of the survey presented in the tables above, there are varied responses
of the participants in determining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of SCC.
There are some answers that are contrasting to each other like P3 answered that SCC has a strong
faculty development such as scholarships, seminars, among others, while P2 noted under weakness
that one of the aspects of SCC that needs to be improved is the faculty development program.
Maybe this is due to the fact that there are some instances that faculty are not sent to seminars and
trainings; however, the school is always offering scholarships and any support for the graduate
studies of those who are willing to study. In fact this year, there are different scholarships, study
grants, and supports offered for the faculty, but only few availed and applied. Faculty has options
to what kind of supports they are going to avail.
With regards to the strengths of SCC, the responses of the participants can be classified
into human resources, provision of quality education and services, facilities and infrastructures,
and community engagement. It can be highlighted that SCC has a visionary leader, and there is a
strong faculty organization (P2) in SCC. It is also worth-noting that the majority of the human
resources are regular and tenured. This means that most of the employees are serving SCC for
three or more years. As to the provision of the quality education and services, it is evident through
the performance of the students and graduates. According to P1, SCC provides quality
instruction/education grounded on faith, service, character which ensures the society of the
production of quality graduates. P3 noted that SCC is known for its quality education as reflected
in the performance of its graduates who excelled in various fields/performs well in board
examinations, and P2 added that it produced two board topnotchers in Teacher Education in two

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consecutive years. This means that the students are really bringing out their best to excel and bring
honor to the school, and this success can also be attributed to the efforts and services the faculty,
staff, and school administrators are doing for them.
Moreover, it is clear in the responses of the participants that they considered the facilities
and infrastructures as the strengths of SCC. P1 stated that SCC has a newly constructed
Administration building where the offices of the administrators are located. In addition, P2 noted
that SCC has a well-equipped library system, campus-wide wifi facilities, laboratory equipment
and facilities such Speech, JEEP and computer laboratories. In particular, the school library has
available laptops for students’ paper works and requirements. Recently, the wifi connection was
enhanced and had given the school’s stakeholders access to it. The rest of the laboratories like
Speech lab, JEEP, and computer lab are utilized by the students once they enroll the subject.
Recently, the school launched an in-campus radio station for information dissemination and for
exposures of the students, employees, as well as the theology students and ministers. This means
that the school is equipped with the resources needed by the students and employees. This implies
that SCC is addressing and providing the needs of its stakeholders.
The last category of the strengths of SCC is on community engagement. Two of the
participants pointed this out (P2, P3). In particular, SCC is known for this and considered as
frontliner in community services according to P2. It is very evident that SCCians are very active
in responding to the needs of the people. Presently, all colleges and units of SCC have adopted
barangay and regularly conduct the extension activities. Aside from this, if there are calamities,
the SCC family is ever ready in extending assistance in various ways, like in the earthquake that
happened in North Cotabato. The SCC employees, some administrators, students, and alumni went
to the different areas for how many times to give relief goods and conducted medical mission. It
shows that SCC nurtures and trains the students to be good servant leaders.
The weaknesses of the school based on the responses of the participants focus on human
resources/salary/benefits, faculty development, facilities, and on policies. It can be noticed that
most of these weaknesses are synonymous with those in the strengths. Though they are similar,
they differ in some aspects. For instance in the human resources, P2 argued that some employees
who are providing student services are not approachable and there are also some who are
insensitive to the needs of students and parents, like they do not work extra time to cater those who
are already falling in line for transactions. Consequently, this can really affect the school and its

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services. One of the concerns relating to human resources is the fast turn-over especially in the
academic unit (P3). This can be related to salary/benefits in the sense that if the salary/benefits are
comparable with those in the public schools, they may stay longer in SCC. In addition to the
benefits, the school must improve the ranking and salary scheme, and have a more comprehensive
retirement benefits for the tenured employees (P2). In relation to faculty development, P2 stated
that it must be improved and faculty should attend relevant trainings and seminars. Similarly,
faculty must complete their graduate/postgraduate studies for SCC’s universityhood (P1). Even P1
is still a student, he is also concerned about the achievement of goals of the school. Another
weakness identified is in line with the facilities. Even though these are emphasized in the strengths,
P1 and P3 mentioned about the comfort rooms, and the general services unit who are in charge of
these, including the school’s surrounding. These may be due to the reasons that the comfort rooms
and the surroundings lack maintenance/unmaintained cleanliness. The last weakness is about some
policies that are implemented without consistency. P3 has no elaboration regarding this. In addition
to policies, there are some instances that the school does not abide with the local advisories such
as suspension of classes when there are calamities. It usually happens when there is a note that
private schools may in the declaration
As to the opportunities, these may supposedly refer to those that usually ascend from the
circumstances outside the school or the changes in external environment which the school can
benefit from; nevertheless, there are participants’ responses that are still pertaining to the internal
environment. Some of the highlighted opportunities of SCC are its strong linkages with local and
international organization/linkages with government agencies and other private organizations.
SCC has good international partners who supported the school in various ways such as the Bread
for the world program which has scholars who are sustained by the Germans. There are also some
agencies that are interlinked with the school which offer their services, etc. Another opportunity is
the strengthening of parental involvement in school activities. It cannot be denied that parental
involvement is contributory to the success of the school. Hence, these opportunities can be
considered factors in the development of the school.
Lastly, there are some threats to SCC identified by the participants and the first three are
the geo-topographical changes, other schools/state universities and TEIs, and disease outbreaks.
The school really has no control about the geo-topographical changes like highway rehabilitation
especially that the school is located along the highway, and recently, there is a strict

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implementation of road widening. Consequently, the school is affected. But, with the initiative of
the School president, he negotiated kindly with the DPWH officer not to cut big Acacia trees in
front of the school but he bargained that he will offer loading area for the students and other
passengers in front of the school. One of the major threats to SCC are the state universities
especially those offering the same programs, and those with free tuition fee. This time, students
and parents are really looking for free education, but the school is still grateful because of the
subsidy and scholarships provided by the government to the school, even though there are issues
like delays of the release of Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). Disease outbreak, COVID-19 in
particular, suspends all the school’s activities until this time, and this really challenged everyone
especially that different activities are set and scheduled. With this, the financial status of the school
is also affected since there are many students of SCC who are not yet cleared. COVID-19 is out of
timing because the final examination for the undergrad students were suspended, as well as the
other important activities of the school. It is truly a threat to the school especially that there is no
definite time of lifting the suspension and community quarantine. Thus, the school has been
submissive to the directives of the LGU until this time.
Overall, the strengths of SCC depict the realization of SCC’s vision, mission, and goals.
This means that the strengths manifest the achievements of SCC. This imply that these strengths
can continue to be considered as assets of the school. In contrary, the weaknesses can serve as
areas for improvement of the school and must be given focus, so that these weaknesses will become
strengths. This means that the school has still areas to be considered for improvement in which it
must be given emphasis in the strategic planning. These weaknesses must be addressed and should
not remain as weaknesses. As to the opportunities of the school, these must be put into
consideration because these can be factors that could supplement and assist the schools in
achieving its goals. Finally, the school must always be ready for the threats that the external
environment may bring to SCC. This can be resolved when the strengths of the school are
maximized as well as the opportunities, and the weaknesses and threats must be lessen or
diminished.

IV. Recommendation
The school administrators will be given copy of the result of SWOT and must be
emphasized that they may use the strengths of the school to take advantage of the opportunities,

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and to avoid the threats; similarly, the weaknesses must be overcame to take advantage of the
opportunities. When this will be realized, it can be guaranteed that SCC will continue to soar and
lead its way

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