With his experiences and expertise as a financial management specialist, Dr. Randal Chang arrived last September at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) from Hawaii to teach Special Topics in Financial Management (SPEFIMA) to Business Administration majors taking Export Management (BSBA-EM).
Dr. Chang was a banker and a former President of CitiBank in Hawaii before making making teaching his second career. He has taught in different universities around the world such as Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) in China, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and his current home base, Chaminade University, Honolulu.
He accepted the invitation to teach in DLS-CSB for free after meeting the faculty members at a conference for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program held at GDUFS last year. When the College asked him if he could teach in the College and he agreed, the faculty members decided to set up a program where Dr. Chang will work as a visiting professor for seven (7) weeks.
The professor mentioned that he holds a class of 22 “very energetic” Export Management students. With them, he implements a technique in teaching called the “Student-Centered approach” which, according to him, is a modern practice of professors in America and Europe.
The student-centered approach focuses on letting the students learn and find information by themselves which develops their problem solving and critical thinking skills. He added that this approach is far more effective from the traditional teaching method where the teacher transfers his/her contained knowledge to students.
“Your youth is your most valuable asset. When you’re young, time is your friend. You have a lot of time to develop and improve. Don’t wait for time to become your enemy and do it all, because it’ll be too late,” Dr. Chang shared in an interview as his message for the Benildeans.
After his stay in DLS-CSB, Dr. Chang plans to go back to Honolulu to teach for one term then he will teach in China afterwards.
Dr. Chang also teaches in other institutions such as Macau Institute of Management in South Korea and MBA summer online program in Chicago where he is teaching. He is staying here in our country with his wife.
by Bryan Nonay and Timothy Santos
