Ateneo’s Integrated Ateneo Formation (InAF) program is aimed towards the formation of persons-for-and-with-others who will contribute meaningfully to the transformation of Philippine society as servant-leaders engaged in various fields of endeavor.
In line with the formation of the whole person characteristic of Jesuit education, the InAF program seeks to provide students with opportunities that can help develop and integrate the personal, academic, physical, socio-cultural, and spiritual dimensions that comprise each student’s person.
In forming students to be professionals-for-and-with-others, the InAF program seeks to develop graduates who are: able to apply their academic competence and training in the service of nation building; conscious of their responsibilities as global citizens; guided by Ignatian discernment and rooted in a personal relationship with God; strongly oriented to faith and justice; and critically rooted in their culture.
To achieve the abovementioned goals, all undergraduate students of Ateneo undergo four programs as part of their holistic formation—the Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions (InTACT), the National Service Training Program–Plus (NSTP-Plus), the Junior Engagement Program (JEEP), and the Senior Integration Program (SIP). These programs are supervised by the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Formation and involve the following offices—the Office of Campus Ministry, the Office of Guidance and Counseling, the Office of Placement and Career Services, the Office for Social Concern and Involvement, the Office of College Athletics and the Office of Student Activities.
Binhi
Binhi is a formation program designed for first year students taking the Understanding the Self (SocSc 11) course. It enables students to understand themselves better through engaging in social and cultural-historical processes within and outside of their social milieu. It serves as an opportunity for students to reflect on their own selves and how they affect and are affected by society. It helps students understand how the self is a product of socialization and one’s environment. The role of one's agency is also highlighted with regard to the community's circumstances.
Under the Integrated Ateneo Formation Program (InAF), it is part of the Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions (InTACT) and serves as the exposure component of this first-year formation program for the Ateneo de Manila University students.
Punla
Punla is designed for sophomores taking Theology of the Catholic Social Vision (THEO 12) and enrolled in the National Service Training Program (NSTP 11). It aims to deepen students’ social awareness through engagements in one of the vulnerable sectors of our society. The area engagements provide opportunities for students to build relationships in their respective communities or institutions.
It is hoped that the students gain a better understanding of the self, kapwa, and our society. Its design is based on the pastoral cycle framework which has immersion/area engagement in a particular marginalized sector of our society as its highlight. In this program, it is essential that a deepening of students’ experiences is achieved through social analysis, theological reflection, and pastoral action.
Bigkis
Bigkis is designed for juniors taking the Economy, Society, and Sustainable Development (SocSc13) and the National Service Training Program (NSTP 12) courses. It aims to provide students with opportunities to respond to the needs of marginalized communities or organizations through service-learning research or projects. It also aims to involve students in activities that would help them define themselves in the world and be more discerning of their role in our society. Lastly, it hopes to weave together and synthesize students' learnings from the different formation programs.
The program aims to put into practice the students’ abilities, skills, and competence in their chosen profession in responding to the call for service.
