Students Life Office
The commitment to education that is truly holistic presupposes priority given to the safety and well-being of the students, their good health and to appropriate program for their formation, socially, intellectually, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Students Life Office has opened for the purpose of developing good relationships between students and the institute as well as all lecturers who are expected to understand students’s situations, behavior, level of knowledge acquired, and the daily issues they are facing. Moreover, the office has special activities for assisting student to solve problems related to learning and communication. The office staff gives them support and encouragement and helps them develop their sense of responsibility.
In due course, the Student Life Office will be fully up and running and it will offer opportunities for education and training that complement the academic formation in classrooms and pursue a general education that aims to develop the whole person.
Counseling Service
SPI runs a free-of-charge counseling service that is available to all students and staff of the Institute. Those who feel mentally stressed from difficult situations such as poverty, domestic violence, living away from their family, or other demanding situations are encouraged to seek assistance. Patients who require further care or medication are referred to see doctors in hospitals.
English Association
Recognizing the need for students to strengthen their English communication skills in order to compete in the international arena, The Department of English founded the Debate Program, Presentation Program, and Listening Program. All students in the English Department are welcome to join. The club’s members improve their English language competence, general knowledge about Cambodia and the rest of the world, and their reasoning, analytical, and critical thinking skills. They learn to exchange ideas and experiences with one another and develop confidence in public speaking, expressing and defending their own argument.
Arts Association
The SPI Arts Club aims to provide SPI students with opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities and to socialize with their fellow students across different year levels. The club is about dancing and music and participants learn Khmer and Korean popular dance.
Sport Association
The SPI Sport Club fields teams for five competitive sports: football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and boules. These teams compete in the games organized by the apostolic vicariate of Phnom Penh or the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport.
Research Association
Research is a powerful tool for students to develop their capacity for learning and finding new answers to important issues for later generations and society.
The SPI Research Club encourages all students to join the research activities including social research and thesis research.
Information Technology Association
Besides learning with lecturers in class, students can join the IT Club activities that help develop IT skills such as web development (HTML, CSS, PDF, Flash, Java Script, JSP, and PHP), designing picture, drawing picture, and organizing and testing network. For 2<sup>nd</sup>- year IT students, it is compulsory to join the club in order to gain credits in web development project during their second semester. Other interested students can attend during their free time.
Library
The primary goal of the Multimedia Library of Saint Paul Institute is for students and lecturers to have access to books, magazines, CD-ROMs and DVDs in both Khmer and English languages, covering a variety of topics mainly in science, literature , and arts. The library is also a place where students can go to study in a quiet and inviting atmosphere. Two computer LABs are at disposal for conducting online research and watch multimedia content. A library is also a place where students can get initiated into reading and be given reading advice. More importantly, it is the best place to promote students’ learning autonomy. Occasionally, events will also be organized to promote culture and knowledge.
Students Pickup
The Institute offers free student pickup service for all the students living in Takeo province but far away from school. A truck and a van pick up around 40 students along the national road number 3 from Tramkak district to SPI every morning and bring them back home at the afternoon.
Dormitory
Saint Paul Institute provides free accommodation to the students in three main dormitory buildings 500m far from SPI’s campus. Two buildings are for boys and one for girls. Each dorm has 2 floors with 9 bedrooms for the students, 1 office, 1 study room, 1 computer room, and 16 bathrooms. These three dorms can accommodate 216 students every year.
Internship
The SPI students are not only learning theory in class but also oriented to an experience of real work experiences in companies related to their field of specialization.
Students must complete two internships for a total of at least 9 months during year 3 and year 4 of the curriculum. The internship goals are to expose the students to a professional environment in order to apply knowledge to a real situation, gain experience, develop and improve a work methodology, and define more clearly the student’s vocational project.
At the end of the internship, students must write a report and make an oral presentation in front of a committee. A summary in English may be required, especially for the fourth-year internship report and presentation. The work accomplished by the student during the internship is also evaluated by the host company. The work, report, and presentation are all taken into account in the final grade of the year.
Internship in a foreign country is a future goal to provide the students with the experience of working in an international setting.
