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The University’s commitment to community service and development is expressed in programs, projects and activities which are well-planned, organized, implemented, evaluated, and supported by the school and other available resources. In the planning of the school’s community extension services programs, faculty and students from the different colleges/departments of the University are tapped. The academic deans and their faculty are also involved in studying how community involvement could be integrated in the curricular offerings. Student leaders also plan ways and means whereby students could serve especially through co-curricular and extra-curricular organizations. In the implementation, faculty members, personnel and students participate according to their expertise or lines of interest. Parents and alumni are also tapped as sponsors, resource persons, and trainers. True to the trilogy of functions of the University, extension is integrated in instruction. The masterstroke to make this possible is the integration of extension activity in the course syllabus of pertinent subjects and/or courses which the teachers prepare. Students are exposed, at least once, in a subject to extension activities. School policy allows the allocation of a certain period for this purpose. Services to be implemented are based on felt needs of the client- partner barangays. Available and potential barangay resources are to be maximized. These needs and available resources are determined from results of dialogue with residents, answers to questionnaires and documentary analysis. Baseline data on the client partner barangays are continuously conducted. The school has established and maintained satisfactory relations with the various sectors of the community. That’s why, it has always proclaimed to the community its philosophy, educational policies, programs and services so that the different sectors of the community may avail of the school’s services. It has maintained close contact with parents and students, alumni, other schools, government agencies and non-government organizations, and private entities. In doing, it strengthens its linkages with these sectors of the community and aligns itself with their efforts toward progress and development. In a study conducted by the Unlad Dunong Center, the research arm of the University, relationships of the school with its adopted barangays are widely perceived as satisfactory. Continuous and zealous dialogues with barangay officials and program recipients are conducted to find out barangay concerns and needs and to find out whether concerns of residents are addressed by the extension programs and services. Evaluation forms are floated periodically or when needed. Results of these evaluation studies are applied in improving the extension programs. Whenever possible, the University shares its resources with the rest of the community. Administrators, teachers, personnel, students, and alumni participate in activities, projects and programs of the government, NGAs, private businesses, the local church, and the general community. The Kapatiran Center, through the years, has embarked on varied activities both inside and outside the school to help transform the society through its services to the less privileged people (indigenous and certain non-indigenous people, children, youth, and families) in the client partner communities. |
