Community Extension Services

The University of Nueva Caceres – Institutionalized Community Extension Services (UNC – ICES) is the central office and coordinating center of the university for its Extension Service Program under the office of Student Affairs and Services department. It serves as the institutional coordinating arm of various departments, colleges and student organizations’ community services. The office initiates, implements various outreach and development programs for the upliftment of the adopted communities. The different sectors of the UNC community are doing their share in rendering community service and implementing extension projects according to their respective capabilities, expertise, time availability and resources. It assists, advises, monitors and evaluates Extension Program of the university or specific department as it ties up with the Local Government Units (LGUs), Government Line Agencies, NGOs and POs. The prime concern of the office is the development of socially aware and responsible persons who are both productive and proactive in recognizing and responding to the country’s needs with consideration to local and nearby communities.

UNC CARES - Understanding Needs of the Community Collaborating Actions and Resources in Extension for Sustainable Development

The community extension services of the University of Nueva Caceres have organized programs lay down by ICES through its framework UNC CARES. It stands for Understanding Needs of the Community-Collaborating Actions and Resources in Extension for Sustainable development. This framework has four components: CARE (Collaborative Assistance for Relevant Education), HELP (Health Education and Livelihood Program), HOPE (Honing Opportunities to Protect and save the Environment) and RISE (Raise Intended reSources in Extension). All program components are geared towards the actualization of the various services. Specific approaches and strategies will be implemented to adopted communities and institutions based on the real needs felt as expressed which are based on specific researches conducted.

ICES values much the importance of education. This is evident in various programs that ICES is having which benefits the students, youth, and residents in its adopted schools and barangays. This may come in the form of informal or non-formal education programs. Skills training and seminars, literacy program, pre-school, remedial and tutorial or enhancement classes and values formation can be included in this service or any form that develop awareness and will affect learning.

ICES is committed in improving the living conditions of the residents in its adopted communities. As an intervention, health and livelihood programs have been launched in response to their needs. Health programs may come in a form of free-clinic, alternative medicines, seminars and health trainings, feeding and other health related activities. Livelihood program implementation in the adopted communities is on going that benefited in helping them cope with poverty. These can be in a form of mushroom production, gulayan sa barangay,bee culturing, hog dispersal, chicken dispersal, rent to own padyak project, rug making, etc. This program will enable poor families come up with their own.

Environmental protection and conservation is an essential program component of the framework. Theses are programs that emphasize ecological nurturance and environmental protections. Programs allowing the partner-beneficiaries for optimum use of natural resources they have for the community prosperity while ensuring that the future of the generation to come are protected because there is ecological nurturance, accompanying the development of these resources. Environmental education, climate change, adaptation measures, and environmental rehabilitations are included in this program.

Rise is a component of the framework that has the objective of raising resources to carry out the function of the ICES for its sustainability. The ICES has it's in a house volunteer program that aims to create a pool of volunteers to cater to the needs for manpower in carrying out the activities of ICES. This includes services given to the needy, homeless, orphans and deprived in need of rehabilitation or emergency and welfare assistance. ICES holds donation drives to raise the needed materials to respond to the needs of the current situation. It may come in a form of relief operations, gift-giving, medicine, food, clothing, and reconstructions of basic facilities. This includes participation in the National Schools Maintenance Week dubbed as “Brigada Eskwela” where different departments/colleges and school organizations are tapped to participate in the said program of DepEd.