One of the major thrusts of CICM is to respond to the needs of the community and society for transformation and development. As Louisian missionaries, it is an integral and essential part of our life to be actively involved in finding solutions to the problems of our society such as poverty, oppression, discrimination, graft and corruption, criminality, environmental destruction, and many other societal problems (Living A Christian Moral Life, 2018, 2^nd Edition).

Anchored in this particular thrust, the University of Saint Louis as a higher learning institution brings to bear in its community engagement programs its expertise in instruction and research. The Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies Office was created to spearhead extension activities and advocacies of the University. It envisions developing socially aware, sensitive and responsive members of the Louisian Community towards community development and social transformation.

Therefore, the Office of the Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies directs its activities with nine (9) advocacies. Each advocacy is assigned to a certain school/department of the University and is tasked to strengthen and develop important and responsive programs per advocacy.

For School of Accountancy, Business and Hospitality (SABH), the advocacy assigned to them is Poverty Alleviation. For Senior High School (SHS), the advocacy assigned to them is Youth Empowerment and Responsible Citizenship. For School of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology Education (SEAITE), the advocacy assigned to them is Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. For School of Education, Arts, and Sciences (SEAS), the advocacy assigned to them is Indigenous Peoples and Interreligious Dialogue. For School of Health and Allied Sciences (SHAS), the advocacy assigned to them is Nutrition and Health Development. For Junior High School (JHS), the advocacy assigned to them is Integrity of Creation. For Elementary Department, the advocacy assigned to them is Peace and Life Education. For School of Graduate Studies (SGS), the advocacy assigned to them is Justice and Human Rights. And for Non-Teaching Personnel (NTP), the advocacy assigned to them is Adult Education and Gender and Development.

The Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies Office aligns its programs to the themes of the Catholic Social Teachings of the Church. The theme on life and dignity of the human person is aligned with the Peace and Life Promotion which is called to protect human life and respect for life at all stages. The theme on Call to Family, Community, and Participation is aligned is aligned with Nutrition and Health Development, Justice and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation and Adult Education and Gender Development which acknowledges our social nature, allows for more participation, calls for collaboration among people, and supports family. The theme on the Rights and Responsibilities that flows from the dignity of human life is aligned with Justice and Human Rights, Nutrition and Health Development, Adult Education and Gender and Development which sees satisfaction on the rights of people, makes human life equally treated, considers the fundamental right of every people to life, freedom, and the necessities of life, and aims to promote a decent life in terms of education, employment, and health care. The theme on Option for the Poor is aligned with Poverty Alleviation, Indigenous Peoples, and Nutrition and Health Development which is the basic moral test of a society, rejects the idea of class struggle, and supports the economic and basic needs of the community through livelihood programs. The themes on the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers are aligned with Justice and Human Rights and Poverty Alleviation which emphasizes the dignity in work, the presence of God in human labor, the participation of humanity in creation and help realize God’s plan on Earth. In the Laborem Exercens of Saint John Paul II, On Human work, he claimed that work is a good thing, it does not only transform nature but achieves fulfillment as human being- to become more a human being. The theme on solidarity is aligned with Indigenous Peoples and Interreligious Dialogue, and Peace and Life Education which settles indifferences and recognizes oneness in humanity despite diversity of races, ethnicity, religion, gender, economic and political status. The theme on Care for God’s Creation is aligned with Integrity of Creation which empowers stewardship rather than ownership, and states the moral obligation regarding the environment.

CECA advocacies align its programs and activities to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. University of Saint Louis, through CECA advocacies, gives its support to the (17) seventeen Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) by providing possible programs that aim for peaceful and prosperous human world necessary at present and towards the future. Through this aim, each advocacy per department encourages their members to instill their missionary character as Louisians to be part of solving global issues and concerns regarding the planet, people and society. As one Louisian community, we can truly achieve a possible sustainable outcome.

1. Service-Learning Program. This is a teaching-learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to boost learners’ learning experience, teach active citizenship, and empower individuals and communities. This is a credit community development program integrated in the course syllabi that permits students build character and become active participants and they work with others in their school and community to create service projects in areas related to their course / field of specialization.

2. Outreach Program. Activities falling under these are theoretically unconsidered as extension programs, as they generally involve one-time and immediate need assistance to victims of disasters, calamities and other insistent needs in the community. Nonetheless, the University considers it as its civic duty to mobilize its stakeholders to respond to such emergency cases when they arise. Towards this, it shall implement well-coordinated and systematic initiatives that are well within the means of the University and its stakeholders. Outreach initiatives come in broad form:

2.1. Regular Outreach. This type of outreach falls outside disaster preparedness, response, rehabilitation and mitigation services. Instead, it caters to other pressing needs of the community. This type shall be organized only if the specialization of the school/department/student organization does not in any way relate to disaster risk reduction and emergency management.

3. Extension Program. Higher education institutions are mandated to render extension service hand in hand with instruction, research and production. This is in recognition of the vital role colleges and universities play in the development of communities, especially the underserved and the depressed. It is envisioned that the people of the community, the main focus of the University’s extension services program, can be uplifted from helplessness to self – reliance, from ignorance to increased awareness, from indifference to positive involvement, and from aimlessness to commitment.

The University of Saint Louis as a higher educational institution brings to bear in its extension programs its expertise in instruction and research. The University through the Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies envisions developing socially aware, sensitive and responsive members of the Louisian Community through active involvement in community engagement activities towards community development.

The University of Saint Louis foresees itself as a CICM Catholic educational institution that offers quality relevant education that aims for the holistic development of the human person. As an institution of higher learning, the university aligns itself with its three (3) basic components of Outreach, Service-learning and Extension. Believing that community involvement is a basic and pervasive aspect of university education, the University through the Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies initiates and implements Outreach, Service Learning and Extension activities that allow students, faculty, and personnel to apply new knowledge they generate to address specific social development problems. However, unlike state universities and colleges (SUCs) which are mandated specifically to align their programs in support of national, regional, or local development plans (RA 7722 or Higher Education Act of 1994, Sec. 2, Par. 2), the university assumes a more liberal thrust for its extension programs. As a CICM educational institution, it pursues it programs within the broader frame of the CICM missionary focus on the transformation of the world and the coming of the reign of God (CICM Constitutions Commentary, 1999).

The holistic development of peoples and communities as the University envisions suggests that it commits itself to the educational, spiritual, socio- cultural, economic, and political, health, and environmental development needs of its partner communities and the nation as a whole. However, as there are also other institutions working in each of these areas, the university may collaborate with them or endeavors to focus on specific needs that are least attended to most importantly those that are in line with CICM mission priorities and insofar as its capacities can reasonably permit.

As a higher education institution, the university brings to bear in its Outreach, Service-learning and Extension programs its expertise in instruction and research. These programs, however, are not a one-way traffic. They are implemented as a result of researches conducted and concepts taught in the classroom. As the university extends its expertise with the partner communities, feedbacks are generated from the stakeholders. These feedbacks will eventually be used to assess and improve the programs. Hence, the university contributes to the development of the partner communities and at the same time the values and valuable learning through university's exposure to partner communities play a vital role in the significant development of the Louisian Community.

Vision

The University’s Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies (CECA) Office envisions developing socially aware, sensitive, and responsive members of the Louisian Community through active involvement in community extension, service learning, and outreach activities towards community development.

Mission

As the overall coordinating body of the various community engagement activities that are initiated by the different sectors of the Louisian Community, the CECA Office shall:

1. Participate in constructive and relevant social activities for the promotion of CICM advocacies;

2. Sustain holistic development of communities that are humane, self-reliant, sustainable, and dynamic;

3. Encourage volunteerism among the sectors of the Louisian Community for noble and worthwhile community engagement activities thereby cultivating the same spirit in the client–partner communities.

Guided by the CICM thrust on Missio et Excellentia and anchored on the CICM advocacies, the Community Engagement and CICM Advocacies Office seeks to:

1. Integrate in-depth community Outreach, Service-learning, and Extension activities in the curricular programs of the school;

2. Conduct research-based community development programs for the marginalized sectors of the society;

3. Intensify linkages and networking with educational institutions, government and non-government agencies, international partners, alumni, and private individuals; and

4. Instill to the Louisian’s and the community the value of eagerness to help at all times.