The UST Simbahayan Development Office (UST SIMBAHAYAN) and the UST Graduate School Center for Continuing Professional Education (CCPED) will conduct its first Certificate Course in Community and Organizing in two cycles: October-November 2018 and March-April 2019. This certificate course is funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through its Continuing Professional Education Grant by virtue of CHED CMO NO. 72, Series of 2017. It has also been endorsed to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for equivalent CPD units. The course primarily aims to provide learning opportunities on the essentials of community engagement and organizing among faculty members or community development workers in the universities/colleges in the Philippines.
Candidates who will pass the screening procedure by the Community Development Society of the Philippines, Inc. (CDSP) for this certificate course will receive a CHED scholarship which covers the registration fee, accommodation, transportation expenses, and training for the entire program. The CDSP is the partner of UST CCPED & UST SIMBAHAYAN for processing the application of course participants. A total of 30 participants will be selected from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao for each of the two cycles.
In addition, part of the CHED funding is not only the conduct of the said certificate course, but also a research project that coincides with the research objectives of the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED) which is to provide research opportunities to faculty members. The research project aims to investigate the impact of the said training intervention on course participants based on three levels: (1) inquiring on their personal and professional growth, (2) monitoring improvements in their ability to help communities bring about social change and improve their quality of life, and (3) investigating enhancements done in order to institutionalize community engagement in their respective educational institutions. Asst. Prof. Melanie D. Turingan, Asst. Prof. Froilan A. Alipao, and Assoc. Prof. Mark Anthony D. Abenir will collaborate in this research project to achieve its objectives. The three of them are all research associates of RCSSED under the Community Engaged Studies (CEnS) Research Interest Group (RIG). They are also the facilitators of the said certificate course.