Social involvement, along with instruction and research is an integral function of the University. This has been clearly articulated in the University’s Mission through various community outreach and extension programs initiated by the colleges, departments, units, and other sectors. The social and economic condition of the people in the communities being served by the University has been the urgent call for the University to strengthen its efforts and respond through more focused and sustained programs and partnerships with local communities. The creation of the University Social Involvement Council (USIC) is envisioned to address this need as it gears towards the holistic formation of the University community.
The University Social Involvement Council (USIC), as a policy-making body draws from the expertise of its members and of the entire University community to impact on the instruction, research, and formation and catalyze empowerment within partner communities. Thus, USIC shall:
- Review the plans and oversee the implementation of all outreach and extension programs that are separately and/or collaboratively undertaken by different colleges, departments, units, and other sectors.
- Foster networks and coordinate with the colleges, departments, units, and other sectors towards a more dynamic and effective implementation of the University Mission, ‘to serve the Church that does justice’ manifested in its service to the community, especially the poor.
Inspired by the University’s Vision of itself as “the premier university in Southern Luzon that provides excellent instruction and formation, conducts vigorous research and engages in community service that is ultimately transformative of society, especially in Bikol,” the Social Involvement Program (SIP) of the University is a discerned, organized, and sustained response to the situations of poverty and powerlessness and the manifestation of its responses to local, national, or international imperatives of sustainable development. The SIP shall be formulated based on a Framework of Development characterized and guided by the following:
1. Along with student instruction and formation, the ultimate object of the University’s Social Involvement Program is the empowerment of communities to free themselves from shackles of poverty and helplessness by building upon their respective capabilities to care for and secure the future for themselves and for the future generations;
2. The empowerment of communities takes place and is sustained only when the desire for such empowerment comes from the communities themselves. Thus, even as the University, given its own limitations, has by itself decided on the seven priority areas of concern which its social involvement program shall address, the Social Involvement Program of the University is designed and formulated in partnership with respective communities, with full regard to the role of the University as a source of knowledge and the communities as a source of learning;
3. The development of communities as manifested by improvement in the quality of life of its inhabitants in symbiotic relationship with the environment can take place only when solutions that address the development needs of the communities are formulated, implemented and evaluated with the full participation and collaboration of all stakeholders;
4. The development of communities shall be not only sustained but also hastened when the pursuit thereof adheres to the principle, and recognizes the fact, that men and women perform complementary roles and are equal partners in development and that therefore all development endeavors must address all barriers to the realization of this principle;
5. Development of communities shall secure a better quality of life for both the present and the future generations; and
6. The Social Involvement Program of the University shall define criteria for engagement and indicators for disengagement to enhance program development, flexibility, expansion, and reach.
EIGHT DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
The core object of the University’s social involvement is the pursuit of the University’s Mission of service to the community, especially the poor. However, fully cognizant of the fact that the University does not have the capability to respond to each and every development need of its partner communities, the social involvement of the
- University shall focus on the following priority areas of concern:
- Health & Nutrition
- Environment
- Governance
- Religious Education
- Livelihood/Entrepreneurship
- Teacher Training/Education
- Disaster Response Management
- Housing
Health and Nutrition
It is a widely acknowledged fact that poor health and nutritional status is an impediment to human development. Among the many detrimental consequences of poor health and malnutrition — particularly in the early stages of life — are stunted physical growth, a reduced capacity for learning, higher susceptibility to illness and disease resulting in higher mortality rates, an impaired psychological and emotional ability to cope. In the face of this, it is imperative that any community development initiative must include a program that can effectively address the health and nutrition needs of its population.
Any sustainable health and nutrition strategy for development must include provision of accurate and complete information on basic health and nutrition, especially among the poor, and facilitation of their access to existing health services in the community; capacity-building for LGUs as implementers of public health programs; and tapping into and mobilizing resources and capabilities of the private sector.
In the Philippines, despite both government and private efforts, many children still die from poor health, hunger and malnutrition-related diseases. In the Bicol region, the second poorest region of the country, poor health, hunger and malnutrition, particularly among children, demand serious and sustained attention.
Environment
In the face of widespread ignorance and indifference to the dramatic global climate changes wrought by the wanton human devastation of the environment, the defense of the environment is high on the list of the University’s priority concerns. The protection of the environment transcends both borders and timeframes, ensuring the survival not only of this generation of Filipinos but also of the generations of all peoples to come throughout this planet. As a University in the World, the Ateneo de Naga’s unequivocal stand to protect and defend the environment has made it imperative to draw upon its capabilities, mobilize its network of communities in the Bicol region, and throw the full weight of its resources in the pursuit and advancement of actions and measures to conserve natural resources and protect the environment.
Governance
The University’s involvement in the issue of governance proceeds from the assumption that active citizenship is key both to substantiating democracy and improving the lives of the electorate who, in principle, hold the power in that system. Thus, the USIC integrates the efforts and initiatives of the different colleges, offices, and institutes and focuses the same towards enabling the masses to (1) effectively hold public officials accountable for their actions and campaign promises; (2) make government administration responsive and effective both in cost and result, measurable in the very short-, the short- and the medium-terms; (3) combat and extirpate corruption, and (4) live and act in the challenge that in their own hands lie their destiny as well as the fate of their community and nation.
Religious Education
As University in the World, the University has manifested its “Christ-centered”… “commitment to change.” “Through its study and research, xxx it learns of the actual effects of Christianity in the lives of people who struggle with weakness, temptation and sin. It learns of people for whom Christianity is but an empty name; but it also learns of others for whom Christianity leads to genuine reconciliation with the Father, to heroic discipleship of Jesus Christ, and to exemplary service of people through Church in the Holy Spirit.” Guided by these declarations, and inspired by the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the fervor of St. Francis Xavier, the proclamation and teaching of the Faith that does justice is essential to the University Mission.
Livelihood/Entrepreneurship
In the Bicol region, being one of the poorest regions of the country, any effort towards community empowerment must necessarily address the need for economic empowerment. To a major extent, political empowerment and the power to chart and pursue one’s destiny stem from the economic influence that the individual can wield. Thus, among the flagship programs of the Ateneo de Naga is the development of capabilities for livelihood and entrepreneurship. To strengthen impact in accordance with the Mission Statement of the Ateneo de Naga University, the College of Business and Accountancy “encourages and prepares its students to become entrepreneurs and to serve business organizations and societies with competence, compassion and conscience”. Through the USIC, the University shall extend the programs of the College of Business and Accountancy and undertake, together with its partner communities, programs and initiatives that will build upon the economic capabilities and realize the economic potentials of its partner communities within the context of equitable and sustainable development.
Teacher Training/Education
Essential to quality education are competent and dedicated teachers, both for formal teaching in established schools as well as for non-formal teaching in local communities. Professional teachers must be helped to improve their teaching skills; informal teachers must be helped to better deliver skills of catechism, reading, writing, practical calculation, health care, and the fundamentals of civic and political involvement. Beyond helping teachers, the University must contribute to an environment of sound educational policy through such as the Bikol Association for Catholic Schools (BACS), the Bikol Foundation for Higher Education (BFHE), the Coordinating Council for Private Education Association in Bikol (COCOPEA-Bikol), and similar organizations.
Disaster Response Management
Human society’s ability to respond to such disasters as typhoons, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunami, etc. in Bikol – with their mass destruction of human lives and property depends essentially on the preparedness of some to respond to the needs of others during a calamity. Ateneo de Naga University is not only prepared to respond to others on short notice, but also contributes to general disaster preparedness through participation in the development and dissemination of risk-mapping, psychological crisis management and intervention, or formation/identification of social support systems.
Housing
The urgency of the imperative to assist in effectively providing access to decent shelter, particularly by the poor and underprivileged, cannot be overemphasized. The wave of initiatives, both public and private, programs and policies, in response to this imperative is indeed inspiring. Despite these initiatives, however, the solution that is both sustained and effective remains to be elusive.
In the Bicol region, particularly due to its being prone to typhoons, an effective response to the housing needs of the people, particularly the poor, requires that its peculiar geographical and geophysical conditions be duly considered. On the other hand, sustainable response demands that any initiative must lead towards not just the building of houses but of homes, and not just of homes but of communities. Through the USIC, the University shall draw upon its capabilities and mobilize community resources to catalyze the formulation and implementation of such response.