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The UST Simbahayan Community Development Office (SIMBAHAYAN), in collaboration with the Office for Student Affairs (OSA), held the “All Leaders’ Community Development E-Forum and CD Team Members’ Orientation (A.Y. 2021-2022).”
Conducted via Zoom and Facebook on August 19, the online gathering of student leaders and community development coordinators focused on the processes involved in the University Community Development Program (UCDP) which are significant in the successful preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a community development project and advocacy.
Office for Student Affairs Director Asst. Prof. Maria Cecilia Tio Cuison, in her opening remarks, acknowledged the efforts of everyone for earnestly sustaining the sense of compassion and solidarity amongst the community in the humble service for others.
Moreover, the OSA director emphasized that the definition of a community be developed not just with the partner communities of UST, but also with the immediate environment of the students, which includes the family, neighborhood, non-government organizations, minority groups, online groups, people with similar needs and other social circles.
Presented to the student leaders were the online process for non-curricular activities including policies on student activities, student-initiated activities, processing of online activities, approval process, processing timeline, SAAF submission file format, and important reminders.
Meanwhile, SIMBAHAYAN Assistant Director Asst. Prof. Evalyn Abiog, Ph.D., formally introduced the Community Development Coordinators for the academic year, and discussed the Ten-Step SIMBAHAYAN Process that involves: 1) consultation, 2) preparation, 3) review, 4) endorsement, 5) submission, 6) follow-up, 7) approval and preparation of the budget and other requests, 8) the release of budget, 9) project implementation, and 10) project reporting and evaluation.
The updated SIMBAHAYAN forms such as Emergency Response Project Proposal, Advocacy Project Proposal, and Emergency Response Terminal Report were also highlighted. It was mentioned that all of the remaining pertinent SIMBAHAYAN documents will be made available to the students and faculty members through a Google Drive link posted on the SIMBAHAYAN Facebook Page. Abiog also addressed some frequently asked questions related to community development and advocacy.
Part of the forum was to equip the student leaders with analytical and creative thinking skills, the ability to solve a problem, and to effectively collaborate and communicate as they learn in the problem case scenarios.
The forum was moderated by College of Tourism and Hospitality Management Community Development Coordinator Asst. Prof. Joreen Rocamora, Ph.D.
Over 200 Thomasian student leaders, community development coordinators, support staff, and faculty team members from different academic units attended the e-forum and orientation.
