SICO and Volunteerism

In our effort of responding to one of the three thrust of the university, which is that of Social Involvement, the Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO) does so through its programs. At present, the office has five programs, namely, the Advocacy Program, which handles the task of giving the College community awareness of the issues that the office is advocating for (e.g. good governance, environmental protection, gender equality, respect for minority culture), the Faculty Formation Program, which designs interventions in instilling social awareness to faculty of the College unit, Civic Welfare Training Program, a required course for all second year students which is highlighted by their direct project implementation in our partner communities, the Campus Leaders Assistance Program, which focuses on assistance to the Socio-civic clubs and organizations, and the Volunteers Organizing and Formation Program, a program designed to form and develop student volunteers who will assist the office in the implementation of its programs.

The Volunteers Organizing and Formation Program is one of the salient features of the office in its effort of instilling and reliving the long tradition of volunteerism. The formation of volunteers is one of the consistent commitment of the office in its desire to develop students who will not only assist in the implementation of its programs but of becoming partners in the realization of the thrust to greater social involvement. As such, a developmental formation track is designed for these student volunteers to reach their full potential. The formation track includes, immersion programs to the rural and urban sectors, trainings and seminars on various advocacy agenda, and leadership sessions, all of which are intended to mold them to develop the heart for a service-oriented spirituality.

Our office student volunteers, as part of their formation, are then deployed to various receptacles where they can realize the principles that they have imbibed. A highlight of their deployment is their involvement in various clubs and organizations in the university where they held leadership post. This is one venue where the principles that served as the ground for the office in pursuing its social involvement programs is also translated to the various projects that the volunteers, now acting as leaders in their organization, are spearheading. Through out the years, the office has formed various volunteer-leaders who have been given recognition by the university for their outstanding service to the community.

The formation we give to volunteers shows its greater manifestation in their involvement after graduation. It appears that our student volunteers, as they engage in the real world have meaningfully realized the concretization of the principles they have imbibed. Most of them worked in Non-Government Organization, continuously advocating for social transformation and a better social condition. However, a growing number is now working in government, spearheading the fight against corruption in an effort to advocate for good governance. Some are also in big corporations, leading the way for a more relevant application of the Corporate Social Responsibility. Some have also remained in the academe, as teacher-formators in the effort of instilling the spirit of social awareness and involvement to students who would latter become agents of social transformation.

Thus, the spirit of volunteerism is shown not only in occasional volunteer service but is translated to the spirit of service-oriented spirituality, which can manifest in actual commitment to work and responsibilities. This is where SICO is partly successful in instilling social involvement principles that has extended not only during the students' school years but even in their work after graduation.