Effectiveness and Impact of Community Extension Program of One Philippine Higher Education Institution as Basis for Sustainability

Extension is one of the key thrusts of higher education that complements instruction and research. It is an instrument that shapes cultures and plays an important role in knowledge building. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness and impact of the Community Extension program of one university that will serve as basis in developing strategies to sustain the community extension program of the university. Results of the study revealed that the effective community extension program is livelihood and entrepreneurship. Other community extension program on environmental clean-up/tree planting/waste management, computer literacy, health services and crime and drug prevention were less effective. The respondents assessed that livelihood and entrepreneurship program has moderate impact on the lives of the beneficiaries. However, other programs on crime and drug prevention, environment clean-up/tree planting/waste management, education and leadership, computer literacy and health services have less impact on improving the lives of the respondents in the community. There is a significant relationship between effectiveness and impact of community extension program in terms of health services program, livelihood/entrepreneurship program, education and leadership, environmental clean-up/tree planting/waste management and crime and drug prevention. However, no significant relationship was determined between effectiveness and impact of community extension program in terms of computer literacy program. Proposed strategies were crafted to enhance the community extension program in the health services program, education and leadership, environmental clean-up/tree planting/waste management, crime and drug prevention and computer literacy.

Keywords: Effectiveness, Impact, Community Extension