About the Department

Since the 70’s, the Department of Community Development has been offering undergraduate and graduate academic degrees that seek to educate, train and nurture competent development professionals who are committed to people’s empowerment and participation, sustainable development and gender equity.

From its nascent beginning as a service delivery mechanism of the government in the 1950’s, CD as an academic discipline has evolved alongside with the dynamic character of social development. The growing concern for popular participation and social equity has brought to fore the need for an integrated strategy of organizational capability building among grassroots organizations as well as concrete community-managed welfare and livelihood programs.

Our goal is to help create and build a society that provides equal access to men and women for social, economic, political and cultural opportunities through people’s collective actions.

We continue to make our programs truly responsive to emerging challenges in the lives of marginalized communities and the larger society in general such as those arising from climate change and disasters, globalization, conflict and violence, and migration.

CD Education thru Praxis-Oriented and Committed Service

As an academic program, the CD curriculum is designed to provide our students with a praxis-oriented education that allows complementation between theoretical knowledge and practice. It is for this reason that the Field Instruction Program has been made an integral part of both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Field Instruction serves as an effective vehicle for both learning and service through which our faculty and students mutually apply, validate and critique CD concepts, theories, approaches, strategies and methods to help communities address real-life issues and problems.

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Faculty

Oscar P. Ferrer, DPA