N.B.K.R.
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(AUTONOMOUS)
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
Experiential learning through community engagement
Introduction
• Community Service Project is an experiential learning strategy that integrates meaningful
community service with instruction, participation, learning and community development.
• Community Service Project involves students in community development and service
activities and applies the experience to personal and academic development.
• Community Service Project is meant to link the community with the college for mutual
benefit. The community will be benefited with the focused contribution of the college
students for the village / local development. The college finds an opportunity to develop
social sensibility and responsibility among students and also emerge as a socially responsible
institution.
Objective
Community Service Project should be an integral part of the curriculum, as an alternative to the 2
months of Summer Internships / Apprenticeships / On the Job Training, whenever there is an
exigency when students cannot pursue their summer internships. The specific objectives are:
• To sensitize the students to the living conditions of the people who are around them,
• To help students to realize the stark realities of the society.
• To bring about an attitudinal change in the students and help them to develop societal
consciousness, sensibility, responsibility and accountability
• To make students aware of their inner strength and help them to find new /out of box solutions
to the social problems.
• To make students socially responsible citizens who are sensitive to the needs of the
disadvantaged sections.
• To help students to initiate developmental activities in the community in coordination with
public and government authorities.
• To develop a holistic life perspective among the students by making them study culture,
traditions, habits, lifestyles, resource utilization, wastages and its management, social
problems, public administration system and the roles and responsibilities of different persons
across different social systems.
Implementation of Community Service Project
• Every student should put in a minimum of 180 hours for the Community Service Project
during the summer vacation.
• Each class/section should be assigned with a mentor.
• Specific Departments could concentrate on their major areas of concern. For example, Dept.
of Computer Science can take up activities related to Computer Literacy to different sections
of people like - youth, women, house-wives, etc
• A log book has to be maintained by each of the student, where the activities
undertaken/involved to be recorded.
• The log book has to be countersigned by the concerned mentor/faculty incharge.
• Evaluation to be done based on the active participation of the student and grade could be
awarded by the mentor/faculty member.
• The final evaluation to be reflected in the grade memo of the student.
• The Community Service Project should be different from the regular programmes of
NSS/NCC/Green Corps/Red Ribbon Club, etc.
• Minor project report should be submitted by each student. An internal Viva shall also be
conducted by a committee constituted by the principal of the college.
• Award of marks shall be made as per the guidelines of Internship/apprentice/ on the job
training
Procedure
• A group of students or even a single student could be assigned for a particular habitation or
village or municipal ward, as far as possible, in the near vicinity of their place of stay, so as to
enable them to commute from their residence and return back by evening or so.
• The Community Service Project is a twofold one –
o First, the student/s could conduct a survey of the habitation, if necessary, in terms of their
own domain or subject area. Or it can even be a general survey, incorporating all the
different areas. A common survey format could be designed. This should not be viewed as
a duplication of work by the Village or Ward volunteers, rather, it could be another
primary source of data.
o Secondly, the student/s could take up a social activity, concerning their domain or subject
area. The different areas, could be like –
1 Agriculture 10 Irrigation
2 Health 11 Law & Order
3 Marketing and Cooperation 12 Excise and Prohibition
4 Animal Husbandry 13 Mines and Geology
5 Horticulture 14 Energy
6 Fisheries 15 Internet
7 Sericulture 16 Free Electricity
8 Revenue and Survey 17 Drinking Water
9 Natural Disaster Management
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT TO STUDENTS
Learning Outcomes
• Positive impact on students’ academic learning
• Improves students’ ability to apply what they have learned in “the real world”
• Positive impact on academic outcomes such as demonstrated complexity of understanding,
problem analysis, problem-solving, critical thinking, and cognitive development
• Improved ability to understand complexity and ambiguity
Personal Outcomes
• Greater sense of personal efficacy, personal identity, spiritual growth, and moral
development
• Greater interpersonal development, particularly the ability to work well with others, and
build leadership and communication skills
Social Outcomes
• Reduced stereotypes and greater inter-cultural understanding
• Improved social responsibility and citizenship skills
• Greater involvement in community service after graduation
Career Development
• Connections with professionals and community members for learning and career
opportunities
• Greater academic learning, leadership skills, and personal efficacy can lead to greater
opportunity
Relationship with the Institution
• Stronger relationships with faculty
• Greater satisfaction with college
• Improved graduation rates
BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT TO FACULTY MEMBERS
• Satisfaction with the quality of student learning
• New avenues for research and publication via new relationships between faculty and
community
• Providing networking opportunities with engaged faculty in other disciplines or institutions
• A stronger commitment to one’s research
BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT TO COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES
• Improved institutional commitment
• Improved student retention
• Enhanced community relations
BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT TO COMMUNITY
• Satisfaction with student participation
• Valuable human resources needed to achieve community goals
• New energy, enthusiasm and perspectives applied to community work
• Enhanced community-university relations.
SUGGESTIVE LIST OF PROGRAMMES
UNDER COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
The following the recommended list of projects for Engineering students. The lists are not
exhaustive and open for additions, deletions and modifications. Colleges are expected to focus
on specific local issues for this kind of projects. The students are expected to carry out these
projects with involvement, commitment, responsibility and accountability. The mentors of a
group of students should take the responsibility of motivating, facilitating, and guiding the
students. They have to interact with local leadership and people and appraise the objectives and
benefits of this kind of projects. The project reports shall be placed in the college website for
reference. Systematic, Factual, methodical and honest reporting shall be ensured.
For Engineering Students
1 Water facilities and drinking 21 Plant diseases
water availability
2 Health and hygiene 22 Yoga awareness and practice
3 Stress levels and coping 23 Health care awareness programmes and their
mechanisms impact
4 Health intervention programmes 24 Use of chemicals on fruits and vegetables
5 Horticulture 25 Organic farming
6 Herbal plants 26 Crop rotation
7 Botanical survey 27 Floury Culture
8 Zoological survey 28 Access to safe drinking water
9 Marine products 29 Geographical Survey
10 Aqua culture 30 Geological Survey
11 Inland fisheries 31 Sericulture
12 Animals and species 32 Study of species
13 Nutrition 33 Food adulteration
14 Traditional health care methods 34 Incidence of Diabetes and other chronic diseases
15 Food habits 35 Human genetics
16 Air pollution 36 Blood groups and blood levels
17 Water pollution 37 Internet Usage in Villages
18 Plantation 38 Android Phone usage by different people
19 Soil protection 39 Utilisation of free electricity to farmers and related
issues
20 Renewable energy 40 Gender ration in schooling lvel- observation.
Complimenting the community service project the students may be involved to take up some
awareness campaigns on social issues/special groups. The suggested list of programmes are:
Programmes for School Children
1. Reading Skill Programme (Reading Competition)
2. Preparation of Study Materials for the next class.
3. Personality / Leadership Development
4. Career Guidance for X class students
5. Screening Documentary and other educational films
6. Awareness Programme on Good Touch and Bad Touch (Sexual abuse)
7. Awareness Programme on Socially relevant themes.
Programmes for Women Empowerment
1. Government Guidelines and Policy Guidelines
2. Womens’ Rights
3. Domestic Violence
4. Prevention and Control of Cancer
5. Promotion of Social Entrepreneurship
General Camps
1. General Medical camps
2. Eye Camps
3. Dental Camps
4. Importance of protected drinking water
5. ODF awareness camp
6. Swatch Bharath
7. AIDS awareness camp
8. Anti Plastic Awareness
9. Programmes on Environment
10. Health and Hygiene
11. Hand wash programmes
12. Commemoration and Celebration of important days
Programmes for Youth Empowerment
1. Leadership
2. Anti-alcoholism and Drug addiction
3. Anti-tobacco
4. Awareness on Competitive Examinations
5. Personality Development
Common Programmes
1. Awareness on RTI
2. Health intervention programmes
3. Yoga
4. Tree plantation
5. Programmes in consonance with the Govt. Departments like –
o Agriculture
o Health
o Marketing and Cooperation
o Animal Husbandry
o Horticulture
o Fisheries
o Sericulture
o Revenue and Survey
o Natural Disaster Management
o Irrigation
o Law & Order
o Excise and Prohibition
o Mines and Geology
o Energy
Role of Students:
• Students may not have the expertise to conduct all the programmes on their own. The
students then can play a facilitator role.
• For conducting special camps like Health related, they will be coordinating with the
Governmental agencies.
• As and when required the College faculty themselves act as Resource Persons.
• Students can work in close association with Non-Governmental Organizations like Lions
Club, Rotary Club, etc or with any NGO actively working in that habitation.
• And also with the Governmental Departments. If the programme is rolled out, the District
Administration could be roped in for the successful deployment of the programme.
• An in-house training and induction programme could be arranged for the faculty and
participating students, to expose them to the methodology of Service Learning.
Timeline for the Community Service Project Activity
Duration: 8 weeks
1. Preliminary Survey (One Week)
• A preliminary survey including the socio-economic conditions of the allotted
habitation tobe conducted.
• A survey form based on the type of habitation to be prepared before visiting the
habitation with the help of social sciences faculty. (However, a template could be
designed for different habitations, rural/urban.
• The Governmental agencies, like revenue administration, corporation and
municipal authorities and village secreteriats could be aligned for the survey.
2. Community Awareness Campaigns (Two Weeks)
• Based on the survey and the specific requirements of the habitation, different
awareness campaigns and programmes to be conducted, spread over two weeks of
time. The list of activities suggested could be taken into consideration.
3. Community Immersion Programme (Four Weeks)
Along with the Community Awareness Programmes, the student batch can also
work with any one of the below listed governmental agencies and work in tandem
with them. This community involvement programme will involve the students in
exposing themselves to the experiential learning about the community and its
dynamics. Programmes could be in consonance with the Govt. Departments.
4. Community Exit Report (One Week)
• During the last week of the Community Service Project, a detailed report of the
outcome of the 8 weeks work to be drafted and a copy shall be submitted to the
local administration. This report will be a basis for the next batch of students
visiting that particular habitation. The same report submitted to the teacher-mentor
will be evaluated by the mentor and suitable marks are awarded for onward
submission to the University.
Throughout the Community Service Project, a daily log-book need to be maintained
by the students batch, which should be countersigned by the governmental agency
representative and the teacher-mentor, who is required to periodically visit the
students and guide them.