Guidelines for the

Community Service
Project

AP STATE COUNCIL OF HIGHER EDUCATION

(A Statutory body of the Government of Andhra Pradesh)
 CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. Implementation of Community Service Project

4. Procedure

5. Expected outcomes

6. Time frame for the community service project

7. Assessment methodology for community service project

8. Model of the project report

9. Suggestive list of programmes under community service project

10. Complimenting the community service project the students may be

involved to take up some awareness campaigns on social issues/special
groups.
 COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
……Experiential learning through community engagement

1. 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.

2. OBJECTIVES
Community Service Project should be an integral part of the curriculum, as a
part of 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.
 3. 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.
 The mentor should be a faculty member. Incentive could be given to the
faculty mentors in terms of Academic Performance Indicators (API) scores.
Or could even be made a compulsory in the service conditions laid down at
the time of appointment.
 4 Credits to be allocated for Community Service Project within the Choice
Based Credit System (CBCS).
 The 180 hours of Community Service Project could be done in different
areas.
 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… Dept. of Zoology or other life sciences departments could
concentrate on health awareness, blood groupings, awareness on blood
donation or organ donation, etc. Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics could
dwell upon empowering the youth with analytical skills, Dept. of Commerce
could create awareness on GST or Income Tax Returns or other taxes or
consumerism.
 Sky will be the limit for organizing different programmes, provided the
faculties are sufficiently motivated.
 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

4. 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. For ex., a
student of Arts will focus on socio-economic conditions, social survey
and about the Government’s social security schemes. A student of
Sciences could take up a survey on the health and hygiene conditions
of that habitation, similarly, with other subject areas too. 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 project work related to their
domain or subject area.
 The different areas, could be 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
A specific example,
 A student of B.Sc (BZC) will first conduct a survey of his/her habitation
which could be related to a specific area or in a comprehensive way of socio-
economic conditions, covering all the areas listed above.
or
 Could conduct an awareness programme on Health and Hygiene or in
Organic Farming or in Fisheries or in advocating prohibition of liquor or
about renewable energy, or any other activity in an area as per his/her
aptitude and the problems identified in the socioeconomic survey
conducted.
 A project work shall be done on a particular topic related to his/her domain
subject area.
 5. 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.

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 and conduct the
programmes involving Governmental agencies, Non-Governmental agencies
or faculties of their college, etc.
 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.
 6. TIME FRAME FOR THE COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT

Duration: 8 weeks

Schedule:
Socio-Economic Survey of the Village/Habitation (Two weeks): A group of
students under the guidance of faculty mentors conduct a Socioeconomic
Survey of the Village/habitation. They will interact with people to acquire basic
knowledge on the project chosen for study and conduct the survey using a
structured questionnaire.
Community awareness campaign (one week): The students group takes up
community awareness campaigns based on the above survey conducted by
identifying the problems or vulnerable issues. They may also conduct house to
house campaign on socially relevant theme. Ex: Government welfare programs,
health care, consumer protection, food adulteration, digital transactions,
information sources, etc.
Main Project (4 weeks): A group of students choose a topic related to their
subject area and conduct a Project which includes, Data collection, interviews,
internship in any select unit or department.
Report preparation (one week): The student should submit a project report
duly signed by the mentor.

7. ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT

Learning outcomes:
 To facilitate an understanding of the issues that confronts the vulnerable /
marginalized sections of the society.
 To initiate team processes with the student groups for societal change.
 To provide students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with urban /
rural community they live in.
 To enable students to engage in the development of the community.
 To plan activities based on the focused groups.\
 To know the ways of transforming the society through systematic
programme implementation.

The following is the evaluation methodology for awarding marks/grades.

There will be only internal evaluation for this internship. Each faculty member
is to be assigned with 10 t0 15 students depending upon availability of the
faculty members. The faculty member will act as a faculty-mentor for the group
and is in-charge for the learning activities of the students and also for the
comprehensive and continuous assessment of the students.

The assessment is to be conducted for 100 marks. The number of credits

assigned is 4. Later as per the present practice the marks are converted into
grades and grade points to include finally in the SGPA and CGPA.

The weightings shall be:

Project Log 20%
Project Implementation 30%
Project report 25%,
Presentation 25%

Each student is required to maintain an individual logbook, where he/she is

supposed to record day to day activities. The project log is assessed on an
individual basis, thus allowing for individual members within groups to be
assessed this way. The assessment will take into consideration the individual
student’s involvement in the assigned work.
While grading the student’s performance, using the student’s project log, the
following should be taken into account -
a. The individual student’s effort and commitment.
b. The originality and quality of the work produced by the individual student.
c. The student’s integration and co-operation with the work assigned.
d. The completeness of the logbook.

The assessment for the Community Service Project implementation shall

include the following components and based on the entries of Project Log and
Project Report:
a. Orientation to the community development
b. Conducting a baseline assessment of development needs
c. Number and Quality of Awareness Programmes organised on beneficiary
programmes and improvement in quality of life, environment and social
consciousness, motivation and leadership, personality development, etc.
d. Number and Quality of Intervention Programmes (Prevention or promotion
programs that aim to promote behavioural change in defined community
contexts to address social problems) organised.
e. Follow-up Programmes suggested (Referral Services, Bringing Community
Participation)
f. Developing short and mid-term action plans in consultation with local
leadership and local government officers.

The Project Report shall be prepared as per the guidelines given in the Model
Project Report.

The Project Presentation is to be made by the student after he/she reports

back to the College. The components for assessment are –
a. assessing the involvement in the project
b. presentation skills
c. final outcome of the project as evinced by the student.
Example:
Name of the Student: X. YY ZZZ
Class & Year of Study II B.A. 2021 - 2022
Registered Number 000000
Assessment Max Marks
Component Marks Secured
1. Project Log 20 15
2. Project 30 20
Implementation
3. Project Report 25 20
4. Presentation 25 20
TOTAL OUT OF 100 100 75

Letter grade Grade Point Credits Credit Point

O (outstanding) 10 2 20
A+ (Excellent) 9 2 18
A (Very Good) 8 2 16
B+ (Good) 7 2 14
B (Above average) 6 2 12
C (Average) 5 2 10
D (Pass) 4 2 8
F (Fail) 0 2 0
Ab (Absent) 0 2 0

In the above example, 75 marks are converted to letter grade / grade point.
Letter grade Grade Point Credits Credit Point
B+ (Good) 7 2 14
 8. MODEL OF THE PROJECT REPORT
PART – A

1. Introduction:
A. About the Village / Habitation.
2. Socio-Economic Survey of the Village/Habitation.
A. Data collection using prescribed formats.
3. Problems identified and Analyses of the problems.
4. Short-term and long term action plan for possible solutions for the
problems identified and that could be recommended to the concerned
authorities for implementation.
5. Community awareness programmes conducted w.r.t the problems and their
outcomes.

PART - B
1. A mini-project work in the related subject w.r.t the habitation/village.
(For ex., a student of Botany may do a project on Organic Farming or
Horticulture or usage of biofertilisers or biopesticides or effect of the inorganic
pesticides, etc. A student of Zoology may do a project on Aquaculture practices
or animal husbandry or poultry or health and hygiene or Blood group analysis
or survey on the Hypertension or survey on the prevalence of diabetes, etc.

PART - C
1. Recommendations and conclusions.
2. References
 9. SUGGESTIVE LIST OF PROGRAMMES UNDER COMMUNITY SERVICE
PROJECT
The following the recommended list of projects for BA, B.Com, and B.Sc
programmes. 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 Arts Students
1. Village demography
2. Healthcare programmes and their implementation
3. School education
4. Youth engagement
5. Women empowerment
6. Women education
7. Domestic violence
8. Culture, traditions, values and ethics
9. Employment of different sections
10. Status of socially deprived sections
11. Implementation of state development programmes
12. Implementation and impact of welfare schemes
13. Public distribution system
14. Social inclusiveness
15. Village governance
16. Health care system and its effectiveness
17. Information sources and their effectiveness
18. Entertainment media and habits
19. Social problems
20. Family and marriage systems across different social groups
21. Religion profile and their role in social development
22. Communal harmony
23. Innovative methods and practices
24. Village industry
25. Safety and security
26. Migration for employment
27. Infrastructure development
28. Facilities for quality life across different social groups
29. Leadership in family, community and social groups
30. Implementation of central schemes
31. Village development plans
32. Child labour
33. Sex education
34. Atrocities against women
35. Awareness of central government schemes and the level of participation
36. Community engagement programmes and their impact
37. Career orientation of youth
38. Skill development programmes and their impact
39. Alcohol and smoking habits and their impact on families and society
40. Crime rate, law and order and safety needs
41. Quality of Elementary education and accessibility
42. Factors considered for electing public representatives
43. Environment protection
44. Inter religious harmony
45. Treatment of aged persons
46. Sanitation systems
47. Tribal studies
48. Telugu literature and mondalics
49. Awareness of epics among youth and children
50. Anthropological survey
51. Music and dance
52. Performing arts
53. Social evils
For Commerce Students
1. Entreprenuership
2. Agricultural products and marketing
3. Poultry business
4. Dairy business
5. Aquaculture
6. Wage system and Labour Welfare
7. Village industry products and marketing
8. Income and wealth distribution among different sections of the society
9. Entertainment services
10. Communication services
11. Banking services and habits
12. Insurance services and habits
13. Public distribution system
14. Vegetable marketing
15. Savings and Investments
16. Online purchases
17. Digital transactions
18. Use of electrical home appliances
19. Use of electronic home appliances
20. Personal transport
21. Consumer movement
22. Unfair trade practices
23. Food habits
24. Income distribution
25. Wealth distribution
26. Expenditure pattern on different product categories
27. Buying motives
28. Consumer behavior
29. Impact of celebrity advertising
30. Impact of TV on product choices
31. Usage of cell phones
32. Self employed professionals
33. Construction
34. Leisure time management
35. Tourism
36. Leadership
37. Human resource development
38. Local administration
39. Office management in local governing bodies
40. Exports
41. Handicrafts
42. Handlooms
43. Public transport
44. Private transport
45. Cooperative societies
46. Shifts in occupations
47. Debt burden of different sections of the society
48. Time management
49. Dispute resolution systems
50. Commercial crops

For Science Students

1. Water facilities and drinking water availability
2. Health and hygiene
3. Stress levels and coping mechanisms
4. Health intervention programmes
5. Horticulture
6. Herbal plants
7. Botanical survey
8. Zoological survey
9. Marine products
10. Aqua culture
11. Inland fisheries
12. Animals and species
13. Nutrition
14. Traditional health care methods
15. Food habits
16. Air pollution
17. Water pollution
18. Plantation
19. Soil protection
20. Renewable energy
21. Plant diseases
22. Yoga awareness and practice
23. Health care awareness programmes and their impact
24. Use of chemicals on fruits and vegetables
25. Organic farming
26. Crop rotation
27. Floriculture
28. Access to safe drinking water
29. Geographical survey
30. Geological survey
31. Sericulture
32. Study of species
33. Food adulteration
34. Incidence of Diabetes and other chronic diseases
35. Human genetics
36. Blood groups and blood picture

10. 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 –
i. Agriculture
ii. Health
iii. Marketing and Cooperation
iv. Animal Husbandry
v. Horticulture
vi. Fisheries
vii. Sericulture
viii. Revenue and Survey
ix. Natural Disaster Management
x. Irrigation
xi. Law & Order
xii. Excise and Prohibition
xiii. Mines and Geology
xiv. Energy