Assessment of ACI Community Extension Coordinators' Program Implementation Experiences: A Basis for A 5-Year Development Plan

This qualitative study examines the program implementation experiences of Community Extension Coordinators (CECs) at Aldersgate College, Inc. (ACI), a private non-sectarian higher education institution in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. Grounded in a phenomenological research design and anchored on an Input-Process-Output (IPO) framework complemented by Theory of Change logic, the study centers the lived experiences of seventeen (17) CECs — the faculty members formally designated to plan, implement, monitor, and report community extension activities in ACI's eleven partner barangays in Solano. Data were gathered through individual semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed using the six-phase thematic analysis framework of Braun and Clarke (2006). Findings reveal that while CECs demonstrate deep commitment to their communities and have developed meaningful best practices in culturally responsive programming, community mobilization, and multi-sectoral partnership management, they consistently encounter structural constraints including workload overload, inadequate institutional resources, limited recognition of extension contributions, and systemic gaps in monitoring, evaluation, and documentation systems. Drawing on these findings, this study proposes a 5-Year Community Extension Development Plan for ACI that addresses identified institutional gaps, strengthens the CEC role, formalizes support systems, and aligns ACI's extension program with CHED policy mandates, the Sustainable Development Goals, and international best practices in community engagement.