The ‘third’ function of a University is usually taken to be community service, which in effect is concerned with how the university interacts with the world around it, not always in the academic sense, but also in general ways that are about the university presenting a ‘human face’ to the community. It is considered that in the main, this function would comprise partnerships and linkages and community service and extension. In order to fit in with the wider society of academia and research, TU-K intends to establish linkages with other institutions of comparable status worldwide. Such linkages would then provide opportunities for the exchange of staff and students for both research and learning. This particular aspect becomes critical when it is considered that as Kenya strives to be an industrialised economy it will have to learn a lot from those who have already trodden this path.
Community service and extension is today another important aspect of the objectives of any university. It has long been recognised that it is not sufficient for the university to concern itself only with academics and totally ignore the immediate concerns of the community in which it exists. To this extent TU-K intends to establish programmes in areas of engagement with the wider Kenyan community in areas that go far beyond academic activities. The university hopes to engage in areas of community development in ways that can have immediate transformation on the lives of the communities. It is also planned to be involved in areas such as volunteer activities and responsiveness in situations of emergency, youth and school programmes, and general extension of services and ideas.