Assessing University-Society Engagements: Towards a Methodological Framework
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Date
2023-10-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
nnovative Higher Education
Abstract
Abstract
Higher education institutions pursue three distinct yet interrelated missions of
education, knowledge production, and community engagement. Until the last dec
ades of the twentieth century, the third mission, also known as community engage
ment, has received little attention. Although the third mission generally aims to
contribute to the socio-cultural and economic transformations of society, its dis
tinct characteristics are still under-theorized. None of the existing methodological
and conceptual frameworks provides a holistic analysis of significant engagement
indicators that transcend specific application contexts. Collecting data on university
engagement with society and making meaningful interpretations is thus a challenge
to researchers and practitioners. To contribute to filling this gap, this modified Del
phi study proposes a comprehensive methodological framework of university-soci
ety engagements in Africa. The core thesis is that engagement is ubiquitous- univer
sity missions and support systems embody it. The framework thus constitutes eight
engagement domains aligned with university core functions (teaching, knowledge
production, and societal service) and support systems (governance, digitalization,
internationalization, partnerships, and sustainability), with 52 items, rating scales,
and descriptors. The framework contributes to conceptual and methodological clar
ity, informs data collection, and interpretations of the different modalities of univer
sity engagements. The alignment of engagement domains to university activities and
the simplified articulations of the indicators ensure straightforward interpretations
and applications of the framework by practitioners and researchers. It is also signifi
cant as it comes at a time when universities are expected to contribute more directly
and significantly to the realizations of the UN 2030 SDGs and the African Union
2063 centennial development ambitions
Description
Keywords
Community engagement · Societal service · University mission · The third mission · University-society engagement
Citation
Bekele, T. A., Ofoyuru, D. T., & Woldegiorgis, E. T. (2024)