The Role of Community Engagement in Higher Education: The Case of the University of Venda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51137/wrp.ijarbm.404Keywords:
Community Engagement, Education, Evaluation, Outreach, Local GovernmentAbstract
Community engagement is one of three core responsibilities of higher education, alongside research and teaching but despite clear policy mandates in South Africa that community engagement is essential, universities’ attention still need to be drawn to it. Universities are involved in many activities structured around research and teaching and outreach initiatives that entail engaging with various communities. These activities must be coordinated, since they usually result from individual initiatives, rather than strategically planned, systematic endeavours. This study aimed to ascertain the role of community engagement within the University of Venda, its functions and whether they are being appropriately articulated. The Council on Higher Education has ongoing conversations with tertiary educational institutions about community engagement practices, what they are, what forms they should take, and how they are best undertaken. A desktop research approach was undertaken to provide the relationship between higher education (University of Venda) and community engagement. In addition, a quantitative research method was pursued to collect data to achieve the study's objectives. Walliman. (2011), asserts that descriptive research looks at situations to establish the norm, while also making assumptions on what can happen in the future, under similar conditions. Using a descriptive research approach, a researcher effectively summarise and organise data (Kibui, 2015). It offers helpful resources for setting up a collection of qualitative observations and organising data comprehensibly. This study employed a descriptive research design for the analysis of community engagement that was sourced from documents and other relevant policies on community engagement, within the University of Venda, in addition to interrogating the theoretical framework of higher education on community engagement. The study's key findings established how effective community engagement is within higher education, providing practical insights of various initiatives. Finally, conclusions drawn from this study are applicable to both higher education institutions and communities. Recommendations from this study were designed to improve the relationship between effective community engagement and higher education institutions.
References
Burns, N and Grove, S (2013). Research Design and Methodology. Toronto. WB Saunders.
Council for Higher Education (CHE) (2004). Criteria for Institutional Audits. Higher Education Quality Committee, Pretoria. http://www.che.ac.za. 2004.
Council for Higher Education (CHE) (2013). The aims of Higher Education. Kagisano No.9.Pretoria. CHE.
Cloete J.J.N (1996). Accountable Government and Administration for the Republic of South Africa. Pretoria. JL Van Schaik.
Crous, M (2004). Service Delivery in the South African Public Service: Implementation of the Batho Pele principles by the Statistic South Africa. UP Space Institutional Repository. University of Pretoria.
Du Plooy, B (2017). A symbolic approach to higher education engagement as a liminal and free space amid complex and paradoxical dual demands. South African Journal of Higher Education 31(5): 14‒30.
Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) (2003). Service Delivery Review, (Vol. 2, no. 1). A learning Journal for Public Service Managers. Johannesburg. Sue Publishers.
Du Toit, D, Knipe, A, Van Niekerk, D, Van der Waldt, G and Doyle, M (2002). Service Excellence in Governance. Sandown. Heinemann.
Erasmus, M and Albertyn R (2014). Knowledge as Enablement – Engagement between Higher Education and the Third Sector in South Africa. Bloemfontein: SunPress.
Gibbons M (2006). Engagement as a core value in a Mode 2 society. Paper presented at the Community Engagement in Higher Education Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 3-5 September 2006.
Gildenhuys, J.S.H and Knipe, A (2000). The Organization of Government, An Introduction. Pretoria. J.L Van Schaik.
Gildenhuys, J (2004). The Philosophy of Public Administration: a holistic approach- An introduction for undergraduates’ students. Stellenbosch: Sun Press
Goddard, J (2018). The civic university and the city. Geographies of the University, 355‒373.
Hall, M (2009). Community Engagement in South African Higher Education. Paper presented at the CHE Symposium on Community Engagement, 19 March 2009, Pretoria.
Hall, M (2010). Community engagement in South African Higher Education. Kagisano 6 January 2020, 1-52.
Hargreaves, A. (1994). Restructuring restructuring. In Grimmett, P & Neufeld, J Teacher Development and the Struggle for Authenticity, p. 52-78. New York & London: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
Harris, M and Holley, K (2016). Universities as anchor institutions: economic and social potential for urban development. In, Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research 31, ed. M. B. Paulsen, 393‒439. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Hart, C (2021). Cross-sectoral engaged partnerships: Transformative power of higher education to deliver effective societal impact. Keynote Address on Division for Social Impact. Annual Social Impact Symposium 2 September 2021. http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/
Hassan, M (2017). The Strategic Shuffle: Ethnic Geography, the Internal Security Apparatus, and Elections in Kenya. American Journal of Political Science, 61(2): 382 – 395.
Healy, K (2005). Under reconstruction: Renewing critical social work practices. In Hick, S., Fook, J and Pozzuto R (Eds.), Social Work: A Critical turn (pp. 219-230). Toronto: Thompson Educational.
Higgs, P. (2003). African Philosophy and the transformation of educational discourse in South Africa. South African Journal of Education 30(1): 5 ‒22.
Higgs, P and van Wyk, B (2007). African Philosophy and knowledge production in higher education. Journal of Educational Studies 6(2): 40‒49.
Higgs, P. (2011). African philosophy and the decolonisation of education in Africa: Some critical reflections. Education Philosophy and Theory 1‒19.
Johnson, B and Cooper, D (2014). Some theoretical considerations of ‘engaged scholarship’ and ‘use-oriented research’ at a new university in South Africa: The Vaal University of Technology. South African Review of Education 20(2): 97‒120.
Kambuwa, M and Wallis, M (2002). Performance Management and Integrated Development Planning in South Africa. Paper delivered at the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) conference. Nairobi, Kenya.
Kaphagawani D.N and Malherbe, J.G (2002). Introduction: African epistemology. London, United Kingdom. Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Kellogg Commission (1999). Returning to our Roots: The Engaged Institution. Washington DC: National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
Kibui, W.A. (2015). Effect of Talent Management on Employee Retention in Kenya’s State Corporations. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.
Muller, J (2000) Reclaiming Knowledge: Social Theory, Curriculum and Education Policy, London: Routledge.
Mzimande and Mpehle, Z (2012). Are service delivery protests justifiable in Democratic South Africa? UNISA Institutional Repository.
Netshandama, V.O, Ishmael O.I and Nelwamondo, N.I (2021). Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge Promotion Amongst Students in a Historically Disadvantaged Institution of Higher Learning. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 24: 1–12.
Netshandama, V.O (2023). The impossibility of monitoring and evaluating the impact of community engagement performance in South African universities: A review. South African Journal of Higher Education 37(1): 166‒184.
Saidi, A (2023). Research, Monitoring and Advice. Pretoria. Council on Higher Education.
Sangweni, D. (2007). Contributing to Research and Teaching and Priority for Scholarship Recipients. University of Kwazulu-Natal.
Schomberg, R.V. & Hankins, J (2019). Chapter 1: Introduction to the International Handbook on Responsible Innovation. In International Handbook on Responsible Innovation. Cheltenham, UK. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Sekeran, U and Bougie, R. (2013). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach, 6th ed. West Sussex United Kingdom: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Von Schomberg, R. & Hankins, J (2019). Introduction to the International Handbook on Responsible Innovation. USA. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Walliman, N. (2011). Research Methods the Basics. Routledge-Taylor: London, and Francis Group.
Yilmaz, K (2013). Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Traditions: Epistemological, Theoretical and Methodological Differences. European Journal of Education Research, Development and Policy. Part II Articles. Volume 48 (2), 311 325.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahlodi Joyce Sethu, Doreen Morukhu (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
