Do Student Volunteers Benefit from Community Engagement?

Abstract

Community engagement is enriching and empowering for the recipient or host community. There is transfer of knowledge and sometimes economic or social benefits. While a lot of research has been conducted to assess the benefits of community engagement to the host community, little progress has covered the implications for the students participating in university community engagement. This paper discusses the findings of community engagement programme in Orang Asli Settlement in Kuala Gandah, Pahang. The objective of the research is to investigate the impact of community engagement programme to the student participants who were enrolled in Economics of Social Policy course at the postgraduate masters’ level. Students’ response to their level of academic performance, life skills, civic and social responsibility and personal development was assessed with a pre and post test questionnaire. Their response was based on the Likert scale of 1-10. Results were tabled and calculated for percent increase in knowledge based on the gap analysis method

Assessing higher education institutional stakeholders' perceptions and needs for community engagement: An empirical evidence from Uganda

“…It is suggested that OPP be enhanced for students and faculty to address community needs ( Martin and Pyles, 2013 ). Similar research argues providing chances for student and academic staff hands-on experience is crucial for putting theory into practice ( Jinkins and Cecil, 2015 ; Selvaratnam, 2013 ). The descriptive findings also showed that students and faculty members highly perceived CHA, whereas the dairy farmers disagreed that CE is an obstacle.…”

“…We used a Survey with both closed and open questions to collect empirical data. After consulting relevant literature on past studies regarding HEIs or university engagement with communities or stakeholders, we developed three instruments ( Holley and Harris, 2018 ; Mbah, 2019 ; O'Meara and Jaeger, 2016 ; Selvaratnam, 2013 ). The current study measured institutional stakeholders' perceptions of CE are subjectively basing on potential benefits, opportunities, and challenges involved in the process ( Zepke, 2013 ).…”

“…(2018) , Onwuemele. (2018) , Holley and Harris (2018) , Mbah (2019) , Selvaratnam, (2013) Opportunities OPP OPP1 OPP2 OPP3 OPP4 OPP5 OPP6 OPP7 OPP8 Opportunities for engagement Involve stakeholders Equal engagement opportunities Variety of engagement Share research findings Information regarding engagement Consult about engagement Collaborate with different stakeholders Selvaratnam (2013) , Morrell et al. (2015) , Mehta et al., (2015) Challenges CHA CHA1 CHA2 CHA3 CHA4 CHA5 CHA6 CHA7 CHA8 Limited time for engagement Limited resources Inappropriate engagement approaches Little motivation Inadequate awareness Inadequate support Inadequate flow of information Other roles hinder CE Winkler, (2013) , Gorski (2016) Onwuemele (2018) , O'Meara and Jaeger, 2016 ), Quillinan et al.…”

Responsabilidad Social Universitaria (RSU): Principios para una universidad sostenible, cooperativa y democrática desde el diagnóstico participativo de su alumnado

“…Desde esta argumentación, la RSU se relaciona con la construcción ciudadana desde el impacto que la primera pueda provocar en la segunda, y en ella las universidades deben asumir una postura y un rol protagónicos, conjuntamente con las acciones dirigidas a promover la igualdad de oportunidades, la maximización de talentos en la vida universitaria y la conciliación de su estudio con la vida personal. Así lo ratifican investigaciones que insisten en cómo las percepciones del estudiantado, así como las experiencias acometidas con respecto a RSU en sus estudios universitarios, representan un valioso input para las universidades (Gaete & Bratos, 2012;Peralta, 2012;Selvaratnam, 2013;Setó, Domingo & Rabassa, 2011;Vázquez, Aza & Laneso, 2014), deduciéndose de todo ello el hecho de que resulta necesario desarrollar por parte de las universidades nuevos métodos y marcos que ayuden a aplicar la RSU en el mundo global (Audebrand, 2010;Navarro et al, 2010;Noguera, Moncayo & Martí-Vilar, 2014;Vasilescu et al, 2010) en términos de respeto a la diversidad, igualdad de oportunidades, distribución equitativa de recursos y procesos transparentes y democráticos de elección, participación y vivencia local y global.…”

Academic interaction with social partners in the case from the University of Limpopo

“…Given that there appears to be a national consensus that the community-university knowledge interface does add value (DoE , 1997), there is a logical argument for considering a national re-orientation towards engaged activities for specific universities that claim to be 'disadvantaged' or could simply 'do better' if the resources were available (Selvaratnam, 2013). One avenue could be to identify mechanisms to undertake baseline situational analyses of CE at these institutions and reward innovative ideas to radically improve -in accountable, measurable ways -CE at multiple spheres of institutional activity.…”