Reflections on the conceptualisation and practices of community engagement as a core function of universities

Abstract

The world saw the "human" side of universities during the Covid-19 pandemic as universities across the globe were at the forefront of efforts to control the spread of the Coronavirus, and to explore means of making the human population acquire immunity against the virulent disease. This article contends that, although this appeared as unusual, the universities were simply fulfilling their obligation to humanity because the raison d'être of universities includes being of service to society. Therefore, if they are unable to prevent crises from setting in, they should at least be at the forefront of efforts to combat the crises, and mitigate their effects on people. The article seeks to set the scene for the collection of articles that follow in this special issue of the South African Journal of Higher Education (SAJHE) on the theme of community engagement as a core function for universities. It argues that universities have social responsibility, and they should therefore serve as anchors of towns and regions; as engines of development in their respective geographical areas; and as champions of social causes. It presents and discusses the concepts and practices of community engagement that are critical to understanding the arguments and counterarguments in the articles that follow. These include the relationship between community engagement, on the one hand, and transformation of higher education as well as decolonisation of knowledge and ways of knowing, on the other. The article also reflects on the state of community engagement in universities in South Africa, and explains that it is mostly regarded as a stepchild because it is not valued, funded or supported in the same way as the other two core functions of teaching and learning, and research and innovation. The article also cautions against the use of rhetoric to romanticise community engagement when the projects on the ground leave much to be desired, and with not potential to make a difference to society.

Critical Study Of Community Engagement at A South African University

“…In the words of TheFourth: 'These are exciting times at UFS, but we still do not know where the funds to implement the activities of the ITP would come from (TheFourth, May 2009).' Meaning they saw this paradigm shift as an opportunity to be creative as the issue of funding has been highlighted by vast scholars in South Africa in general (Bhagwan, 2017: Johnson, 2020, Saidi, 2023Fongwa, 2023).…”

“…Funding, as the above 'champions' pointed out, impacts all aspects of engaged scholarship from capacity to implementation to the space and time to share reflections and writing for publication. According to Saidi, (2023) it results in such programs being treated as the stepchild, underfunded, and overworked. As I will show in the next chapters, university staff working in engaged scholarship are often taking on multiple roles, including that of project manager, scholar, administrator.…”

“…Engaged scholars end up being frustrated because they want to do it all, but they are caught up in traditional norms which are easier but do not foster the kind of engagement that is needed for transformation. Co-creative work requires building relationships and relationships building takes time ( Saidi, 2023). When speaking to the 'champions', I was pleasantly surprised that most of the 'champions' need to get up incredibly early to travel to these communities or even start their days so that they could maximize the hours spent doing co-creative or participatory research, and then is added waking up even earlier to write.…”

“…Chapter 2 will delve into the challenges faced during the adaptation and implementation of Boyer's engaged scholarship approach. These challenges of institutionalisation outlined in Chapter 2 underscore that UFS does not operate in isolation (Fongwa, 2023;Saidi, 2023;Bank et al, 2018). Therefore, Chapter 2 will shed light on some of the 1 See: https://engagedscholarshipnarrativesofchange.org/research-project obstacles encountered in the journey towards engaged scholarship.…”

“…This raises a limitation for my study since I have not been back to the field since doing my interviews at the time. However, recent scholars, not just at UFS but in South African in general, show that there is still a challenge in dealing with structural issues; additionally, the practical implementation of policy takes time (Saidi, 2023;Venter, 2022;Johnson, 2020;Sindane, 2021;Shange, 2021 ;Shawa, 2020). This is also exemplified at UFS by Vision 130, which is the extension of ITP in addressing such structural issues that overlapped from the previous strategic plan ( UFS Strategic Plan 2018.…”