University-Community Engagement in Nigeria: Evidence from Selected Universities

Abstract

The imperative of knowledge based and inclusive development is making universities to realign their teaching and research missions to embrace community engagement. Using case studies of three universities in Nigeria, this paper examines how different types of Universities in Nigeria carry out community engagement and the nature of the benefits that accrues from the engagement. It also analyses the existing university policy framework with respect to university community engagement with a view to identifying the effectiveness of these policies in engendering university-community engagement in Nigeria. The findings revealed that the emerging policy to support community engagement at the universities does not provide for adequate framework to engender an effective university-community engagement. Besides, the reward systems of the universities do not support community engagement as a valid form of scholarship. Most of the university engagements are formal engagements with little or no link to immediate local communities. There is the need for a policy re-orientation that first integrates the principles of infusion model as a framework of the university community engagement policy. Secondly, the university community engagement policy must reward and recognize community engagement as a valid kind of scholarship among academics. This is a sine qua non in increasing university contributions to the development of their immediate communities.

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

“…The findings concur with previous research findings. Specifically concerning creating time for CE (Adekalu et al, 2018;Wattman et al, 2007), not rendering CE a voluntary activity (Onwuemele, 2018), and allowing faculty and students to operate inflexible schedules to enhance practical CE (Wattman et al, 2007). According to Bhatnagar et al (2020), CE should be part of the curriculum to enable students to develop innovation in addressing challenges in the communities.…”

“… Variable Code Items Author(s) Benefits BEN BEN1 BEN2 BEN3 BEN4 BEN5 BEN6 BEN7 BEN8 Sharing knowledge Sharing skills Sharing resources Sharing information Offered real learning or teaching experience Strengthening partnerships Cooperative learning Addressed stakeholders' expectations Quillinan et al. (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.…”

“…(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. (2018) .…”

“…The central core process involves HEIs reciprocally engaging different internal and external stakeholders in sharing valuable resources. Creating, disseminating new knowledge, improving understanding, and involving partners in mutual dialogue are crucial elements in CE ( Murphy and McGrath, 2018 ; Onwuemele, 2018 ). A research study ( Phillipson et al., 2012 ) explains that CE is built on interactive approaches that involve end-users throughout the overlapping stages of engagement, jointly identifying community problems and solutions to those problems.…”

University-Community Engagement from the Perspective of the University Populace

“…This is likely due to the perception that for far too long "universities were seen as spatially and culturally disconnected and politically disengaged from the needs and concerns of the communities that surround them" (Allahwala et al, 2013, p.43), and consequently communities often felt unwelcome by universities and were uninterested in trying to develop mutually beneficial connections with universities (Hart et al, 2007;Strand et al, 2003). Yet, for those higher education institutions willing to make concerted efforts to break down these barriers and engage with surrounding communities in more meaningful ways, the documented benefits (Alday-Bersoto, 2019;Collins et al, 2007;Glazier et al, 2020;Miller et al, 2018;Onwuemele, 2018) can be immense.…”