Sheila Nanyanzi Alice, Zhu Chang, Kintu Mugenyi Justus, Kataike Joanita
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Education Sciences, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Mountains of the Moon University, School of Education, P.O. Box 837, Fort-Portal, Uganda.
Heliyon. 2021 Apr 1;7(4):e06612. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06612. eCollection 2021 Apr.
Community Engagement (CE) is an accredited path for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to address development challenges facing communities. However, establishing practical CE approaches is difficult due to a lack of information on stakeholders' perceptions and needs for CE. This paper intends to fill this gap by examining engaged stakeholders' perceptions and needs for CE. We conducted a survey among 450 stakeholders, categorised as dairy farmers, students, and faculty members of a case study HEI in Africa. One-way ANOVA findings showed that the three categories perceived CE differently and had multiple needs. To harness reciprocal engagement, HEIs should create more CE opportunities and address stakeholders' needs such as establishing structures, allocating time for engagement elements, financial support, and communication.
社区参与(CE)是高等教育机构(HEIs)应对社区面临的发展挑战的一条认可途径。然而,由于缺乏关于利益相关者对社区参与的看法和需求的信息,建立切实可行的社区参与方法很困难。本文旨在通过研究参与其中的利益相关者对社区参与的看法和需求来填补这一空白。我们对450名利益相关者进行了调查,这些利益相关者分为奶农、学生和非洲一所案例研究型高等教育机构的教职员工。单因素方差分析结果表明,这三类人对社区参与的看法不同,且有多种需求。为了促进相互参与,高等教育机构应创造更多的社区参与机会,并满足利益相关者的需求,如建立结构、为参与要素分配时间、提供财政支持和进行沟通。