Unintended outcomes of university-community partnerships: Building organizational capacity with PACE International partners (original) (raw)
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Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education
Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) at Macquarie University provides experiential opportunities for students and staff to contribute to more just, inclusive and sustainable societies by engaging in activities with partner organizations. PACE International offers a range of opportunities with partners overseas. Underpinning PACE is a commitment to mutually beneficial learning and engagement. To align with this commitment, PACE-related research engages partner perspectives and those of students and academics. The dearth of scholarly research on partner perspectives of community engagement (Bringle, Clayton & Price, 2009) underscores this imperative. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with partner representatives this article examines some of the apparently unexpected benefits of engagement with PACE that community partners report have contributed to their improved organizational capacity. We conclude by speculating that what can be perceived by universities as unexpected and unplanned by-products of student engagement, may actually be intended and strategically planned outcomes of community partners.
Unintended outcomes? Building organisational capacity with PACE International partners
2014
PACE International is a component of Professional and Community Engagement (PACE), a Macquarie University-wide initiative that provides opportunities for students and staff to contribute to more just, inclusive and sustainable societies by engaging in activities with partner organisations in Australia and internationally. Underpinning PACE is a commitment to mutually beneficial learning and engagement. To align with this commitment, PACE-related research engages partner perspectives and those of students and academics. The dearth of scholarly research on partner perspectives of community engagement (Bringle, Clayton & Price, 2009) underscores this imperative. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with community partner representatives from Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, India, and Peru, this paper examines some of the apparently unexpected benefits of engagement with PACE that community partners report have contributed to their improved organisational capacity. We conclude by speculating that what can be perceived by universities as unexpected and unplanned by-products of student engagement, may actually be intended and strategically planned outcomes of community partners. The paper highlights the need for universities to develop a deeper understanding of the organisational objectives of community partners and their broader motivations for developing institutional relationships in order to ensure the nurturing and facilitation of such highly-valued outcomes through student engagement programs.
Implementing a university paradigm for effective community engagement
Australian Association for …, 2010
Community engagement is emerging as a core function of Australian universities and their faculties. The collaboration and development of effective and sustainable partnerships can strengthen the role of the university within the community and influence those who formulate policy. This paper reports on the development and implementation of key principles and processes that are foundational to community engagement: relationship formation; sustainability; forming mutually beneficial goals; mentoring; social justice frameworks; communication; awareness-raising; identifying social injustice issues and inequalities that need to be investigated and addressed; and supportive university structures. These principles and processes are illuminated through two key community engagement projects involving the Faculty of Education. The first is the development of a teacher education program in Bachau, East Timor, and the second is a community based tertiary education program, Clemente, for the poor and marginalised within Australia's society. Through these programs, Australian Catholic University has evolved an understanding of the critical relevance of community engagement in making a difference in peoples' lives. Further, the programs have provided additional insights into the organisational structures required for effective community engagement. These include recognition of the time involved in forming, developing and maintaining relationships, and negotiating and implementing community engagement activities.
A Critical Approach to University-Community Partnerships: Reflecting on the Diverse Realities
Educational Research for Social Change, 2021
Postapartheid South Africa has seen a greater focus on community engagement by universities, and its inclusion as one of the core focus areas of higher education in addition to teaching and research. This focus on engagement with the community was ignited by a requirement to enhance the university's social responsibility through establishing partnerships with the communities it serves. Higher education institutions have traditionally positioned themselves in engagement projects as the singular organisation that has knowledge to offer when compared to what the community can offer. In this paper, we propose a critical engagement process to enhance collaboration in engagement projects. Our qualitative study resides in a critical theory paradigm, and we used drawings as well as narrative free writing to reflect and explore our perceptions regarding community engagement. We used the collaborative self-study methodology because it provides opportunities for critical and self-critical ...
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2014
Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) at Macquarie University offers undergraduate students experiential learning opportunities with local, regional, and international partners. In PACE projects, students work toward meeting the partner's organizational goals while they develop their capabilities, learn through the process of engagement, and gain academic credit. This article outlines the context that gave rise to PACE and discusses the rationale behind its establishment. Further, it explores how academic rigor and a strategic approach coupled with a well-integrated governance and organizational structure have been pivotal in addressing challenges. Particular attention is given to PACE International activities managed with Australian Volunteers International. The potential for research related to PACE is also discussed.
Moore, K. (Ed). Work Integrated Learning: Building Capacity – Proceedings of the 2014 ACEN National Conference. Tweed Heads, 1st- 3rd October, 2014, pp. 84-89.
Community– university engagement – global terms and terrain
Universities are both apart from and a part of society. They are apart in the sense that they provide a critically important space for grasping the world as it is and – importantly – for re-imagining the world as it ought to be. The academic freedom to pursue the truth and let the chips fall where they may isn’t a luxury – in fact it is a vital necessity in any society that has the capability for self-renewal. But universities are also a part of our societies. What’s the point unless the accumulated knowledge, insight and vision are put at the service of the community? With the privilege to pursue knowledge comes the civic responsibility to engage and put that knowledge to work in the service of humanity. (Higgins, 2012).
The scholarship of university-community engagement: Interrogating Boyer's model
International Journal of Educational Development, 2016
Albeit with different conceptualizations, the engagement between universities and external communities continues to gain significant currency. While the emphasis has been on more socioeconomic relevance in a period of significant financial constraints and a changing clientele, a more significant area of engagement has been on promoting the scholarship of engagement towards regional/local development. The praxis and outcomes of community engagement continues to be surrounded by strong debate on issue such as its impact on the core functions of the university, teaching and research. This article sheds light on the community engagement practices from a case-study university in Africa. Using Ernest Boyer"s proposed scholarship of engagement model as a framework, findings provide evidence that, different contextual specificities affect the way university-community engagement practices evolve. The methodology involved an analysis of primary and secondary data collected through interviews with policy and academic staff. The article concludes with an argument that the success of university-community engagement in fostering social and economic development significantly relates to how much the practices of engagement is foregrounded in the universities" core policy and practice. But also on how much academic scholarship draws on engagement activities. The challenge lies in ensuring this balance.
2012
The authors draw on organizational theory's use of the metaphor as a way of understanding and explaining sustainable university/community-engaged partnerships. Working from the premise that transformative and reciprocal relationships prove essential to pedagogies of engagement, specifically servicelearning, this essay argues that pursuing and maintaining meaningful partnerships between universities and communities or organizations in many ways parallels our efforts to sustain healthy romantic relationships. Through a description and analysis of 10 cruxes for sustaining long-term, healthy relationships, the authors offer a model for achieving intentional, ongoing, and systemic campus-community partnerships.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement , 2021
Using a qualitative interview design and the conceptual framework of an engaged campus (Furco, 2010), this article examines the engaged scholarship of contingent academics in a university-community partnership with several professional development schools in the United States. This article highlights some facets that make their engaged scholarship different from traditional scholarship, and the challenges in meeting responsibilities to both the community and university. The purpose of this article is to extend our understanding of community-engaged scholarship and help higher education institution administrators think about policies to support contingent academics participating in other community partnerships.