Ben Roche Engagement for Regional Universities Many challenges, opportunities and a danger.
Jun 18, 2015
Ben Roche
Engagement for Regional UniversitiesMany challenges, opportunities and a danger.
Engagement
“the cultivation of relationships that lead to productivepartnerships which yield mutually beneficial outcomesthrough the application of university resources acrossthe breadth of university activities”
Engagement Australia (engagementaustralia.org.au)
Resources – Staff, students, infrastructure and knowledge
Activities – Research, learning and teaching, service
Engagement ≠ Service
• Scholarly & Citizenship dimensions
• Engagement is a Process
• Impact is the outcome
• Differentiated by mutual benefit
• Relationship driven
• Integrated: research, teaching & service
Engaged Universities
• Innovation & Productivity agendas
• Public policy and knowledge exchange
• Industry needs
• Curriculum relevance• Economic transition• Societal challenges &
public good
Drivers Relevance
(RUN Engagement Group, 2013)
Many challenges
• Diversity of activities
• Articulating impact and thus value
• Relevance across scales
• High expectations
• No uniform model
• Many different Masters
Levels of Institutional Commitment
Low Relevance
Medium Relevance
High Relevance
Full Integration
The Holland Matrix (2006)
• Mission
• Explicit leadership positions
• Promotion, tenure, recruitment
• Organisation structure & funding
• Community & faculty involvement
• Curriculum framework
UEQM Framework
• Identified typologies
• Active stakeholders
• Specific governance
• Executive leadership
• Recognition & Incentive
• Process & impact metrics
• Investment in relationships
• Professional development
(Cuthill, 2007)
Reflecting on Wingspread’s call
• Integrate engagement into mission
• Forge partnerships as the overarching framework
• Renew and redefine discovery and scholarship
• Integrate engagement into teaching and learning
• Recruit and support new champions
• Create radical institutional change
Brukardt et. Al (2004) “Calling the Question: Is Higher Education Ready to Commit to Community Engagement?”
The Opportunities…
• Lateral connector: across related portfolios
• Robust strategic framework: individual & institutional
• Grounded in clear conception, values framework and explicit mission
• Define explicit organisational model
• Identify institutional leadership roles
• Embrace strong leadership in the sector
for regional universities to lose.
A Danger…
• Service frame
• Oblique definition with fuzzy outcomes
• A thousand flowers bloom with no coherent strategic framework
• Executive responsibility not leadership
• Profile oriented opposed to partnership driven
• Ignore the power of place
Conclusions
• Hooks: impact, access, relevance, policy
• Nested organisational framework
• Scholarly & Citizenship dimensions
• Systemic drivers: promotion, portfolio, partners
• Partnership strategy: relationships & networks
• Define explicit outcomes for our regions & planet
• Overarching model: typologies, processes, outcomes, impact
Many thanks!
Sandmann & Childers (2012)
• Knowledge is foundation for change process
• Starts with knowledgeable individuals with influence
• Policy led responses often face resistance
• Promotion, tenure and recruitment weakest on Holland’s matrix.
72 participants from the Engagement Academy (US) over four years
Institutional Competency Model
Lead Resource
Development
Develop a Vision, Roles &
Plan for Engagement/
Engaged Scholarship
Develop & Maintain
Strategic Engagement
Operations
Customize Change
Strategies to Support
Engagement
Culture
Commitment
Alignment
Integration
Impact
Read the Institutional
and Community
Context
Develop Programs
with Impact
Communicate Impact
Statically
(Sandmann & Childers, 2012)