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    • Australian University Civic Engagement Initiative

    Posted by on March 28, 2003

    This project forms the Australian component of the International Research Project: Universities as Sites of Citizenship and Civic Responsibility, a project of the International Consortium on Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy (ICHECRD http://iche.sas.upenn.edu/). The Council of Europe’s Committee on Higher Education and Research is the administrative and operational centre of activity for the European research. The University of Pennsylvania is the organizational centre for the Universities as Sites of Citizenship and Civic Responsibility Project, a research project that explores the actual activities of institutions of higher education that support democratic values and practices; assesses their dispositions and capabilities to promote democracy; and examines how the use of university resources can improve the contributions of higher education to democracy on the campus, and in the local community and wider society. The Community Service & Research Centre at the University of Queensland Ipswich is the organizational centre for Higher Education, Community Engagement and Civic Responsibility which will form the Australian element of the project.

    The objectives of this research project are to:

  • Complete a comprehensive and comparative International/Australian literature review of university citizenship and community engagement theories and practices;
  • Conduct an audit of the existing national, state and institutional initiatives and programmes promoting the community engagement and/or civic responsibility of higher education;
  • Examine various student and staff perceptions of active citizenship and their levels of local community participation;
  • Identify any correlations between the student and staff perceptions and practices and the respondents’ socio-economic status, regional location, ethnicity, nationality, disciplinary focus, or institution;
  • Document the findings for each institution selected;
  • Produce and distribute to relevant stakeholders, the final report into the state of community education practices by higher education in Australia and suggest recommendations for effective practice and improvements to existing programmes.

    Other elements of the research project include a raft of opportunities to explore community engagement principles and practices both in Australia and globally through the Consortium. These include:

    Quarterly Engaged Perspectives E-Journal.
    Engaged Perspectives is an academic journal dedicated to the promotion and examination of theory and case studies of all aspects of Higher Education Community Engagement, Civic Responsibility, Community Capacity Building, and Service Integration. The editors solicit articles, essays, studies, reviews and opinion pieces from Australia and overseas. The editorial board includes academics, policy makers and community leaders.

    Policy Research Reports
    The research project delivers two forms of reports on university-community engagement. The first is the comprehensive individual university reports which are made available as they are concluded. The second will be the final report which will contain summaries of all the individual university reports including national and state by state results as well as recommendations for government policy makers, universities and community groups.

    National Engagement Website
    The website would form the core of the information collection and dissemination strategy of the project. The website will enable effective access to the data collected from the research project on an on-going basis as well as providing a framework for the housing of best-practice models, community engagement theory exchanges and the provision of a clearing house for community engagement opportunities and ideas. The website aims to be the first port-of-call for those seeking a better understanding of engagement theories and/or attempting to develop engagement opportunities. Other elements include:
    * Individual University Reports
    * Community Engagement Discussion Forum
    * Community Engagement Theory-House
    * Monthly Datacasts from leading experts
    * Engaged Community Group Contact Register
    * National Network of Engaged University Centres
    * Community Engagement Project Clearinghouse

    If you would like to become involved in this project, please register your interest by contacting the CSRC by email: n.sunderland@uq.edu.au, by phone on (07) 3381 1532 or by fax on (07) 3381 1407.

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