A Study On Strategies To Enhance Community Engagement And Social Responsibility – Faculty And Students’ Perspectives

Abstract

Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) have been trying exhibit their social responsibility through outreach and extension activities. Generally such activities did not fetch academic credits for students. Higher Educational Institutions’ involvement and contribution towards social responsibility neither contributed much to the new knowledge nor does it add to the existing knowledge. Largely, role played by faculty members has been minimalistic given the potential their active participation and guidance can contribute towards the social responsibility. Students have been experiencing community engagement activities as assorted, one time activity, many times unsatisfactory, few times all benefits tilted towards the communities and unbalanced towards students’ development with intentional outcomes. Such activities hardly add any direct links with teaching and learning process of existing subjects or with the research activities of the HEIs. Many times, faculty may share the experiences from such outreach activities by relating it to the existing subjects but beyond this it can be seen as much of a passive approach given what is seen as possible by HEIs.