Page 9 - UNNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN

8 Fostering Social Responsibility & Community Engagement in Higher Education Institutions in India

b) University-wide, in each faculty and discipline: Community engagement should not
be limited to a few social science disciplines alone. It should be practiced across all
disciplines and faculties of HEIs. Faculties of natural sciences and engineering can
also promote community engagement in teaching and research. This will help educate
local communities about new technological innovations as well as inform students and
faculty about ways to harness local technology and knowledge.

c) Credit-based for students: Participation of students in teaching activities of community
engagement and research projects and learning should earn them credits. Community
engagement should thus be included to meet their graduation requirements and it
should be integrated into their assessments.

d) Providing credit to Teachers for Engagement activities: Performance assessments
of teachers, researchers and administrators in HEIs should include review of their
involvement and contributions to community engagement in teaching and research.
Criteria of and weightage to community engagement by teachers and researchers should
be explicitly included in assessments for recruitment, regularisation and promotion (by
modifying existing API and other faculty evaluation mechanisms).

e) Linkages with local institutions: In order to sustain regular community engagement
programmes, HEIs should develop organic and long-term linkages with local
institutions around them. These include local governments, district administration,
local entrepreneurs, business and local NGOs.
1.4 Forms of Community Engagement

When the above principles are applied in practice by HEIs, they can choose any
combination of the following forms:

a) Linking learning with community service

In this approach, students and teachers apply their knowledge and skills in a chosen
community to improve the lives of people in that community. This can be achieved
through the model of ‘service-learning’ (a globally accepted best practice), providing
engagement opportunities to students from various disciplines and courses to apply
their knowledge to address the challenges of a specific community. For example,
students of chemistry can conduct water and soil testing in local areas and share its
results with local community.

b) Linking research with community knowledge

In this approach, various faculties and programmes of HEIs devise joint research
projects in partnership with the communities and local agencies. The community’s
own knowledge is integrated into the design and conduct of the research. New research
by students helps them to complete their academic requirements, and at the same time
the community’s knowledge is systematized. Community-based Participatory Research
(CBPR) approaches are gaining increasing recognition in this regard. 6

6 http://unescochair-cbrsr.org/pdf/resource/Knowledge%20&%20Engagement_26-09-16_pdf%20ver-mail.pdf