The Role of Community Engagement in Higher Education: The Case of the University of Venda

Community engagement is one of three core responsibilities of higher education, alongside research and teaching but despite clear policy mandates in South Africa that community engagement is essential, universities’ attention still need to be drawn to it. Universities are involved in many activities structured around research and teaching and outreach initiatives that entail engaging with various communities. These activities must be coordinated, since they usually result from individual initiatives, rather than strategically planned, systematic endeavours. This study aimed to ascertain the role of community engagement within the University of Venda, its functions and whether they are being appropriately articulated. The Council on Higher Education has ongoing conversations with tertiary educational institutions about community engagement practices, what they are, what forms they should take, and how they are best undertaken. A desktop research approach was undertaken to provide the relationship between higher education (University of Venda) and community engagement. In addition, a quantitative research method was pursued to collect data to achieve the study's objectives. Walliman. (2011), asserts that descriptive research looks at situations to establish the norm, while also making assumptions on what can happen in the future, under similar conditions. Using a descriptive research approach, a researcher effectively summarise and organise data (Kibui, 2015). It offers helpful resources for setting up a collection of qualitative observations and organising data comprehensibly. This study employed a descriptive research design for the analysis of community engagement that was sourced from documents and other relevant policies on community engagement, within the University of Venda, in addition to interrogating the theoretical framework of higher education on community engagement. The study's key findings established how effective community engagement is within higher education, providing practical insights of various initiatives. Finally, conclusions drawn from this study are applicable to both higher education institutions and communities. Recommendations from this study were designed to improve the relationship between effective community engagement and higher education institutions.