Browsing by Author "Orr, David"

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    Higher Education Strategic Partnerships: The Impact of Stellenbosch University's Community Interaction Agreements on Local Development
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-03) Orr, David; Newmark, Rona; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : In regions throughout the world, there has been little discrepancy that investments in education are critical for the development of the economic and social fabric of the local community. Although many studies have focused on returns of primary and secondary education, recently more academic focus has been applied to higher education as a means to increase economic growth and diminish poverty. As Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries share a disproportionate number of countries listed among the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) ratings in the world, it is imperative, more than ever, that higher education institutions in the region contribute to the economic growth and vitality of the surrounding community. In a recent study of higher education institutions within the SADC region, South Africa was the only country documented with sustainable and stable funding along with national higher education steering ability. Beginning in 2007, Stellenbosch University, located in the Western Cape of South Africa, began an unprecedented regional collaboration with the local municipality of Stellenbosch, and later in 2011, the regional municipality of Drakenstein in an attempt to formally engage the surrounding communities both socially and economically. As a result, the university signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) outlining strategic partnerships that established a framework for the university to address economic growth, municipal development needs, joint social projects and integrating the joint initiatives into the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of the municipalities. Within the South African context, it is clear, through the recent South African National Development Plan 2030 and King III Report, that universities will need to develop metrics to account for their broad range of impacts. Internationally, higher education institutions have responded by commissioning economic impact studies that report economic variables with little attention given to social impact. However, South African institutions of higher education should not emulate methodologies of these previous international economic impact studies, but instead develop new conceptual frameworks that relate to the unique social and economic impacts of South African universities. Furthermore, because of the lack of existing research concerning higher education and local development, little is known about the impact of university interaction agreements on surrounding communities. To overcome this current knowledge gap, the aim of this study sought to determine if there was a measurable impact of Stellenbosch University’s interaction agreements. This was accomplished through a literature overview of higher education policy analysis, higher education and community engagement, higher education and economic development and higher education economic impact studies. The research incorporates an integrated methodologies approach or FraIM developed by Plowright (2011) that compliments a mixed method design. Additionally, the first part of the study included a qualitative policy analysis using administrator questionnaires, followed by a quantitative review of Stellenbosch University’s community interaction efforts using the community interaction database along with project leader questionnaires and concluded with a quantitative university economic impact study. From the study results, a new integrated conceptual framework is proposed to capture the full socio-economic impact of higher education institutions. The emerging framework articulates the social and economic influence that higher education institutions bring to a community by giving each equivalent weight. Furthermore, the 2012-2013 data illustrated that Stellenbosch University has a substantial social and economic impact on the surrounding municipalities of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein. Additionally, the findings include a list of social and economic performance indicators related to university’s community engagement and economic development efforts.