This initiative aims to create a culture within UK Higher Education where public engagement is formalised and embedded as a valued and recognised activity for staff at all levels, and for students.

What is HEI public engagement and why does it matter?

What defines excellent public engagement?

How can public engagement be embedded as a central and defining characteristic of Britain's higher education sector?

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE & SHARINGIncreasing the two-way flow of

knowledge and insight between the university and wider society

• Communicating research activity and outcomes• Contributing to regional and national policy

development• Offering consultancy and CPD for community

organisations

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH RESEARCHActively involving the public in the research

activity of the institution

• Collaborative research projects• Co-produced research with the public helping to

shape the research design and/or delivery• Supporting the development of community-based

researchers • Seeking insight or advice to inform future activity

ENGAGED TEACHINGDeveloping teaching activities which

positively impact on the community, and enhance students’ engagement skills

• Supporting lifelong learning and community capacity building

• Teaching engagement skills• Raising aspirations of young people

• Service (or ‘community-based’) learning

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYSeeking to maximise the benefits that the

institution can generate for the public

• Opening up facilities and campus to the public• Investing in partnerships and infrastructure to

support collaboration with civic society• Staff and student volunteering to support the

community

The engaged university

All about SVE

Resources• Self assessment tool

• Case studies• Briefings• Examples

MANAGER’S TOOLKIT PRACTITIONER’S TOOLKIT

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MANIFESTO

FRAMEWORKWhat is PE and why does it

matter?

All about SVE

Refers to SVENot relevant to SVE

Refers to SVENot relevant to SVE

KNOWLEDGE BASE

Resources • Intros to key methods

• Briefings / guides• Links to training and funding• Case studies – PE in action

• Engagement designer

http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/

MISSIONCreate a shared understanding of the purpose, value, meaning and role of public engagement to staff and students and embed this in your strategy and mission.

LEADERSHIP Support champions across the organisation who embrace public engagement

COMMUNICATIONCommunicate consistent, clear messages to validate, support and celebrate it, and ensure open and two-way communication with members of the public and community organisations.

Focal points purpose

REWARDRecognise and reward staff involvement within recruitment, promotion, workload plans and performance reviews, and celebrate success with awards or prizes.

SUPPORTCo-ordinate the delivery of public engagement to maximise efficiency, target support, improve quality, foster innovation, join up thinking and monitor involvement and impact.

LEARNINGProvide opportunities for learning and reflection and provide support for continuing professional development and training

process

STAFFEnsure that all staff – in academic and support roles – have opportunities to get involved in informal and formal ways.

STUDENTSProactively include and involve students in shaping the mission and in the delivery of the strategy, and maximise opportunities for their involvement.

PUBLICInvest in people, processes and infrastructure to support and nurture the involvement of individuals and organisations external to the HEI

people

Holland’s MatrixFurco’s service learning rubricCommunity-Campus Partnerships for HealthPortland State University

Action Research Programme

Why should and how can British universities embed public engagement?

Public engagement academicsBeacons for Public EngagementDepartment HeadsFunders and GovernmentSenior ManagersHuman Resources

A: Strategic University Positioning B: Equity at Departmental Level C: Space & Place D: Reputational Risk E: Supporting Emergence F: Recognition & Incentives for change

Space and Place

• University owned space– “We literally have a ‘perimeter committee’, to ensure space is recognised as ours, but it puts

up a barrier. In part it’s about being able to move through that, to build spaces that are organic. But there are issues, security etc. Not everyone wants to get into universities to deepen understanding.” (PEA)

– “University grounds can be quite intimidating...At our campus there are signs that say that the green space is not for the public!” (SV)

• Design– “I work in an iconic building – atriums, it’s a waste of space. What we need is flexible space for

students. Iconic buildings may be one of the first to go”. – “Space isn’t something we’ve tackled yet, but we have a planning application to double the

size of the campus. It’s a huge change for the area – you have to give something back to the area

• Space for Learning, Engagement and Knowledge Exchange – Do students and communities have similar needs for flexible learning spaces which support

new pedagogies…• Moving the University out

– How can the university use other public spaces to engage with the public developing a presence in new public buildings being constructed by others, as well as partnering in the use of existing civic and other space

Space and Place

What is in a name?

Student-community engagement in the UK

What’s in a name?

• Situating understandings?– Names, definitions;– Histories;– Structures;– Cultural, Social and

Political Contexts (Local, Regional, National, Global)

• International perspectives– What do they tell us about

engagement...?– How do initiatives translate

across boundaries and what can we learn from cross-cultural explorations...?

– Where are the collaborative opportunities for research and learning...?

Inspiration for this session

• Had never heard of service learning;– The word ‘service’ does not quite translate into UK setting;

• Influence of the work in the United States;– Its often where people look for literature and research on

this area; also see the Science Shop movement.– Boyer (1996); Freire (1970)

• Its an interesting time in the UK– Lots of developments around public and community

engagement,– Wanted some time to explore common challenges and

emergent differences

Definitions of volunteering• Generally, volunteering is

described as an unpaid activity where someone gives their time to help an organisation or an individual who they are not related to.

• The UK does not actually have one common national definition of volunteering, although you can find definitions set out in government legislation and reports, as well in research on volunteering.

• formal activity undertaken through public, private and voluntary organisations as well as informal community participation and campaigning

• mutual aid or self-help; philanthropy or service to others; participation or civic engagement; and advocacy or campaigning.

Volunteering England (2008)

Level of student participation HEI intervention

Co-curricular learning

Volunteering Service learning

The role of the university in all this...?

Personal connections Careers / SU HEAR Skills Award In curriculum

How do organisations find a way in?

What is ‘typical’ of service learning in the UK?

• A plethora of names and practices: community based learning, experiential learning in the community, learning-linked volunteering...

• Hidden, unsupported, unnamed, not rewarded (“but in heaven”), different characteristics in different universities;

• There seems to be more emphasis on student volunteering (dedicated staff, funding, infrastructure), however student volunteering is not without links to learning.

Common narratives around motivations for academic staff

• Enhanced student learning and development;

• Going beyond the call of contract but not the call of duty;

• Enhancing the professional practice;

• Interest in educational/community development;

• Political, social or cultural grounds for developing students.

• Respondents remarked on the extra workload CBL created for supervisors. However, most felt that they were compensated by the benefits of student attainment, the chance to build and maintain their own networks and the opportunity to keep up with practical developments in their field. (CoBALT, 1999)

So what do students tell us?

Research design

• Conducted at six case study universities– Peer led case studies, delivered by the universities mainly through student researchers supported

by university staff and IVR;– In-depth case studies

Methods

• Online student survey with 3, 083 valid responses;• Online alumni survey with over 6,000 responses;• 15 semi-structured interviews with volunteer-involving organisations across 3 HEIs;• 10 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across 3 HEIs;• 12 biographical narrative method interviews with student volunteers;• 6 peer-led facilitated focus groups with non-volunteers (30 participants);• 6 peer-led facilitated focus groups with community organisations (18 organisations)• 6 peer-led facilitated mapping sessions with student volunteers (82 participants)

• Concerns over student volunteering becoming a graded experience – student volunteering is simply a way to help others;

• A belief that volunteers should be internally motivated and this would be corrupted if the practice was a degree requirement;

• Students are reluctant to be told that they should be volunteering and strongly believe that volunteering must remain optional;

• Students who had volunteered as part of their degree course were likely to be less satisfied with their experience of volunteering than other volunteers [for example: 30% reported getting bored compared to 9% of general volunteers];

• There is strong demand from students for universities to help find volunteering opportunities connected with their course or future career: 39 per cent of non-volunteers would welcome such action.

• 49% of volunteers are motivated by a desire to enhance the learning from their degree course;

• 45% of volunteers felt it had enhanced their knowledge of their degree subject, this is less pronounced that other benefits (personal development, communication etc);

Student Perspective

Response to Service Nation"It is outrageous for David Lammy to back these proposals, which would essentially force students to pay to be punished. Voluntary community service of all kinds is a tremendous and socially valuable thing for students and graduates to do, but compulsory community service is a criminal penalty.”

Wes Streeting, NUS

Where’s the learning in volunteering?

“Without fostering reflective thinking, learning cannot move beyond conditioning...the connection between thought and action is dissipated...further action is lost...” (Saltmarsh, 1996)

• Volunteering can have two contrasting effects on the young person: it can either ‘stimulate a more critical approach to society and to particular political issues’ or, ‘in other contexts and circumstances, they can act to entrench a much more conservative agenda’ (Brooks, 2010)

• Holdsworth and Quinn label these as ‘deconstructive’ and ‘reproductive’ effects respectively.

Where’s the learning in volunteering?

‘That’s what [university] does really well with the [volunteering unit] and the awards, they really make you reflect about your volunteering, about your experiences, and the key things you’ve learnt from it.’

Busting the Bubble: Students, Volunteering and Community

• ‘It really changed my experience of university too, turning me from a shy and under-confident undergrad in my first term, to someone who was a leader and really involved in university life by the end of my degree (unfortunately it also stopped me getting a 1st, but I would choose the volunteering experience over the 1st anytime).’ (Graduate, 2001)

• ‘Volunteering overall gave me confidence in times when I felt things weren't going well with my degree and gave an additional sense of achievement, as well as allowing me to meet new people.’ (Graduate, 2008)

• ‘Volunteering made me feel more included at the university. It gave me goals and a sense of achievement outside of my degree programme. It helped me develop skills in a way my degree did not.’ (Graduate, 2009)

Helping Out: Challenges in volunteer management

% all volunteers (Student Activities Survey) combined agree strongly/ agree

% all volunteers (Helping Out) combined definitely agree/ tend to agree

% volunteers aged 16-34 (Helping Out) combined definitely agree/ tend to agree

I'm given the opportunityto do the sort of things I'd like to do

73 91 92

I get bored or lose interest in my involvement 12 6 10

I can cope with the thingsI’m asked to do

85 97 98

I feel things could be better organised 56 31 28

My help is not really needed 11 9 10The organisation has reasonable expectations in terms of workload

65 84 84

My efforts are appreciated 82 95 97I am given the opportunity to influence the development of the organisation

55 69 73

Base: 1,942 Varies 819-833 Varies 124-125

But who are the students...

?

Students, Volunteering and Community Action 1960-2000: A Witness Seminar

• 30% of students take part in volunteering that primarily benefits the wider community but do not receive any support from their university. In this report we call this the community-orientated volunteering rate.– Are more likely not to have moved away to university and less

likely to have a parent with a professional or managerial occupation

– Locality is the most significant factor here, indicating the importance of students volunteering in their home communities independent of university support. This may hint at such students having both a greater sense of connection to their local community as well as possessing greater knowledge of local volunteering opportunities and the confidence to get involved

– Are less likely to be motivated by opportunity or employability considerations, but score higher on the values dimension compared to other volunteers

Notions of community

Base: 3,083 (All valid responses to the Student Activities Survey)

Level of student participation HEI intervention

Co-curricular learning

Volunteering Service learning

The role of the university in all this...?

Personal connections Careers / SU HEAR Skills Award In curriculum

How do organisations find a way in?

Community Perspective

• Developing Cross-National Models for Studying the Impact of University-Community Partnerships - Of Toilets and Transformation (Randy Stoecker)• The same things that make higher education community engagement difficult

in the US seem to apply in the UK. First and foremost is getting faculty to support such activities.

• The term community-based research (or any of its derivative terms) was not used extensively in the UK, even when it was clear in projects like toilet mapping that CBR was being employed as a primary strategy;

• Conceptual frameworks for understanding community outcomes are often not developed to the depth that student outcomes have been (less so in professional programmes);

• In the most research intensive institutions there are tensions over what is considered worthy scholarship, with research defined by disciplinary questions taking precedence over practical questions and international research taking precedence over local research;

• Many community organisations don’t even consider faculty and students as possible resources when they need research or volunteer labour.

What’s in a name?

• “There is no one thing called service-learning...It consists of multiple, divergent and contradictory modes and is in need of a new generation of scholarship that critically examines gaps, limits and problematics of an incredibly complex practice”. (Dan Butin, 2010)

What is in a name?• In the UK the focus on public service is less single-

minded and tinged with a heavy dose of entrepreneurialism. Citizenship is not seen as a blanket term for inclusion and equality - in practice, it is experienced differently according to positioning within the social structure.

• Academic departments in the UK are likely to adopt a much more critical approach to citizenship than their American colleagues and to regard with suspicion any service-learning programmes which do not include critical engagement with the structural elements of inequality within which community groups are situated. (Hall et al. 2004)

What is in a name?

• There is evidence to suggest that for some the term ‘service’ may be untenable because of its connotations of a ‘welfare rather than rights based approach to development’ (Millican, 2007)

What is in a name?

• ‘Ongoing collaborative research, building on our gap analysis, and involving Australia, Columbia, Kenya, South Africa, the UK and USA has revealed that, whilst local contexts may differ in the emphasis given to community engagement, it remains a vital and contested concept in higher education across the globe..’ (Holdsworth and Quinn, 2010)

What’s in a name?

• Situating understandings?– Names, definitions;– Histories;– Structures;– Cultural, Social and

Political Contexts

• International perspectives– What do they tell us about

engagement...?– How do initiatives translate

across boundaries and what can we learn from cross-cultural explorations...?

– Where are the collaborative opportunities for research and learning...?

E: David.Owen@uwe.ac.ukW: www.publicengagement.ac.uk/

Short-hand ReferencesDan Butin (2010), Service-Learning in Theory and Practice;NCCPE (2010), Embedding Public Engagement in High Education: Issues and Actions;Brewis et al. (2010) Bursting the Bubble: Students, Volunteering and the CommunitySquirrell et al. (2009) Student Volunteering: Background, Policy and ContextCoBaLT (1999), REPORT OF SURVEY OF PRACTICE IN COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNINGSaltmarsh (1996) Education for critical citizenshipBrooks (2010) Notes from the ESRC/IVR/Birkbeck Public Policy SeminarBrewis (2010) 'From service to action'?: Students, volunteering and community action in mid-twentieth-century BritainHall et al. (2004) Student volunteering and the active community: issues and opportunities for teaching and learning in sociologyHoldsworth and Quinn (2010) Student volunteering in Higher EducationMillican, J. (2007) ‘Student Community Engagement – A model for the 21st century?’

Notes

The nature of the university

• Historical exploration of service learning naturally begins before concepts of service learning emerged, and instead has its roots in the founding purposes of universities themselves

• Watson (xx) identifies a number of waves in which universities were founded in relationship to the social and economic needs of the communities and societies that they were built to serve

– Specialist communities such as the late medieval colleges for poor scholars in England, urban professionals in continental Europe and the American colonial seminaries;

– Civic universities in industrialising societies such as the University of Berlin (1810), national universities founded by newly-created European states, the late-nineteenth century ‘civic’ universities in the UK, and the Land Grant universities of the American West and mid-West.

– Technical universities and colleges such as the English polytechnics and American state systems (of which the archetypes are Wisconsin and the Californian Master Plan).

– Open and distance universities such as the pioneering of open access, or admission of adults without formal qualification, by the UK’s Open University, New York’s City College and the Indira Ghandi National Open University.

– Higher Education provision Further/Continuing Education (dual sector provision) Such as the American Community College network, the provision of Higher National Certificates, Diplomas, Foundation degrees in FE.

Following the 60s

Student volunteering• 1970s saw continued critical

student movement and the emergence of support and infrastructure with aims to develop student community action in universities, polytechnics and colleges across England;

– By 1978 there were 100 groups, with staff support

• 1980s and 1990s funding and support for student volunteering infrastructure continues through various means and initiatives;

• 2000s launch of the Higher Education Active Community Fund

Community Based Learning• Evidence of the practice

continuing in pockets throughout 80s, 90s and 00s

• Sporadic conferences, events and research projects dedicated to exploration and mapping

• 2000s some developments funded by HEACF, but many although learning-linked were not core academic programmes