Measuring impact and contributions of South African universities in communities: The case of the North-West University

ABSTRACT

Using the North-West University (NWU) as a case study, this article argues for and demonstrates the value of empirically assessing the impact of universities on their communities. A cross-sectional survey design (n = 984) was used to investigate the NWUs impact on three different communities, as well as to empirically assess the needs of these communities. Results suggest that community-based projects and services, work-integrated learning activities, and, to a lesser extent, the quantity and quality of a university's graduate students, as well as initiatives such as science and engineering weeks, open days, sports weeks, and botanical gardens likely represent the most powerful and viable avenues for universities to achieve impact in their communities, especially when such endeavours are specifically tailored to community needs. The findings also suggest that universities’ outputs do not necessarily equate with or guarantee impact, and that impact is optimised when outreach activities are based on the actual needs of communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Community development
• community engagement
• impact of South African universities
• measuring impact
• transformation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The term ‘community’ signifies a social grouping of society involved in an interaction at any given moment. Community refers to groups of people united by a common location, or to groups of people that are linked intellectually, professionally, and/or politically; that is, geographic communities, communities of interest, and communities of practice. This broad definition allows universities to focus on marginalised groupings in society whilst at the same time including other community formations and their activities (NWU, 2015a).