Open Networked Learning (ONL) is a collaborative open online course for higher education educators worldwide, focusing on open education, collaborative learning, and course design. The interorganizational course welcomes both institutional and open learners from around 30 nations. Delivered 17 times since 2014 with up to 120 participants in each…

Community engagement has evolved as a respected field and now occupies a seat at the academic table. In the past, this work had often been relegated to the institutional fringes of higher education, its practitioners marginalized, and the work often portrayed as service, not scholarly. Today, higher education community engagement is a dynamic and…

The essay briefly outlines the history of community engagement at DePaul University in order to explore how and why universities and colleges are increasingly adopting data collections systems for tracking community engagement. I explore the question of why there is a growing interest in tracking engagement within the academy and suggest that…

This article explores how on-the-ground Extension educators interface with higher education service-learning. Most service-learning in Extension has focused on precollege youth and 4-H. When we look at higher education service-learning and Extension in Wisconsin, we see that there is not as much connection as might be expected. County-based…

The premise of this article is that the "jury is still out" to describe what effective Community Engagement entails in South African higher education institutions. The current discussions about community engagement and service learning do not cover the primary objective of adding value to the community, particularly of the rural-based…

Local, state, and national economies are facing unprecedented levels of international competition. The current fiscal crisis has hampered the ability of many governments in the developed world to directly facilitate economic growth. At the same time, many governments in the developing world are investing significant new resources into local…

The Canada-Asia Partnership used participatory action research to promote participation of marginalized communities in development. It was hampered by the positivist research model dominating academic institutions and lack of clarity and consensus among stakeholders. (SK)

This study attempts to provide a better understanding of the role of institutions of higher learning in national development planning in Thailand, and further attempts to provide some answers to the question of the involvement of the university in development planning in the regions as a whole. Emphasis is placed on the historical background,…

America's universities are facing unprecedented scrutiny and criticism. As pressure for institutional change has mounted, universities have taken steps to more effectively respond to the needs of their stakeholders. All of these activities are part of a broad movement to develop new and productive connections between the university and its…

The last two decades have witnessed a sudden upsurge of new institutions of higher learning in countries of Southeast Asia, and most of these institutions are located in nonmetropolitan areas. What is the nature and function of these metropolitan or regional universities? How do they relate to the metropolitan universities? What role can they play…

Universities influence local economies by generating gross real goods and services from institutional expenditures and personal expenditures of staff, students and visitors. A simple minimum cost methodology for determining the extent of the economic impact of a university on its local economy is described and illustrated. Local income, jobs, and…

Discusses the concept of community as it applies to the college campus, focusing on community as a place to be, identifying implications for space utilization; a way of being, offering suggestions for community development; and both a place to be and a way of being, examining the implications for creating community interactions through campus…

The work of universities in developing countries is reviewed. Closer links between the school and university systems are recommended with a view to improving teacher education, the creation of school curricula more relevant to current needs, and flexibility in relation to admission to postsecondary education. (Author/MLW)

Community development offers universities unique opportunities for collaboration with communities and enhanced opportunities for residents. Colleges and universities should think in terms of developing ongoing, not short-term, programs and concern themselves with the entrepreneurial aspects of program development. Similarly, communities should…

The relationship between universities and society in Africa is examined. A framework to encompass the desired aims of both the university and society and the relationships between them is formulated. Implications for the structure, content and operation of the university in Africa are indicated. (Author/MLW)