Abstract:

The process of developing appropriate community engagement (CE) approaches in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is difficult due to obscure information on how several stakeholders perceive and to what degree they need it. This study seeks to establish an assessment of HEIs Stakeholders’ perceptions and needs of CE to justify its impact on communities. As a result, it will advance a framework for developing innovative CE approaches that are suitable for HEIs. The study is enlightened by communities of practice (CoP) concept which explains how people engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human behavior, how these members engage in joint activities and discussion, help each other and share information for the benefit all members and institutions involved. Empirical data using a survey was obtained from three categories of HEIs’ stakeholders namely; dairy farmers, University students and academic staff of Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) in Uganda. Through one-way ANOVA the empirical findings revealed that the dairy farmers, students, and academic staff perceived CE in HEIs differently. As a model for CE, dairy farmers mostly benefit from the support and knowledge delivered by MMU. Despite the benefits and opportunities associated, there are significant challenges in relation to creating structures, time for engagement, communication and adequate flow of information as identified by stakeholders. This study, therefore, recommends further research on how HEIs stakeholders’ needs can be addressed through the CE activities to create a significant impact in communities.

Keywords:

Higher Education Institutions, Community engagement, Stakeholders, community development.