Abstract:

The field of social responsibility in higher education encompasses many themes. In this paper we focus on an explanatory model of the USR (University Social Responsibility), as antecedent of the perception of the quality of service, as well as student satisfaction, confirming its generalization to higher education.

Present study used a semi-structured, self-reported questionnaire, answered on an online platform, by students from the 1st and 2nd cycle of studies, covering different perceptions and visions of USR in the students of a Portuguese HEI (Higher Education Institution). Some sociodemographic control variables were also introduced. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling through PLS-SEM to test the proposed research model. We note that a positive overall perception of USR leads to higher quality of service and student satisfaction. In this way, results suggest the desirability of paying more attention to USR education in environmental and social values, research, internal management and external projection in a university, allowing the possibility of increasing student quality and satisfaction. In this respect, it may be concluded that the early attraction of students to the subject of the USR plays a significant role in their future professional initiatives.

Practical implications:
Competitiveness in HEIs is a fact, considered a new trend as a business area, SR (Social Responsibility) being an increasingly widespread phenomenon in the economic and political scenario (Doh & Guay, 2006). However, the application of SR in universities has deficiencies similar to those found in the business world, since there is no clear and specific consensus about their meaning and their concrete applications reflected in actions or strategies that allow them to achieve a socially responsible, unanimously accepted behaviour (Quezada, 2011). In recent years, the concept has gained prominence in the academic environment and in the management of HEIs, especially in the strategic management of these organizations, as well as in the creation of specialization and postgraduate programmes associated with this subject (Quezada, 2011).

Social Implications:
Quality standards integrate the social and environmental aspects of production and management processes: there is no "quality" without "responsibility" (Vallaeys, 2016).
Universities have also become a focus of attention in recent years, worrying about having a sustainable and/or responsible campus, publishing institutional reports on USR and trying to relate academic education and research with social participation that supports a more humane, inclusive and sustainable development model (Jongbloed, Enders, & Salerno, 2008; UNESCO, 2009).

What is original/value of paper:
The paper seeks to fill the gap of the nonexistence of studies that relate students' USR perception and perceived Quality in Portugal.

Keywords:

University social responsibility, service quality, student satisfaction.