Indicators for the Evaluation of Public Engagement of Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The expression "third mission" is generally used to refer to universities’ direct and indirect contribution to society. Some authors maintain the idea that a relevant aspect of third mission concerns public engagement of universities. Relevance and visibility of institutions’ as well as scholars’ public engagement is connected with the possibility of accounting for it. The debate about the evaluation of teaching and research is quite advanced and so are assessment instruments and techniques (although far from producing generalized consensus). Confrontation on the assessment of public engagement lags behind, although some significant advancements exist. The paper presents and discusses possible indicators for the evaluation of public engagement of universities, on the basis of comparison between three reports that were chosen after analysis of both mainstream publishing and grey literature. Indicators for institutional public engagement proposed by those three reports are subsumed under a common framework which encompasses them within six domains, such as: mission, governance and overarching institutionalized strategies for public engagement; research; student engagement and educational outreach; dissemination; accessibility and use of facilities; community partnerships, stakeholders’ relations and participation in external activities. Conclusions identify a shortlist of indicators based on validity and feasibility. Some integration will also be proposed in the light of critical aspects pointed out in discussion.