University Social Responsibility: Conceptualization and an Assessment Framework

Abstract

This chapter presents a systematic review of the evolution and current status of the University Social Responsibility (USR) concept. USR advances that universities should go beyond the core functions of teaching, research, and service and voluntarily act beyond legal requirements to promote the public good and environmental sustainability. There is a growing recognition that USR should be integrated with university strategy and operation practices. Thus, we propose a Values, Process and Impact (VPI) conceptual model and formulate a USR performance assessment framework based on a stakeholder perspective. This assessment framework provides a methodology for constructing a USR index that would rate and benchmark universities, as well as promote USR as a management model. Further, the USR performance assessment framework can be utilized as a management tool to further universities’ USR efforts to achieve triple-bottom-line sustainability.