University Social Responsibilityand Organizational Factors for Their Implementation

Abstract

When the university initiates its activities as an academic and civic institution, it will have other upshots for the society, in addition to the goals set by policymakers. In a general view, social responsibility means the university's commitment to its existential philosophy and accountability for all its consequences. Therefore, the present study aimed to "Identify the social responsibilities of the university and the organizational factors of their realization". The perception and life experience of the specialists in the field of higher education were analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological method. Participants were Higher education experts and were selected purposefully. Using inferential content analysis, the themes and categories expressing social responsibilities as well as the organizational factors needed for their realization were extracted. The results show that the university's social responsibilities are a range of local and international expectations, most notably the development of a national culture of respect and commitment to the environment, the propagation of national and international peace culture, a commitment to poverty alleviation and Striving for social and economic justice. Also, the results of thestudy illustrate that organizational requirements for responding to university social responsibility, include: Reviewing the organizational structure of curriculum development, reforming the core missions of the university, recreation of the organizational culture of the university proportional to its social responsibilities.