News and Events

2012 Review of the University Community and Regional Engagement

The University has been conducting a Review of The University Community and Regional Engagement in response to a number of imperatives.  From an institutional perspective, the review enables the University to evaluate the effectiveness of current strategy and practice in this area, and in particular the quality of collaborations with local and regional stakeholders.  The review also provides a basis for considering how best to position the future strategic direction for community and regional engagement to most effectively contribute to the social, economic, environmental and cultural development of Greater Western Sydney (GWS).

The review is also an opportunity to address specific observations about UWS  engagement which were made in the 2011 Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) review.  The AUQA Panel identified what it saw as a need for greater consistency in terminology and in the procedures used to develop and maintain community engagement activities. The AUQA feedback suggested the University should renew the institutional consensus around the meaning and application of concepts such as ‘community engagement’, ‘engaged learning’ and ‘engaged research’.  This feedback is instructive in respect of current practice, and is also important in the context of the previous (2005) Review of Community Engagement, which inter alia developed the definition and language of UWS community engagement, emphasising the concepts of mutual benefit, knowledge exchange and partnership.

Findings and recommendations coming from the Review will inform the new Community Engagement Strategy for the next 5 years.

2012 EngageLab: Celebrating our community and regional engagement success!

On Friday 15th June the University held its first EngageLab Forum to showcase, discuss and celebrate the vast range of community and regional engagement activities the University conducts.  The Forum provided an opportunity for project coordinators and academics to discuss their engagement activities in the areas of Engaged Research, Engaged Learning, The Student Experience and Civic Engagement.  The presentations were followed by discussion and critique of current models of University-community engagement and future strategies to strengthen our practice.

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