Civic engagement, strategic, Institution, Higher Education, Community
This civic engagement plan was drafted by the University Civic and Community Engagement Committee, following extensive consultations with staff, students and community stakeholders. It is grounded in a benchmarking exercise, a review of international literature and best practices, and is informed by a selfassessment
of UCC’s engagement activity in
2016, which was supported by the Carnegie Foundation. A staff survey conducted in 2016 found that there was reasonable staff activity in the area of community engagement. However, staff cited barriers such as having insufficient time, a lack of recognition or valuing
of engagement, and engagement needing to be integral to the mission of the University. They further referred to a fragmented organisational approach and needing better communication and
information centrally. Recently Milward-Brown surveyed a representative sample of 400 people across the Munster region on behalf of UCC.
The results showed that public understanding of the societal engagement mission of the University is low compared to other factors; underscoring the importance of more intently demonstrating and communicating the value of our engagement work to the public.