Exploring community relations in a university setting

Value Perceptions as Influences upon Engagement

“…Second, in-depth interviews with community members indicated enhanced beliefs about the value-added by the institution may result in increased engagement. These insights confirmed and enhanced the findings by Burkhardt and Merisotis (2006) and Kim et al (2006). Third, an examination of the nature of stakeholder beliefs uncovered a significant gap between what community members believed to be the value-added by the institution and what socioeconomic studies revealed to be the case.…”

“…Perhaps the most direct effort to study the relationship between beliefs and engagement was undertaken by Kim et al (2005Kim et al ( , 2006. They tested the following three hypotheses through a telephone survey:…”

“…(Kim et al 2006, pp. 191-192) Based on 403 completed surveys from randomly selected respondents aged 18 or older, Kim et al (2005) indeed found that residents who are "more aware of a university's local contributions are more likely to perceive a favorable relationship with the university" (2006, p. 192). They also concluded "respondents who perceived a more favorable relationship indicated greater willingness to support the university in a variety of ways" (p. 192).…”

Community support for campus approaches to sustainable energy use: The role of “town–gown” relationships

“…Other ways include inviting community members to campus events about sustainability or energy conservation, which can include having community members participate as speakers, or hosting events off campus at public libraries, science centers, or meeting halls. Lending support for such efforts are studies showing that building relationships with the community can lead to more favorable views of the university (Bruning et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2006).…”

Organizational Influences and Constraints on Community College Web-based Media Relations

“…As an economic and cultural core of local communities, the success of a college or university and its local community may depend on how effectively it maintains mutually beneficial relationships with its local community (Kim, Brunner, & Fitch-Hauser, 2006). Jaschik (2006), higher education editor for the Chronicle of Higher Education, maintains that in an era of 24=7 news cycles, public trust, accessibility, and accountability are key factors in garnering media coverage.…”