engleski

What it means to be a social responsible university?

As institutions responsible for the creation and dissemination of knowledge, universities need to ensure that this knowledge is in line with the current needs and future requirements of the society. The knowledge they offer needs to correspond to both economic (preparing students for the labour market) and social (solving various social problems) development of their communities. Although universities have three mission, the third one, also known as civil mission, is very often neglected by many of them. For far too long universities believed that, since they are public institutions, they do not have to put more effort in building a stronger cooperation with their community and developing a stronger sense of social responsibility among their students. However, in order to become socially aware and responsible students need guidance and there is no better guidance than by setting an example. Universities that support sustainable economic and social development of their community prove to their environment that they too are entrepreneurial, proactive and more socially responsible. This paper gives an overview of the university social responsibility model (USR model) analysing two of the four core components of the model: social and educational impact. These two components are an essential part of entrepreneurial university that manifests social responsibility through its autonomy and its entrepreneurial culture. The USR model, presented in this paper, points out to the responsibility of universities to anticipate and recognize the needs of society. Universities must become a platform for exchange of ideas, experiences, resources and information and thus help young people to become active participants in creating positive social change. By applying the USR model on the example of J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, this paper provides an overview of what J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek University has and what it miss in order to be called socially responsible university.

economic and social development ; social responsible students ; university social responsibility

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