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ERIC Number: EJ1412652
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0729-4360
EISSN: EISSN-1469-8366
The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts: A Case Study of the Nexuses between Teaching, Research and Service
Evelyn Muthama; Sioux McKenna
Higher Education Research and Development, v43 n1 p211-226 2024
Universities attend to multiple demands, making it challenging to identify their particular academic project, which can be defined as how the university understands its key purposes and develops its organisation and activities in service of such. While the three pillars of higher education -- teaching, research, and service -- are cited as being core to the modern university, it is the nexus between them that provides the particular institutional identity and purpose. While nexuses exist in every university, the form such nexuses take varies considerably across university types, geographical contexts, student bodies, and programmes. We investigate the nature of the nexuses in one South African university through an analysis of observations, interviews, documents, and a survey. The study suggests that several mechanisms strengthen the nexuses of this university, including geographical positioning, institutional history and an explicitly articulated set of values. It cautions however that the nexuses can be constrained by other mechanisms at play. We argue that there is need for reflecting on and strengthening nexuses within universities in the interests of clarifying the specific academic project. Without this, universities can be swayed in any direction and can lose sight of the identity they would like to claim for themselves.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A