“University Social Responsibility in Asia”

Metropolitan Universities journal is pleased to partner with the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning on an upcoming issue, “University Social Responsibility in Asia.” This call for complete, full manuscripts is open to all authors who have experience developing, implementing, and/or measuring university social and economic responsibility initiatives.

About the Issue

Metropolitan Universities journal (MUJ) seeks to showcase how urban-identified colleges and universities in Asia are defining and pursuing their social and economic responsibility. This issue reflects the Journal’s commitment to providing an international forum for diverse institutional perspectives on the growing role of community engagement in higher education. We welcome evidence-based manuscripts that examine how higher education in Taiwan and across east Asia is being shaped by dynamic social, economic, political and demographic change that increases attention to university social responsibility. This issue seeks to identify the challenges and effective strategies related to developing and participating in global partnerships, cross-sector and inter-institutional collaboration, and initiatives that are meant to stimulate university intellectual engagement through social and economic development.

We welcome full manuscripts that provide critical, evidence-based studies on university social and economic responsibility initiatives, including programs, policies, and application of ideas at an institutional or system level. Authors should examine efforts that have been in place long enough to show both positive and/or negative results as measured through data collection, research and/or evaluation processes. To allow readers to apply ideas and strategies in other settings, authors should provide a clear description of the challenges and lessons learned. Papers that offer descriptions of social and economic responsibility initiatives without research or evaluation elements will not be accepted.

Focus Areas

  • Research-based evidence of impact of urban/metropolitan location and context on institutional mission and identity
  • Critical analysis of regional, national, local, and institution specific policies and evidence of their impact (positive or negative) on effectiveness of university social and economic responsibility
  • Research on diverse forms, structures, support, characteristics of collaborative academic-community partnerships, including those that operate across multiple sectors
  • Research on diverse models of Infrastructure and resourcing to support university social and economic responsibility
  • Comparative case studies regarding the forms of innovative initiatives and approaches to research and teaching that involve mutually-beneficial academic-community partnerships
  • Alignment of university social responsibility with other strategic priorities such as academic success, research, innovation, interdisciplinary efforts, budgeting, facilities, eco-system for service-learning etc.
  • Research on applied scholarship in service-learning and how/if service-learning practices and community-engaged research contribute to outcomes of university social responsibility initiatives
  • Evidence based inquiry of the impact  of social and economic responsibility activities   on traditional notions of university research, teaching, and decision-making

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

We invite submissions of full manuscripts in English by Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Submissions should be prepared in accordance with MUJ’s instruction for authors and should be no more than 7,000 words (exclusive of tables, references, etc.). Preference is given to those manuscripts that demonstrate innovation and impact and include perspectives across multiple institutions.

This issue is scheduled for publication in August 2019.

Please direct any questions regarding this issue to our editorial team:

About Metropolitan Universities journal

Metropolitan Universities journal (MUJ) is the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities’ quarterly online journal. Founded in 1990, the journal disseminates scholarship on cutting-edge topics impacting urban and metropolitan colleges and universities. It is a peer-reviewed, open access publication—which means that it employs traditional methods of evaluating manuscripts while ensuring that those accepted for publication are freely available to anyone interested in the issues and themes covered. MUJ’s readership includes those working to address issues facing modern universities and the communities they serve. Authors bring diverse institutional and professional perspectives to showcasing applications of theory and best practices to these issues.

About the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning

The 7th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning is hosted by Singapore University of Social Sciences with the support of the Service-Learning Asia Network. It will be held in Singapore from 19 to 21 June, 2019. The conference theme is Service-Learning: A Lifelong Journey of Social Responsibility

The deadline for submission of abstracts for the conference is 15 Feb, 2019 (Friday) (SGT, Singapore Standard Time) and notification of the abstract acceptance is 15 March, 2019 (Friday). The Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning (APRCSL) was established as a platform for education institutions and non-profit organization in the Asia-Pacific region to share knowledge and experiences in service-learning. It is a biennial conference started in 2007 and hosted in different countries.

In the face of increasing societal and environmental challenges, the need to influence and empower our youths to actively develop and act on their sense of social responsibility is ever pressing. In both academic and co-curricular applications, Service-Learning plays a critical role in tertiary institutions in educating and engaging our youths to develop the knowledge and skills (Head), attitudes and dispositions (Heart) to make life choices that are socially responsible (Habit), in their journey of growth to become leaders in society.

The 7th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning presents three complementary broad Conference Tracks for the sharing of best practices in promoting Service-Learning for a lifelong journey of social responsibility, including: 1)Applied Scholarship & Research for Service-Learning; 2) Service-Learning Pedagogy & Best Practices; 3) Service-Learning: An Ecosystem for Collaborative Good. For more information of the conference, please browse the website at https://www.suss.edu.sg/aprcsl2019