Engagement as Interconnectedness at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Graphic drawn from empirical research that depicts the interconnectedness of university engagement projects at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa. Interconnectedness describes the relationship (in tension) of academics engaging with those outside of the university while simultaneously linking back to the university. Interconnectedness is operationalised along two dimensions: (1) Articulation which describes the extent to which engagement activities link to the university's strategic objectives and to external constituents and (2) the academic core which describes the extent to which engagement activities link to the university's core functions of research and teaching and learning.
This research was part of the Centre for Higher Education Transformation's Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) project.