University Social Responsibility – Good Practices of Polish Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

All organizations, including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), should be socially responsible. Therefore, the article aims to answer the following research questions: How are the principles of social responsibility implemented by Polish HEIs? Through what good practices are they manifested? What formal national regulations support these activities? To answer those questions, the principles of the Declaration of University Social Responsibility and of good practices implemented by 23 universities, the first signatories of this Declaration, were reviewed. The applied research method has incorporated the analysis of the literature on the subject, documents and websites of the above 23 universities. The study presents the essence of university social responsibility and the special role of universities in promoting and implementing the principles of sustainable development and social responsibility. The activities of the Polish public administration in partnership with the representatives of HEIs, businesses, NGOs which led to the creation of the Declaration of USR were outlined. Examples of good practices applied by the examined universities and the ensuing conclusions were briefly discussed.