Quality Assurance of Community Engagement in South African Higher Education Institutions: Problems and Prospects

ABSTRACT The quality assurance of community engagement was flagged as a major problem during the last cycle of audits of South African Higher Education Institutions (SAHEIs) by the Higher Education Quality Committee. Through the implementation of critical literature review methodology and comparing similarities and differences among SAHEIs in their reporting of their attempts at benchmarking, this article will present concrete proposals for a pathway to effective benchmarking of community engagement at SAHEIs. SAHEIs have looked at conceptual models to enable high-quality community engagement, but effective measuring tools have eluded their efforts. Through evaluating the critiques and recommendations of the Higher Education Quality Committee at all SAHEIs regarding community engagement as well as the responses thereto, this article will discuss the obstacles to developing quality assurance of community engagement and the prospects for overcoming them. Insights into key elements required in the benchmarking of community engagement will be drawn from the history of community engagement at SAHEIs from apartheid to democracy.