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Fourie, L.M. Jonker, Hélanie 10071474 - Fourie, Lynnette Mitizi (Supervisor) 2017-08-22T09:08:27Z 2017-08-22T09:08:27Z 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/10394/25406 PhD (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2017 Higher education institutions are required by law to participate in community engagement projects. However, the nature of community engagement is not clearly stipulated, which leads to some confusion regarding community engagement in this sector. The North-West University is no exception in this regard; and their policy on community engagement was only approved in November 2016. In this study it was argued that communication in community engagement would fall in the subject field of communication for social change. Following this argument it is evident that community engagement communication should adhere to the principles of the participatory approach to development communication, which is seen as the normative approach in the field of communication for social change. However, it is acknowledged that community engagement in the higher education sector environment is more complex than small-scale social change projects. It would therefore be an over-simplification to merely assume that the principles of the participatory approach could be applied to this context without adapting them. It is against this background that this study investigated what a conceptual framework for community engagement at the NWU (Potchefstroom Campus), based on the principles of the participatory approach to communication for social change, and would look like. From the literature study it followed that participation, dialogue, empowerment that leads to self-reliance, as well as the acknowledgement of the importance of the social context would serve as theoretical point of departure for the study. To determine the context of the community engagement at the NWU, policy documents were analysed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the directors of community engagement at the Institutional Office of the NWU, as well as on the Potchefstroom Campus. It was evident from this analysis that there was not participatory communication between management, the community engagement office and staff of the NWU. On the other hand semi-structured interviews with the project leaders of the Holding Hands Project and the ECD Training Project, as well as focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews with the community members who are part of these engagement projects, revealed that both parties perceived their communication as predominantly participatory. Against this background this study proposes a framework based on participation, dialogue, empowerment to self-reliance and sensitivity to the social context, but taking the complex bureaucratic nature of a higher education institution into account. Thus a conceptual framework for community engagement projects at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) is necessary to include all aspects of communication. Aspects of communication include the uninterrupted, repeated, interpreting and reinterpreting of logical discussion of opinions, based on morally sound communication practices. The framework should include participatory collective processes between participants, where the community control the communication with the staff of the NWU (Potchefstroom Campus) and the possibility for self-reliance and sustainability exists. From the research it was evident that the staff of the NWU (Potchefstroom Campus) perceive the communication challenges in the policy formulation and implementation of community engagement quite challenging as there is a lack of capacity, a lack of resources, and negative attitudes, as well as different interpretations and little (if any) policy regulation of community engagement. It was found that project leaders of the Holding Hands Project and the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Training Project perceive the process of communication between them and the community members as mostly open and participatory. Shared interest in social issues is a definite motivation for the building of partnerships and opening communication between participants. The community members of the Holding Hands Project and the ECD Training Project perceived the process of communication between them and the NWU (Potchefstroom Campus), as very positive as there is open, intentional, participatory communication between them that lead to the building of trusting relationships, where there is a recognition of the importance of the social context and where an empowerment process can possibly lead to self-reliance and sustainable community engagement projects Doctoral en North-West University (South Africa) , Potchefstroom Campus Communication strategy Community engagement Higher education Participation Participatory communication for social change Participation and collaboration Social responsibility Holding Hands project Early childhood development training project North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) A conceptual framework for community engagement at the North- West University (Potchefstroom Campus) : a participatory approach to communication for sustainable social change Thesis open.access