Public-Mindedness: University Social Engagement with Societies Sustainable Development of Quality of Life and Volunteer Work
Keywords:
Public-mindedness, Volunteer work, University social engagement, Development of quality of lifeAbstract
This research study aimed to 1. explore the public-mindedness and volunteer work in communities and organize ten projects to solve problems in the communities, 2. integrate the bodies of knowledge, concepts, and theories of Public Administration from volunteer students and key persons, and 3. connect students’ and key persons’ public-mindedness and volunteer work with the four main missions of the university. This study used a Community Action Research (CAR) model to build a learning community and it was part of the courses: Project Evaluation, and Management Innovation. The subjects in the project were 150 students majoring in Public Administration from Suratthani Rajabhat University and Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus, and two key informants joined this research study from 2017 to 2019 in the communities of Makham Tia Sub-district and Khun Thale Sub-district, Surat Thani Province. Subsequently, community-based projects were established to solve the problems of the communities, followed by the implementation and evaluation of the projects (before, during and after). A lessons-learned session from the projects was conducted to connect the concepts of Public Administration, with the data from the in-depth interviews with key persons. Finally, the data was analyzed and synthesized using content analysis in relation to the three objectives of this study under the four missions of university social engagement.
The results revealed that 1. each community has different problems, most of which are fundamental problems such as waste, environment, quality of life, and health, 2. PDCA, POCCC, and system theory are popular techniques used in the project management in the communities, and 3. the management of all these projects promoted the participation of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. The researchers gained an opportunity to practice various skills to nurture the I-WISE graduate identity and to pave the way for the achievement of the university social engagement for the development of quality of life and sustainable volunteer work that echoes the claim and aspiration of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla, that "Our Soul is for the Benefit of Mankind".
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