Universities and social responsibility -- an afterthought?

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak
Learning Curve : Perspective
New Sunday Times - 12-06-2011

THE topic of university social responsibilities is being scrutinised again. This time, the issue comes under the auspices of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) during the 2nd Asia-Europe Education Workshop themed Knowledge Societies: Universities and Social Responsibilities.

Hosted by the University of Innsbruck in Tirol, Austria, the two-day discussions were intense and introspective. While unanimously acknowledging that social responsibilities are crucial, the issues are wide and varied, not least on the fundamentals of what, why and, of course, how.

The tendency is to conveniently draw a close parallel between university social responsibility and corporate social responsibility (CSR), although the latter has several unsettled, controversial concerns that could easily put higher educational institutions in a bind.

As mainly non-profit institutions, universities are well differentiated from companies which survive on the maximisation of profit. Therefore, going full steam ahead in this regard is against the ethos of education.

It also seems to indicate the inability of universities to shape their role as society-orientated institutions.

In many ways, CSR is an afterthought made popular some three decades ago. It is an acknowledgement that firms have failed in their duty to create a positive impact on the public sphere.

The fact that CSR has to be spelt out is a good indication that without it, the so-called "voluntary practice to eliminate harm in the public sphere" will not be on the agenda.

While the clichéd "planet, people, and profit" has often been used to describe what CSR is about, "profit" remains the overriding concern.

It is still about returning "favours" to the community after reaping a handsome profit from it, at times in the most exploitative ways.

Often what is returned to society is a mere token to "oil the wheels" for uninterrupted gains to the corporation (read shareholders) for the indefinite future. In this sense, the allegation that CSR is no more than window dressing has some truth in it.

For example, it is hardly surprisingly that tobacco companies also claim to be socially responsible. It is even more remarkable when such firms are awarded CSR recognition!

Given that the university, in general, has a vastly distinct origin and mission as an institution of the community, by the community and for the community, the institutional perspective of social responsibilities accorded to it must be markedly different too!

In fact, a tertiary institution nurtures a community of scholars who become the conscience of the larger community, which makes universities inherently responsible to society -- and not as an afterthought or to entertain the notion of CSR.

The argument that students in particular are a "product" of a university -- in the way factories make products -- is shallow and "lazy". It denies the fact that the university has always been socially responsible except lately, when its worldview has been largely skewed towards the marketplace.

And now it looks as though universities are no longer able to identify themselves with the community except to emulate the role model adopted by the marketplace in the context of CSR.

Universities are more akin to a civil society which emphasises "voluntary social relationships, civic and social organisations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society". This is distinct from government-backed structures of organisations such as the state and market. In other words, a university ensures that the public is protected from any vested interests -- political and commercial.

Like a civil society, a higher education institution must also embrace "a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power", making social responsibilities a core activity.

As suggested by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, a tertiary institution deals with "the arena, outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests". There is no better place for this then a university which is conscious of its social obligations.

But for this to happen, we first need to create a vibrant community inherently committed to its welfare as part of its mission.

* The writer is the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia. He can be contacted at vc@usm.my