This study examined the motives underpinning involvement in community engagement by academics. The broader context of the study is the idea of universities as actors for and contributors to the public good, especially through community engagement. Engaging with communities is associated with the historical social mandate of universities, and is generally framed as a way through which universities participate in addressing pressing social, economic, and moral challenges that confront communities and society at large. However, as illustrated in this study, university-community engagement is also being framed in ways which, though not necessarily antithetical to the pursuit of the public good, treat it as an occasional, peripheral, ‘add on’ activity, geared towards advancing the private interests and benefits of academics. The study illustrates this framing and practice using a case study of community engagement in an African university. The study highlights transactional forms of community engagement, which are at odds with its transformative potential with respect to the public good. We argue that for university-community engagement to become an effective mechanism for advancing the public good, there is a need for universities, and individual academics, to rethink the undergirding principles and values of community engagement and put in place the requisite institutional support to drive community engagement as an institutionalised practice, towards genuine engagement with communities.

这项研究检查了学者参与社区参与的动机。研究的更广泛的背景是大学作为公共利益的参与者和贡献者的想法，尤其是通过社区参与。与社区互动与大学的历史社会使命相关联，通常被设计为大学参与应对社区和整个社会面临的紧迫的社会，经济和道德挑战的一种方式。但是，如本研究所示，大学与社区的互动也以某种方式来构建，尽管不一定与追求公共利益相对，但将其视为一种偶然的，外围的，“附加”的活动，旨在推动公共利益的发展。私人利益和学者的利益。该研究使用非洲大学的社区参与案例研究说明了这种框架和实践。该研究强调了社区参与的交易形式，这与它在公共利益方面的变革潜力相矛盾。我们认为，要使大学与社区的参与成为促进公共利益的有效机制，就需要大学和个人学者重新思考社区参与的基本原理和价值观，并提供必要的机构支持来推动社区参与是一种制度化的做法，旨在与社区进行真正的接触。这与公共利益方面的变革潜力背道而驰。我们认为，要使大学与社区的参与成为促进公共利益的有效机制，就需要大学和个人学者重新思考社区参与的基本原理和价值观，并提供必要的机构支持来推动社区参与是一种制度化的做法，旨在与社区进行真正的接触。这与公共利益方面的变革潜力背道而驰。我们认为，要使大学与社区的参与成为促进公共利益的有效机制，就需要大学和个人学者重新思考社区参与的基本原理和价值观，并提供必要的机构支持来推动社区参与是一种制度化的做法，旨在与社区进行真正的接触。