scholarly journals Integrated Social Value at Universities: A Guarantee for Public Subsidies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5975
Author(s):  
Núria Arimany-Serrat ◽  
Elisenda Tarrats-Pons

The objective of this work was to monetize the integrated social value generated by a university during an academic year to justify the use of public grants received and determine their relationship with the institution’s stakeholders. Monetization allows us to analyze the efficiency in the use of received subsidies. The methodology used herein was the polyhedral model, which was applied to a university during the 2017–2018 academic year in order to reflect the financial and social accounting of the institution, its relationship with stakeholders, and its efficiency in economic and social management. The results of the study highlighted the monetization of the activity of the UVic-UCC over the course of 2017–2018, guaranteeing the economic and social efficiency and dynamization of the University, as well as information regarding the return to the Public Administration by the institution and the good use of the grants it received. The monetization of economic transactions and the value variables of stakeholders allowed us to assess the impact of the institution and the added value it created. The findings indicated that the integrated social value of the UVic-UCC in the 2017–2018 academic year was EUR 64,268,260, and this guaranteed the good economic and social management of the institution and the good use of the grants it received.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Nasser S Al-Jahwari ◽  
Khaled A Douglas ◽  
Mohamed A Al-Belushi ◽  
Mohamed A Hesein ◽  
Suliman Zakria Suliman

Learning environment plays an important role in the quality of the learning process, particularly in teaching archaeology. Museum environment is among the active environments contributing to this process in which it enables students to acquire skills different from those they acquire in the traditional classroom. Museums generally consist of a variety of artefacts and material that are displayed to the public, preserved, maintained and studied. University museums have an additional function: they are used as spaces for teaching and training students at all levels, particularly in the field of archaeology. Students in the museum can deal with its collections, as well as educational programs offered by their professors. A university museum offers university students with materials suitable for the study and research. It has the ability to hold a variety of educational activities, and it stimulates students' interest and motivates them to think creatively. This studyassumes that studying archaeology courses within the university museum is more useful for students than teaching within the traditional classroom of the university. To test this hypothesis, the Department of Archaeology in the College of Arts and Social Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University and its archaeology museum were taken as a case study. A number of archaeological courses are taught within this museum, while other courses are taught in traditional classrooms. In order to determine the impact of teaching of archaeological courses in the University Archaeology Museum, a questionnaire was designed to measure the degree of such an effect. It was distributed to all students studying archaeology courses in the spring of the academic year 2019 in the Department of Archaeology. The results indicate that the majority of students believe that the courses they studied at the museum contributed significantly to increasing their academic achievement and understanding of their contents more than those they studied in the normal classroom. The study has suggested the importance of using the university museum as a teaching environment that motivates students. Such environment is an important interactive source of teaching and its development and quality.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 489-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Jovanovic-Srzentic ◽  
Ivana Rodic ◽  
Mirjana Knezevic

Background/Aim. Given that in each country students represent the most progressive population group, as of 2001, the Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia (BTIS) has been carrying the program of voluntary blood donation promotion and education of volunteers at the University of Belgrade (UB). In 2011, the BTIS intensified all activities at the UB. The aim of this study was to present activities performed from 2001 at the Blood Donors` Motivation Department (DMD) of the BTIS related with increasing the level of awareness on voluntary blood donation in the Belgrade students` population, enhancing their motivation to become voluntary blood donors (VBDs), increasing the number of blood donations at faculties of the UB, and increasing the number of blood donations in the UB students population compared with the total number of blood units collected by BTIS in Belgrade, with the emphasis on the year 2013. Methods. Initially, the applied methodology was based on encouraging students to donate blood through discussions and preparatory lectures, followed by organized blood drives. Appropriate selection of volunteers at each faculty was crucial. Besides their recognisable identity, they had to have remarkable communication skills and ability to positivly affect persons in their environment. The applied principle was based on retention of volunteers all through the final academic year, with the inclusion of new volunteers each year and 1,000 preparatory lectures on the annual basis. The activities were realized using two Facebook profiles, SMS messages and continuous notification of the public through the media. Results. There was an increase in the average number of students in blood drives at the faculties from 2011, when the average number of the students per blood drive was 39, followed by 43 in 2012 and 46 in 2013. The number of students who donated blood in 2013 increased by 21.3% compared with 2012 data. Conclusion. The applied concept highly contributed to generation and retention of future VBDs willing to regularly donate blood in the coming years, with a minimum risk of transmission of transfusion transmissible diseases markers.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Reza Houston

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study is an examination of the relationship between political connections and the undertaking of major firm events. In our first essay, presented in Chapter 3, we examine the impact politically connected appointments have on firm acquisition behavior. Using proxy statements, we create a unique database of politically connected bidders and merger targets. We find that bidders who hire connected individuals to the board or management team are more likely to avoid merger litigation. Connected bidders make more bids after the appointment. These firms also bid on larger targets. We determine there is a positive relation between the control premium and the relative of the target's connections. Connected acquirers have superior post-merger accounting performance, particularly when they acquire a connected target firm. In the second essay, presented in Chapter 4, we examine the relationship between political connections of private firms and the initial public offering process. Using registration statement information, we create a unique database of politically connected IPO firms. We find that political connections are substitutes to high-quality underwriters and big four auditors. Politically connected firms manage earnings more highly upward than non-connected firms prior to the public offering. Politically connected firms also exhibit less underpricing than non-connected firms. Politically connected IPO firms also have superior post-IPO returns relative to non-connected IPO firms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-71
Author(s):  
Mateja Vuk ◽  
Dalibor Doležal ◽  
Ena Jovanović

Minority threat theory and existing research show that public attitudes towards certain types of offenders (e.g. ethnic and racial minorities) are often more punitive. Research also reveals that a significant proportion of the public associates the increase of immigration with higher crime rates. Negative attitudes, as well as an overall anti-immigration sentiment, have been increasing internationally. Therefore, we hypothesise that the public will have more negative and punitive attitudes towards immigrant offenders than towards citizens. Using a sample of students from the University of Zagreb, this research tested the above-mentioned hypothesis and explored whether factors like immigration status, ethnic identity, type of offense, and the age of the hypothetical offender impact student attitude on immigrant crime. To test this proposition, we used online surveys with factorial vignettes. The results show that participants ask for harsher sentences for undocumented immigrants, but immigrant status and the national origin of the immigrant are not associated with the perception of recidivism, dangerousness, or criminal typicality of offender.


2012 ◽  
pp. 315-332
Author(s):  
Fatma Meawad ◽  
Geneen Stubbs

MobiGlam is a generic framework of interoperability with existing virtual learning environments (VLEs) that provides a compact and easy to use implementation of learning activity on Java enabled mobile devices. A case study was conducted at the University of Glamorgan, UK where MobiGlam was seamlessly integrated with the university’s VLE to support the delivery of computer courses at the foundation level. Such integration showed an added value to the participants and in many cases, it improved their use of the VLE. This chapter reports on the deployment, the evaluation, and the results of this case study. The results are analysed from two views: the impact on the participants’ use of the VLE and the framework’s overall usability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Alex Opoku ◽  
Peter Guthrie

Purpose The social housing sector is under increasing pressure to do more with less and provide value for money as part of the UK Government’s public debt reduction strategy. This study aims to explore the current practices towards unlocking social value in the housing sector through the adoption of the Social Value Act 2012. The Social Value Act seeks to ensure that public sector procurement deliver added value in terms of social, economic and environmental outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts quantitative research methodology through a survey with 100 housing professionals charged with the delivery of social value outcomes in the social housing sector in England. Findings The results of the study reveal that there is a low level of understanding of the Social Value Act 2012 among the professionals in the social housing sector. Once again, most organisations in the social housing sector do not have social value strategies or policies and rarely consider social value outcomes during procurement. However, employment skills and training and crime and antisocial behaviour reduction are the most social value priority outcomes/needs identified with organisations currently promoting social value in the social housing sector. Social implications The issue of social value has importance towards the wider society, and the study provides an insight into current practices towards the realisation of social value outcomes in the housing sector. Originality/value The Social Value Act 2012 came into force in January 2013, and little has been written on the impact of the Act on the social housing sector in England. This study identifies current practices in the social housing sector towards the delivery of social value outcomes in the day-to-day business operations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 239 ◽  
pp. 25001
Author(s):  
Cecilia Gustavsson ◽  
Erik Andersson-Sundén ◽  
Abigail Barker ◽  
Anders Hjalmarsson ◽  
Mattias Lantz ◽  
...  

A growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very fundamental level in science-making and ultimately decision-making. The presented project is curriculum-based and carried out in 240 lower secondary school classes (pupils of age 13-16). The task, as designed by the participating universities, is to collect mushrooms, soil and animal droppings from different parts of Sweden, do preliminary sample preparation and analyses and send the samples to the university institutions for radioactivity measurement. Behind the project is a desire to compare today’s levels of 137Cs with those deposited right after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but also to study the exchange of caesium between organisms as well as the impacts of biological and geological processes on uptake and retention. The scientific outcome is a geodatabase with the 137Cs activity (Bq/m2) present in the Swedish environment, where radioactivity data can be linked to the species (fungi, competing species, animals foraging), forest type, land type, land use and other environmental factors. The science question is of interest to the general public as foraging for mushrooms, as well as spending recreational time in forests is widely popular in Sweden. In this article, we will discuss the current status of the project and the observations we have made about how well the public can participate in scientific research. Focus will be on organization of the project, such as logistics, preparation of supportive material, feedback and communication between researchers and schools. We will present observations about the impact the project has had on the participants, based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations.


Author(s):  
Sami al-Akbar al-Dabbousi

This research aims at highlighting the entrepreneurship culture. The concepts of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture were discussed in theoretical terms. The advantages, disadvantages and risks of entrepreneurship as well as the characteristics of entrepreneurs were also presented. The practical aspect of this research was to study the entrepreneurship culture among students of the University of Tabuk during the academic year 2016/2017. The results showed that the students of the University of Tabuk are looking for job security in the public sector rather than personal initiatives and self-employment. The study also revealed a strong relationship between the student environment and the idea of ​​the project to be completed. The research also revealed a concentration at the level of the Tabuk region in the projects to be completed. As we have noted through the results of the study there is a tendency to individual projects and fear of partnership. A number of recommendations were proposed to support and promote the culture of entrepreneurship, most notably the recommendation to develop the entrepreneurship program at the University of Tabuk and the inclusion of the entrepreneurship course as an obligatory course in all disciplines offered at all colleges of the University of Tabuk.    


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (517) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
O. I. Laiko ◽  

The article is concerned with topical issues of the State regulation of public procurement in Ukraine in the context of reforms and integration processes. The conceptual principles of regulation of the public procurement system have been formulated, taking into account the requirements and challenges of modern processes of reforms of the national economy and the implementation of the European integration vector. The public procurement system is considered as a new institutional unit in the national economy – the market for goods and services to the State-owned institutions and organizations with the involvement of budgetary funds. The significance of the public procurement system for the country’s economy as an environment for financing and implementing entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at creating high-quality goods and services, which is characterized by volumes equal to 15% of GDP, is substantiated. The article is aimed at defining the theoretical-conceptual and applied principles of the State regulation of the public procurement system in Ukraine in the context of efficient implementation of reform goals and taking into account the impact and challenges from the active participation of the national economy in the international distribution of labor in the course of integration processes with the EU countries. The article defines the key directions of the State policy on the regulation of the public procurement system, which include: stimulating the economic development of the entrepreneurial sector and overall economic growth on the basis of sustainability and balance; support for the production of domestic goods and services with high added value; stimulation of production of goods and services using local resources; stimulating the creation by domestic producers of both goods and services of cooperation associations in order to use the opportunities for the distribution of labor to create more competitive products; supporting the formation of an economic basis for the development of territorial and economic entities in the regions of Ukraine. As for the above defined directions of the State regulation of the public procurement system in Ukraine, appropriate measures have been proposed, the implementation of which is expected to contribute to the strengthening of the national economy and does not contradict the provisions of ratified international agreements.


Redes ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 510
Author(s):  
Débora Nayar Hoff ◽  
Camila Amaral Pereira ◽  
Luis Gustavo Nascimento De Paula

Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é rever, a partir de seu confronto com a discussão internacional sobre o assunto, o modelo analítico proposto por Hoff, San Martin e Sopeña (2011) para a análise do impacto das universidades públicas no desenvolvimento regional. O modelo, originalmente, foi desenvolvido a partir de referências nacionais para o tema. Para tanto, utiliza-se a técnica de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. O referencial teórico estudado demonstra que o modelo analítico estabelecido com referências nacionais mostra-se correspondente à discussão apresentada pela literatura internacional sobre o tema. Destaca-se, no entanto, que a literatura internacional apresenta enfoque direcionado às relações com o ambiente externo à universidade, principalmente com o meio empresarial, fato não tão presente na literatura nacional. Conclui-se que a literatura internacional ratifica o modelo proposto por Hoff, San Martin e Sopeña (2011). Abstract The purpose of this article is to review, from its confrontation with the international discussion, the analytical model proposed by Hoff, San Martin and Sopeña (2011) to analyze the impact of public universities in regional development. The model originally was developed from national reference to the subject. Therefore using the bibliographic and documentary research technique. The studied theoretical framework shows that the analytical model established with national references is shown corresponding to the discussion presented in the international literature on the subject. Noteworthy, however, that the present international literature focusing mainly on relations with the external environment to the university, especially with the business community, which was not so present in the national literature. We conclude that the international literature confirms the model proposed by Hoff, San Martin and Sopeña (2011).


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