“Community engagement provides the opportunities to put our commitments into practice and to
exemplify our values through deeds and action.”
Dr Saleem Badat
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY/PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMAT
For Students Organisation Community Engagement Initiatives
1. Introduction
Community Engagement is a core function of Rhodes University and all other higher education institutions
in South Africa. The role of the Community Engagement Directorate at RU is to harness the abundant and
well intentioned enthusiasm and energy of (some) staff and students in such a way that we do make a
difference to the lives of others by giving due consideration to our intended activity/project and its
consequences. Therefore, we need to make sure that our initiative or intent to serve others is well planned
with clear objectives and coordinated so that we avoid duplication of activities and address real issues to
make a difference to ourselves and others. We need to always remember that in helping others who are
vulnerable and in need and in sharing knowledge and skills we also learn about ourselves as human beings,
expand on our existing knowledge and construct new knowledge. The benefits of community engagement, if
conducted according to community development principles such as participation, sustainability and learning
is a two process-the students and staff of RU and community members gain from the initiative.
2. Purpose
This proposal format serves the following purposes:
i) To assist us (RU students/staff) to think about the community engagement
activity/project that is intended in a focused, planned and systematic manner
ii) To assist us to work within the framework of excellence in CE as contained in the Community
Engagement Student Handbook
iii) To assist the Community Engagement Directorate to coordinate all community engagement
activities/programmes undertaken at Rhodes University
iv) To enable the Community Engagement Directorate to maintain a data base of or record community
engagement activities implemented by RU staff and students
v) To assist the Community Engagement Directorate to monitor and evaluate community engagement
activities at RU and for RU to assess its contribution to the development of local communities
through community engagement interventions
The proposal format is intended to provide preparatory guidance by asking such questions as: What do we
hope to achieve from this initiative? Who is our intended community partner? How are we going to include
our community partners in the planning of the activity? How is the activity going to be developmental and
sustainable? What resources will we need and how are we going to obtain them? What is our time frame for
the activity?
The termination stage needs to be very clear in our plans and how are we going to measure the impact. If the
activity/project will need mentoring after implementation how is this going to happen? As students you will
also need to reflect on your experiential learning from interacting with a local community and being
involved in community development. These need to be well documented so that other students may be able
to learn from your community engagement experience.
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1. Profile of Students’ Organisation
Contact Details
2. Project Details
Briefly describe proposed community engagement activity/event:
Target Group/Community and its physical location:
How was the target group identified and why (Reason/s for choosing Target Group/Community)
Reason/s for Activity/project/event
Objectives of the activity/project/event: (Objectives need to be simple, measurable with a clear time frame)
3. Process to be followed to achieve objectives (from initiation):
4. Resources required for Activity/Project/Event: examples of resources are transport,
equipment, people and finance
Resources required
How will resource be
obtained
Who will be responsible
for resource
]
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5.
Budget
Estimated budget:
Item
Cost
6. Funding of the Activity/Project/Event:
How will the activity/project/event be funded?
Financial Accountability:
Who is responsible for the finances and financial reports?
.
7.
Delegation of Tasks (in line with the process to be followed)
Name
8.
Task/Duty
Date by when to achieve
Monitoring
How will the activity/project be monitored?
9. Evaluation
How are you going to measure the impact of the activity/project and assess that the objectives have been
achieved? If mentoring is needed, how do you intend to provide for this?
10.
Target Group/Community Participation in and Sustainability of the
activity/project
How are you going to include the target group/ community in the activity/project from the initial stage?
How will the community engagement activity be sustainable?
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NB:
1. Documentation of the CE activity/project is important
2. Discuss any training needs in relation to the activity/project with the RUCE Co-ordinators
3. Even if the activity is a one day event or donation, we need to evaluate it so that we may learn from
the mistakes and others may also learn from what was well done. If it is a donation, we need to
monitor it for few weeks to make sure the donation is implemented according to the need.
4. RUCE is available to assist you by way of guidance through the activity/project/event.
Date Submitted to RUCE office:
Contact details for RUCE
Director
Di Hornby
D.Hornby@ru.ac.za
046 – 603 7229
Co-ordinators
Vuyani Zondani
V.Zondani@ru.ac.za
046 – 603 7227
Julie Lothian
J.Lothian@ru.ac.za
046 – 603 7229
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SUMMARY OF THE GUIDELINES TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT RHODES
UNIVERSITY
 It is important for students to note that the people we work with are from different socioeconomic backgrounds and they are individuals with thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences
and that they are not just “subjects” or “objects” of a community engagement project. Different
world views needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore it is important to try to put our own
beliefs to one side temporarily and put ourselves “in the place of the other”, i.e. try to imagine
what it must be like to view the world from the perspective of the people we work with.
 When participating in community development one needs to be aware of the power dynamics
that can take place. Power is established by who controls what form and direction the
community engagement should take, why it is implemented, how it is implemented, and the
outcome of the engagement. Every person involved in a community engagement project is the
locus of different types of power.
 When initiating a community engagement project, we should remember the principle of working
“with” community partners and not “for” them.
 The principles of participation, ownership, learning and sustainability which are the foundations
of the community development process should be incorporated in the initiation stage of a CE
activity/project.
 Community Engagement should not be seen as a one-way process. Rather it is a reciprocal two
way learning process. For example, staff and students bring to the process their academic
knowledge (to be tested in reality) and resources, while the community members bring “access
to and understanding of people, traditions, and culture of the community”. The Learning Action
Reflection (LAR) framework for community engagement to be implemented in 2010 is intended
to benefit students learning process and self development.
 We need to look for common goals and interests. This means listening carefully and actively to
the ideas and voice of others.
 There should be no coercion from project initiators on community members or staff and
students to participate. In general, if someone does not wish to participate in a project this must
be respected.
 Co-ordination of CE activities/projects is essential if we want to make a real difference to the
communities we engage with as an institution. Therefore, the co-ordination of all CE
activities/projects by the Community Engagement Unit is necessary to avoid duplication of
projects, address gaps, make a positive impact and be able to assess the impact of CE
activities by Rhodes University staff and students.
 Annual reporting on all community engagement activities will be required by means of an
internal and external monitoring and evaluation system to be implemented during 2010.
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