October 14, 2024 Journal article Open Access

Yohannes Workeaferahu Elifneh; Temesgen Abebaw Wonda; Yalew Alemayehu Abbay

DataCite XML Export

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<resource xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://datacite.org/schema/kernel-4" xsi:schemaLocation="http://datacite.org/schema/kernel-4 http://schema.datacite.org/meta/kernel-4.1/metadata.xsd">
  <identifier identifierType="DOI">10.20372/nadre:8424</identifier>
  <creators>
    <creator>
      <creatorName>Yohannes Workeaferahu Elifneh</creatorName>
    </creator>
    <creator>
      <creatorName>Temesgen Abebaw Wonda</creatorName>
      <affiliation>Woldia University</affiliation>
    </creator>
    <creator>
      <creatorName>Yalew Alemayehu Abbay</creatorName>
    </creator>
  </creators>
  <titles>
    <title>University social responsibility in times of crisis (COVID-19): lessons from public universities of an underdeveloped country</title>
  </titles>
  <publisher>Zenodo</publisher>
  <publicationYear>2024</publicationYear>
  <subjects>
    <subject>COVID-19; university  social responsibility;  stakeholders;  underdeveloped country;  universities; Ethiopia</subject>
  </subjects>
  <dates>
    <date dateType="Issued">2024-10-14</date>
  </dates>
  <resourceType resourceTypeGeneral="JournalArticle"/>
  <alternateIdentifiers>
    <alternateIdentifier alternateIdentifierType="url">https://nadre.ethernet.edu.et/record/8424</alternateIdentifier>
  </alternateIdentifiers>
  <relatedIdentifiers>
    <relatedIdentifier relatedIdentifierType="DOI" relationType="IsVersionOf">10.20372/nadre:8423</relatedIdentifier>
    <relatedIdentifier relatedIdentifierType="URL" relationType="IsPartOf">https://nadre.ethernet.edu.et/communities/wu</relatedIdentifier>
    <relatedIdentifier relatedIdentifierType="URL" relationType="IsPartOf">https://nadre.ethernet.edu.et/communities/zenodo</relatedIdentifier>
  </relatedIdentifiers>
  <rightsList>
    <rights rightsURI="http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by">Creative Commons Attribution</rights>
    <rights rightsURI="info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess">Open Access</rights>
  </rightsList>
  <descriptions>
    <description descriptionType="Abstract">&lt;p&gt;ABSTRACT&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As only little is known regarding University Social Responsibility (USR) in times of crisis from underdeveloped economies, this study explored the initiatives of four public universities in an underdeveloped country context to mitigate the COVID‑19 crisis by way of USR. A total of 70 interviews were conducted with the stakeholders of the universities. The study found out that the universities, indeed, managed to perform USR to their major stakeholders &amp;ndash; employees (e.g., protected wages and salaries; and provided flexible work schedules), students (e.g., monitoring social distancing; and free transportation of students to their hometowns due to the lockdown), and local community (e.g., provided meals and sanitizers for disadvantaged members; and offered quarantine facilities). Yet, the concerns/challenges encountered were not only numerous, but they were also alarming; ranging from poor infrastructure to a focus on PR (visibility) as well as to engaging in unnecessary competition among the universities and repetitive interventions. Thus, the universities might need to reinforce and hone their USR practices in times of crisis, and beyond by being agile, innovative, and cooperative. In addition to extending USR studies to less explored territories; this study provides empirical evidence regarding USR in times of crisis (in light of COVID‑19) by exhibiting lessons from public universities in an underdeveloped country context.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
  </descriptions>
</resource>