A major institutional deliverable of the ENHANCE-GSL Project
The University of Makeni has formally established a Community Engagement Unit as part of its institutional commitments and as a key deliverable of the ENHANCE-GSL Project. The new unit provides a permanent structure for the university to coordinate, promote, document, and institutionalize its engagement with communities. Its establishment marks an important transition from individual outreach activities to a university-wide system that aligns teaching, learning, research, and service with community priorities and national development.
The ENHANCE-GSL Project, titled Enhancing Capacities for Sustainable Community Engagement: Cases of Georgia and Sierra Leone have supported partner universities in strengthening the knowledge, structures, and resources required for sustainable engagement. At UNIMAK, the project has already contributed to staff development, student-led community activities, international knowledge exchange and the preparation of institutional instruments. The establishment of the Community Engagement Unit is one of the most significant outcomes of this work, as it provides an institutional home for the practices, partnerships, and lessons generated through the project.
Vice-Chancellor’s Order No. 01/2026 established the Unit, in accordance with the powers vested in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor under the University of Makeni Statutes. The Order also aligns the new structure with the Sierra Leone Tertiary Education Commission Quality Assurance Standards, particularly Standard 10 on Community Engagement. Through this action, the university recognizes community engagement not as an occasional or optional activity, but as a responsibility requiring leadership, coordination, standards, and accountability.
Under the establishment order, the Community Engagement Unit operates under the direct supervision of the Vice-Chancellor’s Office. It is integrated into the University’s administrative and academic structures as the central coordinating body for outreach, service-learning, civic engagement and stakeholder partnerships. This positioning gives the Unit access to institutional leadership and enables it to work across faculties, departments, directorates and student structures.
The Academic Senate reinforced this institutional commitment through Academic Senate Resolution No. AC/2026/07. After reviewing the proposal against the TEC Quality Assurance Framework, the UNIMAK Strategic Plan, national development priorities and international good practice, the Senate resolved that the Unit should become an official component of the University’s administrative and academic structure. The resolution also approved the CEU Handbook, operational procedures and guiding principles for implementation.
The Senate’s decision gives the Unit a university-wide mandate. Faculties, departments and directorates are expected to collaborate with the CEU to mainstream service-learning, applied research, civic engagement and outreach programmes. The Unit will report annually to the Governing Council via the Vice-Chancellor and the Directorate of Quality Assurance, ensuring that community engagement is integrated into the University’s regular planning, review and accountability processes.
The CEU builds on UNIMAK’s long tradition of service to society while introducing a more coordinated approach. Staff and students have always contributed to schools, health programmes, environmental initiatives, livelihoods and community development. However, individual departments or project teams have often organised activities. The new Unit will help the University map these activities, apply common standards, reduce duplication, strengthen partnerships, and demonstrate how engagement contributes to academic learning and social impact.
The Community Engagement Unit has been incorporated into the University’s organisational structure within the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, alongside major administrative and academic support functions. The updated structure provides for a Head of the Community Engagement Unit, Community Engagement Officers, a Research and Impact Assessment Officer, and an Administrative Assistant. This arrangement reflects the range of responsibilities required to support engagement across the institution.
The Head of the Unit will lead strategy, supervision, policy alignment and institutional representation. This office will guide the development of annual priorities, maintain relationships with senior management and represent UNIMAK in relevant community-engagement networks. The Head will also ensure that activities align with the University’s mission, national policy expectations and the ethical principles of reciprocity, respect and mutual benefit.
Community Engagement Officers will work directly with faculties, departments, students, and external partners. They will coordinate departmental outreach, facilitate student participation, and support field programs from planning through to completion. Their role will include helping academic staff identify opportunities for service-learning, preparing students for community placements, maintaining communication with partners, and ensuring that commitments to communities are honored.
The Research and Impact Assessment Officer will lead the unit’s evidence function. This officer will oversee data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting and support the integration of community-based research into the university’s wider research agenda. The position will help UNIMAK move beyond counting activities and participants by documenting student learning, partnership quality, community-defined outcomes, and the longer-term value of engagement.
The administrative assistant will support communication, documentation, scheduling, logistics, and archives. These responsibilities are essential, as sustainable engagement depends on reliable records, timely correspondence, and continuity when staff or partners change. The administrative function will also help maintain an institutional database of projects, partners, student involvement, reports, and agreed follow-up actions.
Although the CEU will coordinate engagement, it will not replace the responsibilities of faculties and departments. The preferred model is coordinated participation across the university. Academic units will continue to provide disciplinary expertise and supervise students, while the CEU will provide common guidance, systems, and partnership support. Key collaborating offices will include the Faculties and Academic Departments, the Directorate of Student Affairs, Public Relations and Communications, the Directorate of Research and Innovation, the UNIMAK Legal Office, and the Finance Office.
The creation of the Unit is closely linked to the practical learning generated through ENHANCE-GSL. Under the project, UNIMAK implemented student-led activities in literacy and learning support, health awareness and advocacy, sanitation and climate action, and entrepreneurship and skills development. These activities demonstrated the value of careful student preparation, consulting communities before acting, working with established local organizations, and reflecting on results. They also revealed the need for transport, supervision, ethical guidance, risk management, documentation, funding, and follow-up.
The CEU will preserve and apply these lessons. It will assist faculties in connecting suitable activities to course objectives and in structuring reflection and assessment so that community engagement strengthens students’ academic and professional formation. It will also promote community-based and applied research in which partners help define questions, contribute knowledge, and interpret findings. Through these functions, communities will be recognized as partners in knowledge creation rather than simply recipients of university services.
The operationalisation of the CEU has been communicated to staff, faculty members, students, and administrative units through an internal memorandum from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. The memorandum calls on all faculties, departments, directorates, and student bodies to cooperate with the Unit in planning, documenting, and reporting community-based initiatives. This collective responsibility is necessary if engagement is to become embedded across the university rather than confined to one office.
In practical terms, the Unit will coordinate UNIMAK’s community outreach, support service-learning and community-based research, promote student engagement and civic responsibility, and strengthen compliance with TEC quality-assurance standards. It will also serve as a point of contact for schools, health facilities, government agencies, civil-society organizations, businesses, faith communities, and other partners seeking to work with the university.
A major priority will be the development of clear partnership procedures. Community organizations need to know how to approach the university, what support can reasonably be offered, who is responsible for communication, and how concerns will be addressed. The CEU will help establish partnership agreements, ethical standards, risk procedures, and feedback mechanisms. These systems will protect students and community participants while improving trust and continuity.
The unit will also contribute to institutional planning and quality assurance. Its structure is to be reflected in the UNIMAK annual organogram, TEC quality-assurance submissions, internal policy manuals, and future updates of the University Strategic Plan. Annual reporting to the Academic Council will provide senior management with evidence on the number and type of initiatives, participating faculties, student learning, partner feedback, costs, outcomes, and areas requiring institutional action.
For the CEU to achieve its mandate, formal establishment must be followed by sustained institutional support. The Unit will require appointed personnel, an accessible office, reliable communication channels, an annual operating budget and cooperation from academic and administrative leaders. Staff workloads must recognise the time needed to build partnerships and supervise students. Successful engagement should also be considered in performance assessment, professional development and the recognition of academic contribution.
The establishment of the CEU is therefore both a project achievement and a commitment beyond the project. ENHANCE-GSL has provided momentum, capacity building, equipment, practical experience and international partnership. UNIMAK’s leadership has converted these project resources into a permanent university structure. This is an important step towards ensuring that community engagement continues after external funding ends and that the knowledge generated through the project remains available to future staff, students and partners.
The new Unit also strengthens UNIMAK’s identity as a socially responsive university. Community engagement allows students to test academic knowledge against real challenges, helps lecturers develop relevant teaching and research, and gives communities a stronger voice in the University’s public mission. When engagement is planned with communities, supported by professional standards and followed by reflection, it contributes to both academic quality and social transformation.
As the ENHANCE-GSL Project approaches completion, the Community Engagement Unit stands as one of its most significant institutional legacies at the University of Makeni. The Unit provides a framework for coordinating service, supporting reciprocal partnerships, documenting results and integrating engagement into university life. Its success will depend on the participation of the entire UNIMAK community and the continued trust of external partners. Through the CEU, the University renews its commitment to service, leadership and sustainable development in Sierra Leone.