Civic role of universities: strengthening students' civic agency

In research on civic role of universities, Klemenčič has  focused mostly on education function preparing students for citizenship and civic engagement. Klemenčič argues that to develop students' civic agency and dispositions for active citizenship and civic involvement two measures are needed. One is to build-in these topics and create connections to real-world problems in examples as part of the existing course offer when possible (as opposed to offering civics courses). Another is for universities and colleges to behave as sites of citizenship and civic involvement. Through practices of student representation in decision-making and offering opportunities to students for public service on campus, colleges and universities enable student university citizenship. Through representative and service roles students not only learn how to enact their civic agency, but by doing so their sense of belonging to the home institution and their sense of ownership of their institution strenghten. Both are important for student wellbeing and well-functioning as students. 

Relevant publications:

2020  Valuing the civic role of university education in an age of competition and rapid change. International Association of Universities (IUA) (co-authored with Pedro Teixteira)

2016  How to develop a sense of belonging, University World News (global), 26 February 2016 Issue No: 402

2016   Interview: “On students' university citizenship”. Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies (Moscow) No. 1, 2016, pp. 10-17, National research University Higher School of Economics, Russia (Interview by Ekaterina Bagdasarova)

2013   Bildung zur demokratischen Bürgergesellschaftlichkeit im Hochschulstudium. In HEUCHEMER, S., KLAMMER, U. (eds.) Kompendium für Diversity Management in Studium und Lehre (Band 1). Zentrum für Kompetenzentwicklung für Diversity Management in Studium und Lehre (KomDim) (pp.137-165), Fachhochschule Köln, Universitätet Duisburg-Essen

2011   The public role of higher education and student participation in higher education governance. In: BRENNAN, J., SHAH, T. (eds.). Higher education and society in changing times: looking back and looking forward (pp. 74-83). London: Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, CHERI

2010  Bildung zur demokratischen Bürgergesellschaftlichkeit im Hochschulstudium. In Benz, W., Kohler, J. and Landfried, K. (eds.) Handbuch Qualität in Studium und Lehre (pp. 1-28). Berlin: RAABE Academic Publishers

2010  Higher Education for Democratic Citizenship. In Froment, Eric; Kohler, Jürgen, Purser, Lewis, and Wilson, Lesley (eds.) EUA Bologna Handbook. Making Bologna Work (pp. 1-26). Berlin: RAABE Academic Publishers

2010  Converging competences: diversity, higher education, and sustainable democracy. In Sjur Bergan and Radu Damian (eds.) Higher education for modern societies: competences and values (pp. 153-167). Strasbourg. Council of Europe Publishing Council of Europe Higher Education Series No. 15