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The need for social and academic responsibility advisor (SARA): a catalyst toward the sustainability of educational institutes

Issam Kouatli (Department of Information Technology and Operations Management, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon)

Social Responsibility Journal

ISSN: 1747-1117

Article publication date: 30 October 2019

Issue publication date: 20 October 2020

209

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate elements of socio-academic-related sustainability in educational institutes and propose a structure of an advising system that can aid the most critical stakeholders in such educational institutes, i.e the student. Hence, after reviewing the contemporary University Social Responsibility (USR) Venn diagram, the paper focuses on the need to develop a social and academic responsibility advisor (SARA) system as a catalyst toward fulfilling social responsibility to the most important stakeholder and alternatively leads to enhanced sustainability of such educational institutes.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of research methods used in this paper, defined as by identifying the need for SARA from a literature survey. By distributing a questionnaire to students investigating their desire of an academic advisor system and by establishing a focus group to study the academic and social aspects and its implications to students’ “quality of life” as an essential aspect toward the educational institutes' sustainability. Various issues related to the features of the SARA discussed.

Findings

Literature review shows only a few articles combine both aspects of advising activities (social and academic), most of which are not interrelated to the sustainability of educational institutes. This paper highlights the need and connectivity of SARA to contemporary USR sustainability. The descriptive statistics of the questionnaire showed about 86 per cent of student participants interested in applying the proposed features. The outcome of the focus group resulted in more detailed features of academic and social aspects of the expected SARA system.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed features of SARA described where the inter-related social and academic activities could be managed, logged and used by students. The proposed “heterogeneous study group” was investigated by observation implemented in four different courses in two different semesters. The result was not conclusive, and further study recommended. Even though this experimentation was not conclusive, the lesson learned from this study highlighted different issues associated with “study groups” within a course.

Practical implications

Applicability of SARA would enhance the quality of life of students in general and provide a mechanism to motivate low aptitude students to get engaged with study and projects with high-aptitude students.

Social implications

Avoiding the “feel” of isolation by some students due to the inability to find study partner who can also act as mentor to a study group. The proposed “Heterogeneous study group” would provide a mechanism for “Practiced student-to-student Social responsibility”.

Originality/value

The paper highlights and proves the need for SARA in contemporary USR where SARA can act as a catalyst for enhancing the socio-academic zone of the reviewed USR Venn diagram. Features of SARA identified as an outcome of the study in this paper. Proposal of “Heterogeneous Study Group” was proposed as mechanism of “social learning”. “Group health” testing was proposed as a criteria resulted from a balance between collaboration, social affinity and project effort.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the support of the focus group in the discussion of features of SARA during the development of this study. In specific, would like to thank the academic advisors: Jordan Srour, Abbas Tarhini, and Dunia Harajli; the social advisors: Lina Abou Chacra, Riman Jurdak, and Amal Daouk; and the students: Essa Hmaidan and Carla Al-Ahmar.

Citation

Kouatli, I. (2020), "The need for social and academic responsibility advisor (SARA): a catalyst toward the sustainability of educational institutes", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 16 No. 8, pp. 1275-1291. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-04-2019-0151

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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