University Social Responsibility Strategies

As the social responsibility notion developed, it caught the interest of not only businesses but also other organizations, including universities. The project described in the article aimed at researching how higher education institutions develop their social responsibility strategies. The desk research carried out covered the analysis of GRI database entries where the universities’ social responsibility and sustainable development reports are stored as well as the analysis of selected reports and universities’ websites. The two main findings of that research are: the growing social responsibility of the universities has been proved, and a vast diversity of the strategies applied was observed. As a result, seven models of creating the university strategy have been identified and described in the paper. In conclusion, we must stress that there are no universal standards regarding the placement of the strategy in the university general development plans, neither its scope, the process of creation nor the way it is communicated.