Developing general guidelines and tools for documenting merits from external engagement - A practical approach

The Swedish higher education sector is in a phase in which the importance of external engagement for quality in research and education at universities has gradually become clearer. This development is also visible at European as well as global level. It is therefore relevant to assess and value the work that takes place at universities within the framework of external engagement and to support a diversification of academic competencies and careers.

The work presented has to a large extent taken place within the national project “MerSam-Meritvärde av samverkansskicklighet” (https://www.hb.se/en/collaboration/mersam/ ) involving 14 Swedish universities, during 2019-2020. The overall objective of the project has been to develop knowledge, policy and practice for assessment of merits from external engagement with the long-term objective to develop a common understanding and framework on a national level. The project method has been exploratory combining both individual and organisational perspectives in order to develop good practice and to stimulate a national dialogue on the need of a more structured and harmonised approach when assessing merits from external engagement. One of the project objectives was to develop and piloting a practical guide for academic staff on how to document and assess merits from external engagement using a flexible yet a systematic and structured approach. The guide includes tools that supports the identification of a diverse set of competencies related to external engagement, dissemination, innovation in relation to the task of collaboration as stated in the Swedish Higher Education Act as well as activities in research and education. Any national initiative needs however to harmonise with a global academic context. The guidelines and tools developed in this work are anticipated to be in line with and relevant for initiatives taking place within open science on the international arena.