Community Service in Saudi Arabian Universities: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This paper presents acomparative analysis of community service activities offered by highereducation institutions in Saudi Arabia. The objectives included evaluating thecurrent status of community service activities in Saudi Arabian universities,identifying the main challenges, and suggesting strategies for improvement. Themethodology consisted of several tools, including literature survey, benchmarking,questionnaires, and focus group meetings. Community service definitions andactivities were surveyed in several countries. A benchmarking comparison wasmade between community service programs in 10 major Saudi universities and 20top American universities. The comparisons showed that Saudi universities lagbehind top U.S. and international universities in terms of community service. Aset of strategies and initiatives were proposed to guide and activate the communityservice function in Saudi higher education institutions.