Exploring the Surrounding Community’s View of Addis Ababa University: A Community Service Perspective

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the perspectives of the external community surrounding Addis Ababa University (AAU), recognizing that these stakeholders are directly or indirectly connected to the University’s services and outputs. Data were collected from three key informants through semi-structured interviews, one focus group discussion and two case studies. The sample was selected using purposive-opportunistic sampling and was drawn from the woredas of Arada and Gulele sub-cities. The findings of this Study show that the University students and staff are not strangers living in an ivory tower, completely disconnected from the community. The Study showed that communities living in the adjacent woreda of Arada and the Gulele sub-cities have a quite ambivalent/paradoxical perception of the University while they view members of the community as enablers of peace. They also tend to view the University as a contributor to the rise in deviance and crime. The community's view is intertwined with students' economic interactions with the local community, and the community's civic life (ranging from involvement in ordinary social life to economic interactions) and University community services shape the community's perception.