Formative experience in university social responsibility. The case of the University of Extremadura (Spain)

Social Responsibility is a key issue for all types of organizations and has begun to be implemented in Universities, being known as University Social Responsibility. These institutions must design their actions to improve in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions. And this will be approached from the four key processes: teaching, research, management, and projection to society. However, there is a first step that is consider fundamental: the need for adequate training in University Social Responsibility. In this sense, the aim of this study is to analyze a training experience developed in the Training Plan for Faculty, and Administration and Services Staff of the University of Extremadura (Spain). Following a descriptive and qualitative methodology, a sample of 104 people, who have participated in any of the editions of a training workshop on University Social Responsibility in the period 2014-2018, has been analyzed. As main results, we can highlight the very positive response to the course during all these years, the interest of the topic, and the involvement of all participants. They highlight the novelty of the topic, which has been attractive, interesting, and useful for their work at the University. They have also expressed their willingness to participate in various activities and contribute their ideas to the actions that the University will implement. It is concluded with the need to continue the University Social Responsibility training at the University of Extremadura (Spain), for the improvements that this can provide as an element of differentiation.