1. Research Goals and Methods

❚ Research Goals

￮ Regional universities are set to actively contribute to regional development by leading in education and research, promoting local industries, and tackling regional challenges through collaboration with industry. Significant budget investments are being made locally, necessitating a thorough evaluation of regional universities' impact on local communities. 

￮ This study aimed to review the roles of regional universities in facilitating sustainable regional development from multifaceted perspectives and accordingly measure and analyze their contribution to local communities. The research outcomes of this study can serve as fundamental data for monitoring the university roles specified in the regional development plan. 

❚ Research Methods

￮ Targeting 200 Jeonbuk State residents and using a structured questionnaire, we conducted an online survey on the functions and roles of universities researched in previous studies. Through the survey, we gauged residents’ perceptions and evaluations of regional universities’ locations, roles, and community activities and examined key policy areas of focus. 

￮ Additionally, we conducted an expert survey to categorize university contributions by sector and establish evaluation criteria for measuring these contributions. To accommodate the opinions of prospective regional  university students, we also employed the analytical hierarchy process, targeting 22 officials from universities, local governments, and regional industries, and derived sector-specific weights and priorities pertaining to the university’s influence on regional sustainable development.      

2. Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

❚ Conclusions

￮ The proposed diagnostic model for analyzing regional contribution made by universities consisted of five sectors: cultivating talent for loca residency, reinforcing university-industry-research-local government collaboration, promoting innovation in vocational and lifelong education, addressing regional challenges, and creating local jobs and income. 

￮ The analysis of sector-specific combined weights and priorities identified the top seven performance categories: 1) cultivating talent tailored to industry-academic cooperation and regional demand, 2) promoting collaboration among industry, university, research, and local government, 3) attracting new residents through employment, 4) establishing infrastructure for industry-academia-research-local government collaboration, 5) operating entrepreneurship programs and providing startup support, 6) developing and offering lifelong and vocational  education programs tailored to regional industries, and 7) creating jobs for local residents.

❚ Policy Recommendations

￮ First, fostering regional universities to accelerate regional development necessitates sustainable and effective promotion policies through which the region’s 20 universities are designated as research-focused universities, vocational education-focused universities, or universities for regional cooperation based on their competencies and specialties. 

￮ Second, the performance evaluation of university support projects from local governments must be centered on their contributions to local communities. This study’s evaluation criteria for assessing universities’ contributions to local communities will provide insights into the impact of regional universities on community development through support projects and the creation of a positive social cycle.

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