Changing Higher Education

Metrics of Academic Excellence for the 21st Century

What metrics of excellence will society use in determining the quality of research universities in the 21st century?  Will they be the same as those used to define the great universities of the 20th century? That is the question I addressed in a piece I wrote as input for our 2004 strategic planning process. It is  called Change and the Research University.

What has offshoring got to do with research universities?

Globalization is a fact of life for almost every large sector of the world economy. How this globalization will affect higher education is an ongoing theme of these blogs. One very visible component of globalization has been the outsourcing and offshoring movement. One generally thinks of this as a way to cut costs, and as such, this seems like a movement unrelated to the research and teaching missions of the university. However, a very interesting new book by John Hagel III and John Seely Brown, The Only Sustainable Edge, presents a different take on outsourcing and offshoring that could well have major implications for the way universities think about globalization.

Welcome to the Market-State

From time to time, I will bring to your attention some book that has greatly influenced my thinking about the future of research universities. One of these is The Shield of Achilles, by Philip Bobbitt, Knopf, 2002.   In the interests of full disclosure, I must state that Philip came to speak several times to the planning group drafting our 2004 Plan.

Bobbitt is the A. W Walker Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law at the University of Texas. He has also held academic positions at Oxford(history) and King's College (nuclear strategy), and served in several senior positions on the National Security Council. He brings this breadth of experience to bear in this book on a deep analysis of the evolution of constitutional order - the compact between the governors and the governed - from the early 1400's into the present.

Bobbitt is among those who believe that the constitutional arrangement called the nation-state is dying . The social compact of the nation-state, in Bobbitt's terms, calls for the state having as mission the improvement of the welfare of its people, and being accorded in return the ability to call on its citizens for sacrifice to preserve the state. Modern technologies, demographics, and markets have made this compact increasingly difficult to sustain, however. For example, States can no longer control their currencies, their economies, their borders, or their cultures. This does not signal the end of the State, however, but rather that a new constitutional order will appear - in fact, is already appearing.

From time to time, I will bring to your attention some book that has greatly influenced my thinking about the future of research universities. One of these is The Shield of Achilles, by Philip Bobbitt, Knopf, 2002.   In the interests of full disclosure, I must state that Philip came to speak several times to the planning group drafting our 2004 Plan.

Bobbitt is the A. W Walker Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law at the University of Texas. He has also held academic positions at Oxford(history) and King's College (nuclear strategy), and served in several senior positions on the National Security Council. He brings this breadth of experience to bear in this book on a deep analysis of the evolution of constitutional order - the compact between the governors and the governed - from the early 1400's into the present.

Bobbitt is among those who believe that the constitutional arrangement called the nation-state is dying . The social compact of the nation-state, in Bobbitt's terms, calls for the state having as mission the improvement of the welfare of its people, and being accorded in return the ability to call on its citizens for sacrifice to preserve the state. Modern technologies, demographics, and markets have made this compact increasingly difficult to sustain, however. For example, States can no longer control their currencies, their economies, their borders, or their cultures. This does not signal the end of the State, however, but rather that a new constitutional order will appear - in fact, is already appearing.

For Profit and/or Non Profit future?

How do views on the future of higher education held by for-profit and non-profit universities differ? What aspirations do they hold in common, and where do their differences lie? Where do for-profits have an advantage over the non-profits?

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss some of these and other issues with Douglas Becker, Chairman and CEO of Laureate Education, Inc. as part of our joint presentation of the 2004 Earl V. Pullias lecture at USC.  The title of our presentation was Higher Education and the Global Marketplace: Entrepreneurial Activity in a Dynamic Environment.

 

How do views on the future of higher education held by for-profit and non-profit universities differ? What aspirations do they hold in common, and where do their differences lie? Where do for-profits have an advantage over the non-profits?

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss some of these and other issues with Douglas Becker, Chairman and CEO of Laureate Education, Inc. as part of our joint presentation of the 2004 Earl V. Pullias lecture at USC.  The title of our presentation was Higher Education and the Global Marketplace: Entrepreneurial Activity in a Dynamic Environment.

 

NAS report on change in the university

A recent report of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that major changes will occur in the relatively near future in almost every aspect of the university.  The Fall 2005 issue of Issues in Science and Technology  contains a very thought-provoking article Envisioning a Transformed University that summarizes conclusions arising from a series of discussions held with university administrators around the country. These meetings were sponsored by the NAS Forum on Information Technology and Research Universities. The authors of the report,  J.J. Duderstadt, Wm.A. Wulf, and R. Zemsky,  describe a number of changes in universities that new technologies are likely to produce in the relatively near future. They issue a strong warning against underestimating the magnitude and impact of the changes that technology will enable.

My comments regarding this report were solicited by the editors of Issues in Science and Technology (along with those of several others), and can be found in the Winter 2006 issue.

“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds"

John Maynard Keynes

 

The world is changing rapidly, driven by powerful forces such as economics, politics, demographics, religion and technology.  We have seen enormous increases in globalization over the past few decades that have transformed how we do business, how we live, and how our governments function. 

American universities have been affected only marginally by these powerful forces thus far, but it is difficult to imagine that they will not be changed in significant, perhaps radical, ways  over the next few decades.  This website is dedicated to discussion and analysis of the forces coming to bear on higher education, and of ways in which higher education might proactively and effectively use these forces to increase its impact.

“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds"

John Maynard Keynes

 

The world is changing rapidly, driven by powerful forces such as economics, politics, demographics, religion and technology.  We have seen enormous increases in globalization over the past few decades that have transformed how we do business, how we live, and how our governments function. 

American universities have been affected only marginally by these powerful forces thus far, but it is difficult to imagine that they will not be changed in significant, perhaps radical, ways  over the next few decades.  This website is dedicated to discussion and analysis of the forces coming to bear on higher education, and of ways in which higher education might proactively and effectively use these forces to increase its impact.

“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds"

John Maynard Keynes

 

The world is changing rapidly, driven by powerful forces such as economics, politics, demographics, religion and technology.  We have seen enormous increases in globalization over the past few decades that have transformed how we do business, how we live, and how our governments function. 

American universities have been affected only marginally by these powerful forces thus far, but it is difficult to imagine that they will not be changed in significant, perhaps radical, ways  over the next few decades.  This website is dedicated to discussion and analysis of the forces coming to bear on higher education, and of ways in which higher education might proactively and effectively use these forces to increase its impact.

The World in 2020

Higher education will be increasingly changed by powerful global forces.  The National Intelligence Council  (NIC) has recently released a very interesting report describing their view of the forces at work in the world, and some possible futures for the year 2020.  The NIC is a center of strategic thinking within the US government, reporting to the Director of National Intelligence.  I  recommend that you look at Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project.

Among its many findings, the report predicts that globalization will be "a force so ubiquitous that it will substantially shape all the other major trends in the world of 2020".  It is likely that China and India - as well as a few smaller states - will emerge economically and politically as major global players.   Both China and India are well positioned to become global technology leaders, and adoption of new technologies will be the key to maximizing the benefits of globalization. By 2020, China probably will have the world's second largest economy, and Asia will have displaced the West as the engine of international economic dynamism. Political Islam will continue to increase in global impact.  Insecurity on all fronts- political, economic, and cultural - will be globally pervasive, and there will be no abatement of the factors that feed international terrorism.