De-fragmenting the university

From time-to-time I check the Millennium Project website to see what Jim Duderstadt, former president of the University of Michigan,  is writing and talking about.  He is one of the most visionary and articulate leaders of higher education today, and you can count on finding a new set of thought-provoking articles whenever you check in. 

A recent article Fixing the Fragmented University: A View from the Bridge is simply excellent. Any attempt to summarize it does it (and the reader) a tremendous disservice.  Suffice it to say that in a few pages he describes the forces of fragmentation in the modern research university, and approaches that leadership can take to rein in those forces just the right amount, providing some focus and flexibility to meet change without stifling the intellectual ferment that under girds the institution.  He emphasizes the necessity of building approaches that build on the legacy of the particular institution.  Much of what he says is drawn from the experience at Michigan, but it applies beautifully to a broad range of institutions.