Crisis on Campus_ A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities - Mark C. Taylor [57]
Implementing these changes will make it necessary to muster resources beyond the limited means of any individual college or university. In a world of limited financial resources and increasing need and demand, former competitors have to learn how to cooperate. Just as individual departments must begin collaborating with one another, so different colleges here and abroad must learn how to cooperate. But even this will not be enough—colleges and universities must also form partnerships with nonprofit cultural institutions, local, national and international governments and even for-profit businesses. The changes that will result from these relationships hold the prospect for significant educational advantages, if they are implemented responsibly and creatively and the money is available. The blueprint for moving ahead looks something like this:
Educational Partnerships
While local, state and federal government support has been critical for both public and private higher education in America, financial pressures are straining this system to the breaking point. During a time when advanced education is more important than ever, government at every level is less able to provide much-needed financial assistance. The recent fiscal crisis in California threatens to destroy one of the world’s most distinguished research university systems. The social, political and economic consequences of these developments will be felt far beyond the halls of academia as well as the state. No matter how dire the economic situation becomes, the future health and prosperity of the country will continue to depend on significant government support for research and teaching. With financial resources drying up in this country, universities and some colleges will be forced to turn to international sources for funding. In a global economy, there will be new investors in American higher education whose interests might not always coincide with the interests of those institutions. In some cases, the businessmen of education might seek to compete with colleges and universities, even when offering to cooperate. For example, a for-profit education company might partner with a university to provide online courses while at the same time developing other courses that would compete with the university’s offerings. Or a pharmaceutical company might support a professor’s research while independently developing competing products. In other cases, they might back research that profits their companies but does little to advance human knowledge or benefit educational institutions. These difficulties notwithstanding, it is possible to establish mutually beneficial partnerships.
Even these new sources of capital will not be sufficient to keep pace with increasing costs and declining income. Colleges and universities, therefore, are going to have to develop more creative strategies for cooperation at the local, national and international levels by forming partnerships with erstwhile competitors. These relationships should be established only if alliances allow colleges and universities to maintain or expand educational opportunities while lowering costs and increasing income. Continuing financial instability will make it impossible for institutions to do all things. In some cases, schools will be forced to concentrate their resources in limited areas and slash or even eliminate departments and divisions. While such policies are understandable, they have the undeniable effect of narrowing educational opportunities at the precise moment they should be expanding.
The only way to counter this tendency is through enhanced cooperation made possible by new media and communications technologies. In the past, cooperative arrangements