Some say
colleges and universities should do more to prepare students for specific jobs.
Others feel higher education should continue its traditional role in developing
intellectual, analytical, and critical thinking.
There are
still others, such as the new president of Robert Morris University in
Pennsylvania, who believe both functions are important. In an opinion piece for
The Washington Post, Christopher B.
Howard stressed that institutions need to ensure “students graduate with skills
relevant for today’s workforce and an education that prepares them for an
increasingly complex and unpredictable world.”
Howard
doesn’t see universities morphing into trade schools, but does acknowledge that
more need to partner with corporations to make sure classroom instruction
remains relevant to current business needs and also to provide real-world
experience to students.
A panel of
speakers at the International Seminar on Innovation in Higher Education, held
in Mexico in September, concurred with Howard’s view. “We do both,” agreed
Richard Legon, president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities
and Colleges in the U.S., in a report for University World News. “We prepare citizens for the future, and we prepare folks who
have the capacity to think and learn and add value on the job.”
Legon said
it’s the responsibility of college and university governing boards, because
their members are not part of academia, to promote the value of higher
education and also to encourage more innovation on higher-ed campuses.
