The University in the Context of Continuing Globalization

Abstract

As we have observed over the past five to six decades, the current period of contemporary globalization consists of an interrelated set of structures and dynamics that appears to function as a highly complex system for which outcomes are often problematic and unpredictable. This context of structural uncertainties is the environment within which the contemporary university exists and to which it must respond. This chapter outlines these structural elements of the global economy, points to a set of dynamics that powerfully affect higher education in general, and seeks to gain a better understanding of the role that crises play in this overall environment. From this basis, I then examine some of the probable elements of emergent future universities especially, as they seek to adapt to challenges from other social institutions to the performance of their historic functions.

Appendix

1.1 Characteristics of Learners

• 1. Increasing diversity and demographic shifts (racial/ethnic, economic, country of origin, age, disability, veteran, and so on)

• 2. Extended lifespan of learners (lifelong learning)

• 3. Increasing numbers of non-degree-seeking students

• 4. Greater student mobility from college to college

• 5. Academic readiness of students for college and university work

• 6. High technological affinity/dependency of students

• 7. Desire of students to have meaning and make a difference

• 8. Increasing numbers of working students (with implications for availability of time on task)

1.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Faculty

• 9. Unbundling traditional faculty roles of course design, instruction, grading, assessment, mentorship into separate discrete entities (e.g., the faculty member who teaches the course may not be the faculty member who designed the course)

• 10. Recasting instructors as guides of student learning

• 11. Increasing use of adjuncts, part-time, and contingent faculty

• 12. Shifting power relationships between students and teachers

• 13. Disruption of the traditional role of faculty as authority, content provider, distributor of knowledge

1.3 Methods of Instruction and the Learning Process

• 14. Increasing variety of instructional methods, including virtual, hybrid, blended, customizable, personalized, self-paced, and so on

• 15. Growth of cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional, and transnational teaching

• 16. Increasing knowledge of how people learn; advances in the neuroscience of learning

• 17. Incorporation of differential learning styles

• 18. Using research-based principles of learning in instruction (i.e., faculty members take into account students’ prior knowledge of the subject matter; actively involve students in learning through engaged interactions and discourse; challenge students to meet high expectations; provide opportunities for practice, feedback, and review; and help students generalize, apply, and transfer what they have learned)

• 19. Increasing use of collaborative, collective learning inside and outside the classroom

• 20. Incorporation of mobile learning and social media

1.4 Content and Focus of Instruction

• 21. Greening the curriculum (sustainability, environmental awareness, etc.)

• 22. Internationalizing the curriculum and addressing global issues

• 23. Expanding service learning and internships

• 24. Increasing the emphasis on civic responsibility and civic engagement

• 25. Promoting undergraduate research

• 26. Incorporating digital literacy (visual information, new media, digital production, programming)

• 27. Remixing, reusing, re-purposing information

1.5 Pressures on Higher Education

• 28. Demand for evidence-based outcomes of student learning

• 29. Demand for affordability

• 30. Demand for efficiency and cost control

• 31. Demand for portability of degrees and certificates

• 32. Public and politician/policymakers’ poor perception of higher education

• 33. Changes in federal regulations and federal reach into colleges and universities

• 34. Criticisms of the liberal arts

• 35. Growth of profit/non-profit arrangements between universities and businesses; mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, conversions

• 36. Movement of historically noneducational entities into offering degrees (hospitals, theater groups, think tanks, film production companies, publishers, global internet companies, etc.)

1.6 Frameworks in Higher Education

• 37. Do it yourself (DIY) models of education (creating own degree programs)

• 38. Massively open online courses (MOOCs)

• 39. Competency-based instruction

• 40. Partnerships with industry for workplace training and lifetime learning

• 41. Charter universities

1.7 Certification, Credentials, and Accreditation

• 42. Badges

• 43. Creating common definitions of a credential

• 44. Certifying prior learning (e.g., CAEL)

• 45. Integrating informal and formal learning within the accreditation process

• 46. Developing common standards across regions and common processes of accreditation

1.8 Policies and Metrics

• 47. Focus on productivity, return on investment, return on value

• 48. Focus on quality-of-life metrics

• 49. Assess impacts of private equity and for-profit education; review policies that govern partnering between non-profit and for-profit institutions

• 50. Shift more of the cost burden of higher education to business as education becomes more job market-oriented

• 51. Promote the public good (increased value of higher education to individuals and society)