The Development of American Higher Education

The Development of American Higher Education

2006

In contemporary context , there are two factors that determine the further development of American higher education - technology and leadership . Now information technology is having great impact on the university . It has modified its fundamental activities of education scholarship , and service to society quite significantly . Digital technology has created new channels of communication throughout the university and with the broader society through mechanisms such as electronic mail , chat rooms , and Web site conferences that largely bypass traditional administrative arrangement and external relationships . Technology

is also transforming the manner in which information concerning the university , its people , and its activities is gathered , stored , and utilized . From the critical perspective , the future of American higher education to the major degree depends on how leadership can effectively manage evolving informational technology in educational settings

Just as the university is challenged in adapting to new forms of teaching and research enabled by rapidly evolving information technology , so , too , its organization , governance , management , and its relationships to students , faculty , and staff will require serious reevaluation and almost certain change . For instance , the new tools of scholarship and scholarly communication are eroding conventional disciplinary boundaries and extending the intellectual span , interests and activities of faculty far beyond traditional organizational units such as departments , schools , or campuses . This is particularly the case with younger faculty members whose interests and activities frequently cannot be characterized by traditional disciplinary terms

Beyond driving a restructuring of the intellectual disciplines information technology is likely to force a significant disaggregation of the university on both the horizontal (e .g , academic disciplines and vertical (e .g , student services ) scales . Faculty activity and even loyalty are increasingly associated with intellectual communities that extend across multiple institutions , frequently on a global scale . New providers are emerging that can far better handle many traditional university services , ranging from student housing , testing , and evaluation to facilities management and health care . Colleges and universities will increasingly face the question of whether they should continue their full complement of activities or outsource some functions to lower-cost and higher-quality providers , relying on new paradigms such as e-business and knowledge management

It has become increasingly important that university planning and decision making not only take account of technological developments and challenges but also draw upon the expertise of people with technological expertise . Yet all too often , university leaders , governing boards , and even faculties ignore the rapid evolution of this technology , treating it more as science fiction than as representing serious institutional challenges and opportunities . To a degree this is not surprising , since in the early stages , new technologies sometimes look decidedly inferior to long-standing practices . For example , few would regard the current generation of computer-mediated distance learning programs as providing the socialization function associated with undergraduate education in a residential campus environment . Yet there have been countless instances of technologies , from personal computers to the Internet that were characterized by technology learning curves far steeper than conventional practices . Such disruptive technologies ' have demonstrated the capacity...