{"id":848,"date":"2005-03-26T23:34:26","date_gmt":"2005-03-27T03:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoreti.ca\/?p=848"},"modified":"2005-03-26T23:34:26","modified_gmt":"2005-03-27T03:34:26","slug":"fallis-the-mission-of-the-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/?p=848","title":{"rendered":"Fallis: The Mission of the University"},"content":{"rendered":"

A column in today’s The Globe and Mail<\/a> by John Fraser titled, “Universities need money, yes, but a social mission, too” (Saturday, March 26, 2005, Page F9) drew my attention to a longish submission to the Rae commission by George Fallis from York. Titled “The Mission of the University” this report is available on the COU Think Ontario \u00aa Resources \u00aa Documents<\/a> page. The report is a good overview of the history of the university, the uses and expectations of the university leading into the current mission of the Canadian university.
\n
\nHere are some quotes:<\/p>\n

Clark Kerr in his book, The Uses of the University, has famously written: \u00ecAbout
\neighty-five institutions in the Western world established by 1520 still exist in
\nrecognizable forms, with similar functions and unbroken histories, including the Catholic
\nchurch, the Parliaments of the Isle of Man, of Iceland, and of Great Britain, several Swiss
\ncantons, and seventy universities. Kings that rule, feudal lords with vassals, and guilds
\nwith monopolies are all gone. These seventy universities, however, are still in the same
\nlocations with some of the same buildings, with professors and students doing much the
\nsame things, and with governance carried on in much the same ways.\u00ee (p. 4)<\/p>\n

Thus, universities have a new mission, a mission because they are institutions of
\ndemocracy. Great universities should be judged not just by the quality of their research,
\nthe learning of their students, and the contributions and accomplishments of their
\ngraduates, but also by their service to democratic society as critic, conscience and public
\nintellectual and by their preparation of students for citizenship. (p. 52)<\/p>\n

Will the traditions of liberal learning survive? What should be the curriculum for
\nan undergraduate? What should be the interconnections between liberal learning, the
\nprofessions, and advanced research? Will the reliance on external fundraising destroy the
\ncommitment to disinterested inquiry? Will the multiversity remain committed to public
\nknowledge under pressures to commercialize its research? Can quality be maintained
\nwhen government support per student continues to decline? Can accessibility be
\nmaintained if tuition fees rise still further? These are questions facing Ontario and
\nposterity will judge us how they are answered.<\/p>\n

Many in the university are convinced that the ideas of our age will revolutionize
\nthe university, so radically changing its functions that the unbroken history will be
\nsevered. The modern university has a multitude of functions, often conflicting and always
\nwith shifting emphasis. If the tormenting worry had to be summarized in a single
\nsentence it would be: in post-industrial society of the twenty-first century, the economic
\nmission of the university will flourish and the democratic mission will wither. We must
\nnot allow this to happen. (p. 53)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A column in today’s The Globe and Mail by John Fraser titled, “Universities need money, yes, but a social mission, too” (Saturday, March 26, 2005, Page F9) drew my attention to a longish submission to the Rae commission by George Fallis from York. Titled “The Mission of the University” this report is available on the … Continue reading Fallis: The Mission of the University<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-and-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoreti.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}