Speeches

The Engaged University: Our Partnership with Society

The other day, I received an e-mail from a parent who wanted to know what we had been teaching her son at Penn State. She asked the question because her son was leaving his dirty laundry on the floor and refused to do the dishes or clean up after himself. In general, she said, he had become what is commonly referred to as a slob.

Now, I don't recall this young man's major, but I'm sure that housekeeping is not on our list of offerings. I'm also sure this student would have been mortified if he knew his mother had written to the president about his untidiness. I don't really think this student's mother wanted us to offer a curriculum that covered bed making, dishwashing or dusting. What this parent was trying to tell me was that she believed it was my institution's job to teach her child responsibility. And her expectations are not that unusual.

People want us to not only educate their children, but to teach them self-management and help them develop a sense of maturity. They want institutions of higher education to impart knowledge, expand minds and provide students with the skills -- particularly the technology skills -- that will make them successful. In a recent report, 87 percent of Americans said they believed that a college education has become as important as a high school diploma used to be. College is now seen as the ticket to middle-class America, to a certain standard of living and a good job.1

In another study by the American Council on Education, a full 94 percent of respondents said that the "right education and training" was an important factor in individual success.

The general public has a pretty tall order in store for higher education, and in the past, we have delivered well on our promise to educate the citizenry, while producing some of the world's finest research and technology. In fact, about 60 percent of the basic research done in the United States today comes from our universities. Our research has led to better heart-assist devices, more productive agricultural lands, new sources of fuel and the discovery of new planets, to name just a few. We are the engines of discovery for our nation and have worked diligently to solve some of the most pressing problems facing society.

By all measures, we have been successful in our missions of teaching, learning and service, but we are facing an era of unprecedented and rapid change. We must confront not only demographic changes and increasing competition, but economic, political and technological transformations as well, if we are to continue to be successful.

All of this should come as no surprise to those in this room. Academia has survived for thousands of years because of its ability to constantly renew itself. The fact that you are here -- exploring the possibilities of becoming a truly engaged institution -- means that higher education is eager to change and respond to the emerging needs of the communities it serves. It means we are renewing our promise of serving the public.

Confronting Change

Readjusting our vision for the 21st century will require not only changes in action, but a shift in thinking. There are times in higher education that we may have felt we were facing some pretty tough odds, but we have been adept at finding a different approach to turn what first appears to be a no-win situation into a positive force for change.

The Kellogg Commission

I know many of you in this room are familiar with the work of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Colleges. The Kellogg Commission, which I was privileged to chair, is a group of 24 university presidents and chancellors from a variety of institutions across the United States that came together over a four-year period to study the issues affecting higher education. Determined not to "sugar-coat" the problems, the commission concluded that higher education institutions needed to reaffirm their mission to advance the common good.

In other words, we must become more engaged.

The work of the Kellogg Commission offers a model that transforms our historic mission of teaching, research and service into a forward-looking agenda of learning, discovery and engagement in keeping with the changes that now characterize our global society.

It is the belief of the Kellogg Commission that successful universities will be those that are intimately connected to their communities and responsive to society's needs, not only locally, but nationally and globally as well. Today, we must consider the world as our community and it is imperative that we work to integrate a global and engaged perspective into everything we endeavor.

The Context for Change

As I mentioned earlier, many forces are converging to cause this extraordinary and fast-paced change in American higher education. Changes in technology, demographics, competition and legislative expectations are all altering the way we operate. One very recent indication of the intense scrutiny we now face can be seen in a report titled "Measuring Up 2000," which was issued by the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education. This 188-page state-by-state report card on higher education was developed to give elected officials, the higher education community and the American public a way to assess higher education's performance. The report, which was dominated by Cs, pegged most states as average in the undergraduate education arena and everyone got an "incomplete" in the area of student learning. The report is expected to be used in future discussions by legislators in many states and it is only the first in a series of report cards that will emerge. The call for accountability is heating up. Our institutions find themselves in a changing marketplace with changes in the traditional beliefs about higher education that include broad attacks on everything from tenure to increasing tuition to faculty workloads to the role of research to the place of affirmative action.

At the same time, competition among universities and other agencies for use of state tax dollars is becoming more intense. In Pennsylvania, for example, tuition has replaced state support as the primary source of funding for state-related universities. While this phenomenon is more pronounced in Pennsylvania, virtually every state has seen a similar trend. Last year, more than half of the 50 states allocated fewer new dollars for college operations and student aid than they did in the previous year. When inflation is taken into account, the increase was only 2.4 percent, excluding the state of California, which increased its spending significantly. This year, analysts are predicting that higher education should brace itself for an even rougher road. I can tell you that in Pennsylvania, that dire forecast is more like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A report by the Council for Aid to Education said that assuming tuition increases no faster than inflation, by 2015, U.S. colleges and universities will fall $38 billion short of the annual budget they will need to educate the student population.

All of this occurs as we are being expected to educate more students more efficiently. The U.S. population has doubled since 1930, but during that same time, enrollment in higher education has expanded tenfold. In the past 50 years, college attendance has ballooned from roughly 25 percent to 60 percent of each high school graduating class. It has been estimated that our nation must be prepared to educate 4 million more students by 2015 simply because of population growth. As the proportion of the population that wants to attend college increases, that number will be even higher. And all indications are that people want to attend college. As recently as a few years ago, most citizens in this country believed that too many people were going to college. Now, three out of four think the country cannot have too many college graduates.

And those students are very diverse. Adult and part-time students have been the fastest growing segment of higher education enrollments. Adult students-those age 25 or older-now represent about 43 percent of our students nationwide. Minority enrollments totaled 27 percent in 1997, compared to 16 percent two decades before. In the future, greater racial and ethnic diversity can be anticipated as minority populations continue to grow in the United States.

If you consider the massive potential online learning holds for increasing accessibility, the numbers are staggering. Just last year, 70 percent of the more than 4,000 two and four-year institutions in the United States offered online courses, a jump of 22 percent over 1998 figures.

These trends present either an insurmountable challenge or an extraordinary opportunity. As John F. Kennedy once said, "Actions deferred are all too often opportunities lost." That is why I am pleased to see so many leaders of the nation's public universities taking charge of the change that surrounds us by moving toward active engagement.

Our engagement with the communities we serve has everything to do with the public confidence and support we can expect to win in the years ahead. I focus today on this theme of engagement -- not only because it's the title of this conference, which is always a very good reason to stick to the topic -- but mostly because it encompasses so many of the other concerns that colleges and universities of the 21st century must embrace - concerns about students, about access, about lifelong learning, and about campus culture.

The Engaged University

As we enter this new chapter in the evolution of higher education, many of use are struggling to define a new kind of university -- one that will adopt a broader sense of involvement and be responsive to the world outside its walls. We also must recognize that if we are not supportive of the learning needs of people of all ages and the expanding knowledge needs of society, other educational enterprises will surely supersede us in this intellectually demanding world. These enterprises will not have the rich interplay of disciplines and missions that makes the university so well suited to promote economic, human, and cultural progress. Those of you who are following the developments in the online learning arena can already testify to the number of providers who are vying to take our place. More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies have corporate educational divisions.

The university that listens to its constituents; the university that is intimately connected to its community; the university that is engaged -- is the university that will ultimately stand out in the growing landscape of education providers.

True Engagement

So what does it mean to be an engaged university?

In discussions within the Kellogg Commission, at the most fundamental level, it meant three things:

• An engaged institution must be responsive to the needs of today's students and tomorrow's - not yesterday's.
• It will enrich student experiences by bringing research and engagement into the curriculum and offering practical opportunities for students to prepare for the world they will enter.
• And it will put knowledge and expertise to work on problems its communities face.

Putting Students First

Many of you may have been thinking about engagement primarily in terms of a new twist on outreach and may be surprised to hear me speak about students first. While the nature of our relationship with our many communities certainly is a critical part of engagement, putting students first is vital as well. Through their teaching mission, America's colleges and universities have a profound potential to influence the future of what is now commonly characterized as a learning society. The key is to broaden our notion of students to include so-called non-traditional learners of many different circumstances, to place them at the center of our learning communities, and to be committed to meeting their needs, wherever they are, whatever they need, and whenever they need it.

Institutional flexibility is an essential characteristic in serving a diverse group of learners across the lifespan. We are greatly assisted in embracing this idea by the new technologies that are highly supportive of anytime, anywhere learning. In a recent report from the computer industry, it was estimated that by the year 2002, 490 million people around the world will have Internet access. I am not one who believes that modern information technologies will displace the primacy of resident instruction in institutions such as ours. But I believe that the most significant growth area in American higher education will be in distance and continuing education.

National statistics underscore the market for lifelong learning. They show that nearly half the adult population in our nation - some 76 million people - pursues some form of continuing education annually; 40 million participate in work-related courses; and 38 million participate for personal enrichment. Nearly 60 percent of these individuals have a college degree.

Yet in a survey conducted for the Kellogg Commission, more than two-thirds of the higher education and political leaders who responded identified a long list of obstacles to supporting lifelong learning at public universities. These included skepticism about faculty members' expertise in teaching via distance education; the lack of a consumer-driven orientation to education; lack of incentives for faculty to integrate technological innovations into the curriculum; and limited institutional flexibility to bring about change.

These obstacles also included a model of education that emphasizes teaching rather than learning; the lack of a student-centered orientation to education; an absence of faculty involved in programs emphasizing lifelong learning; limited professional development opportunities for faculty to enhance their use of technology for teaching and learning; and minimal financial support for curricular innovation.

Opening up our institutions to new audiences through technology, satellite locations, faculty development, flexibility in scheduling, simplified policies and procedures, expanded support services, and other such efforts is an important part of putting students first. An engaged institution also will focus on the quality of educational experience, making every effort to prepare learners for the challenges of life in contemporary society. In other words, our curricula-and I use that term in the broadest sense to encompass the full range of learning opportunities the university provides - must be forward looking and they must be faithful to the interest of improving the quality of life.

Certainly we must continue to encourage the development of skills, but these now include the skills of information technology. In a national survey last year, 61 percent of the respondents said learning high-tech skills was absolutely essential for students. Multicultural skills that undergird success in an internationalized society are also critical. In that same survey, 68 percent said that an ability to get along with different people was an essential competency that students must acquire in college

We must somehow equip students to continue to learn long after they leave us. Equally important, we must open their hearts as well as their minds to this task. Intellectual capital is of tremendous importance to the future. Yet so is the extent to which our institutions promote character, conscience, citizenship, and social responsibility among those whose lives we touch.

Involving students in meaningful research and integrating the community into the academic experiences of our students are promising approaches. Research opportunities give students important experience in problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication -- all useful lifetime skills.

Internships, practicums, and service learning opportunities prepare students well for real-life situations in businesses, organizations, and communities. These experiences have many rewards. For students, they provide the drive for critical reflection, expand horizons, and encourage responsibility and good citizenship - be it in the workplace or in the community. For the organizations involved, there is work of value being done, often on a volunteer basis. Our universities benefit as well from the good will and partnerships such activities foster.

Most universities offer these experiences. Yet such efforts can be greatly expanded to involve more students and can be integrated more closely into the overall educational experience.

Putting Knowledge To Work

Another characteristic of an engaged university is putting knowledge to work. Through our research capacity and the expertise of faculty, higher education institutions posses tremendous resources for enhancing the quality of life. This has been demonstrated time and again in the role of the nation's universities in promoting economic development through technology transfer.

Our work in promoting human development also has contributed much to the health and well-being of people throughout the lifespan. Yet the needs of society remain great. The Kellogg Commission has identified on its list of potential areas for university engagement many issues related to education and the economy; agriculture and food; rural America, urban revitalization, and community development; health care; children, youth, and families; and the environment and natural resources. There are others that could be added as well.

Despite our historic involvement in such areas, issues of policy, practice, and perception prevent universities from engaging with them as fully as we might. The academic culture tends to reward allegiance to a discipline, which deters faculty from a broader institutional agenda of outreach and engagement. Yet faculty involvement is absolutely essential in creating truly engaged institutions. It also discourages the interdisciplinary approaches that are essential to solving the complex problems of our society.

In one of its reports the Commission discussed campus culture, noting that the intellectual landscape of our institutions tends to be made up of mine shafts. Without abandoning these shafts that lead to important discoveries, we need to build corridors between them. We need to reinstate a sense of institutional coherence that more effectively supports our mission. It is especially important that such change be embraced at the departmental level, given the powerful role that departments play in the lives of faculty.

The academic culture also tends to be a bit lofty. We have to be open to learning from and with our collaborators in the community. To be truly engaged, we must foster an ongoing dialogue with many groups -- government, businesses, nonprofit agencies -- and a host of others. Engagement is really a two-way street that should impact the university as much as it impacts our partners. In the words of the Kellogg Commission, "The purpose of engagement is not to provide the university's superior expertise to the community but to encourage joint academic-community definitions of problems, solutions, and success."

I am not saying that all faculty must be individually involved in the engagement agenda. But if the collective faculty agenda is not one of engagement, our universities simply will not make the difference they should. The leadership of faculty, by virtue of our shared governance systems, has a tremendous influence on everything our institutions do.

Among other factors that work against engagement, universities are characteristically slow to respond. First, we must be willing to change. At the same time, it can be difficult to make the long-term commitments that gain the confidence and trust of community partners, particularly in assuring the stability of funding necessary to support long-term relationships. But if we are to renew our covenant with the public, then we must commit ourselves to serving that public in every capacity.

Transformational Strategies

The Kellogg Commission has identified five strategies to make universities fully effective partners for the 21st century. On the surface, these strategies are deceivingly simple, but their underlying implications are so substantial that we are really talking about a transformation in our institutions.

• First, institutional leaders must work to make engagement so much a priority that it becomes part of the core mission of the university. It must be reflected in the full range of activities, and in every endeavor.
• Second, specific engagement plans must be developed that recognize that this priority is not something separate and distinct but built into everything we do.
• Third, interdisciplinary research, teaching, and learning must be encouraged as part of the engagement agenda.
• Fourth, incentives must be developed to encourage faculty and student engagement.
• There are a number of dimensions here, among them promotion and tenure review, balancing individual faculty involvement with the collective contributions of a department, and even the role played by accrediting bodies and other external agencies.
• Finally, secure funding streams must be sought to support engagement activities. Partnerships, fees, and internal allocations are all possibilities. The greatest promise seems to lie in developing new partnerships with public agencies and the private sector.

The Penn State Model

In following these strategies, no two institutions will be alike in the ways they embrace engagement. Let me share with you briefly some of the things we are doing at Penn State. Our model emphasizes the integration of teaching, research, and service.

This integration cuts across disciplinary lines to address important societal issues in terms useful to the people who live and work in the communities we share. Five interdisciplinary areas have been identified for special initiatives: the life sciences, materials science, environmental studies, information sciences and technology, and children, youth and families. We have made a multi-year commitment in each of these areas to build faculty, enhance programs, and encourage collaboration, both internally and with relevant corporate and community partners.

In the case of information sciences and technology, we moved with lightning speed in 1999 to create a new school to address the tremendous workforce needs for skills in this area. The school is now serving more than 2,000 students at 19 Penn State locations. It is a model of engagement, having been built from the ground up in partnership with the businesses and industries it will serve, a continuing partnership we view as essential to the school's success. The school has now joined with our College of Business and industry partners to open an E-Business Research Center, a home for pre-eminent research involving e-commerce.

The foundation for our initiative related to children, youth, and families was well in place in our Colleges of Health and Human Development, Education, Medicine, Agricultural Sciences, the Liberal Arts, and Law in concert with the outreach experience of our campuses, Cooperative Extension, Continuing and Distance Education, and other programs. Yet these were diffuse efforts that did not achieve the synergy needed to make a difference on one of the most pressing challenges facing our society: the healthy development of our youth who for many reasons are much at risk. With our newly focused priority on children, youth, and families, the many relevant forces at Penn State are being marshaled to address critically important needs.

In all five areas of interdisciplinary priority, we are creating new opportunities for students to venture out of the classroom and into the community. For example, in our new School of Information Sciences and Technology, internships and other practicum experiences have been built into the curriculum. Service learning is capturing the imagination of both students and faculty. Our Honors College is among the campus leaders in this effort; it is the goal of the college that every one of its students has at least one reflective service experience.

We also have restructured Penn State in a number of ways to develop more effective linkages with partners and constituents. The outreach function has been reinforced by creating a partnership of two major and previously disconnected units of the university to serve the needs of the public better. To do this, we have joined Penn State Cooperative Extension, Continuing and Distance Education and Public Broadcasting under a new position of Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Extension. Our technology transfer units are more closely bridged to this new unit as well. The purpose is to enhance participation, coordination, and collaboration across the University in bringing the resources of all Penn State colleges to the people of Pennsylvania.

Penn State has a network of 24 campuses throughout the state. In the past, most of these campuses have emphasized lower-division instruction. Restructuring has added flexibility to offer more baccalaureate degree opportunities to meet the needs of location-bound learners and local employees. This has effectively positioned our campuses to partner with communities and be more responsive in meeting local needs.

We also created the Penn State World Campus, a virtual university whose students are location-bound including those whose learning endeavors occur in the workplace. Now in its second full year of operation, the World Campus serves 3,000 students in all 50 states and 27 countries and has also received $4.5 million in external support to date. The World Campus also is part of a group of academic partners who will now help educate soldiers through the Army's $453-million distance education project.

The Penn State faculty reward system has been restructured to encourage outreach in teaching, research, and service within the criteria for tenure and promotion. In addition, the University Faculty Senate has a standing Committee on Outreach that is responsible for identifying such efforts, establishing evaluation methodologies to ensure quality, and creating recognition measures to reward outstanding performance.

All of these initiatives are merely the tip of the iceberg as far as engagement goes. We must continue to creatively explore new ways of partnering to respond to emerging needs.

The Future

In closing, let me say that broad societal change has created not problems, but unprecedented opportunities for the nation's universities to become engaged more fully with their communities and make a true difference in the quality of life, both locally and globally.

We are on a promising path of transformation that will change our focus from teaching to learning, out of a concern for outcomes. Research will be part of a broader emphasis on scholarship that recognizes not just discovery but also the application and dissemination of knowledge. And the notion of service to society will be a guiding force for virtually every area of institutional endeavor.

As Thomas Paine said many years ago, "We have it in our power to begin the world over again." I, like the Kellogg Commission, believe that truly engaged institutions of higher education have it in their power to bring the world closer and find solutions to our most pressing societal problems.