What’s the purpose of a university?
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Here’s Wendell Berry’s answer:
The thing being made in a university is humanity. given the current influence of universities, this is merely inevitable. But what universities, at least the public-supported ones, are mandated to make or to help to make is human beings in the fullest sense of those words — not just trained workers or knowledgeable citizens but responsible heirs and members of human culture. If the proper work of the university is only to equip people to fulfill private ambitions, then how do we justify public support? If it is only to prepare citizens to fulfill public responsibilities, then how do we justify the teaching of arts and sciences? The common denominator has to be larger than either career preparation or preparation for citizenship. Underlying the idea of a university — the bringing together, the combining into one, of all the disciplines — is the idea that good work and good citizenship are the inevitable by-products of the making of a good — that is, a fully developed — human being. This, as I understand it, is the definition of the name university.
From “The Loss of the University,” in Home Economics
For comparison, here is the mission statement of my alma mater, which also happens to be the university nearest to Berry’s farm:
The University of Louisville shall be a premier, nationally recognized metropolitan research university with a commitment to the liberal arts and sciences and to the intellectual, cultural, and economic development of our diverse communities and citizens through the pursuit of excellence in five interrelated strategic areas: (1) Educational Experience, (2) Research, Creative, and Scholarly Activity, (3) Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Communication, (4) Partnerships and Collaborations, and (5) Institutional Effectiveness of Programs and Services.
If it were pared down, the core of this mission is “intellectual, cultural, and economic development of communities and citizens,” which isn’t too bad (except that I’m not sure how one develops the intellect of a community, and many students at UofL are not citizens, but I get their drift). Somehow, though, I find Berry’s “responsible heirs and members of human culture” to be far more missional.
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If I were to write a “real” mission statement for any of the top 100 universities, as understood by the faculty and administration, it would be: The purpose of this university is to maximize our prestige and salaries by attracting the maximum possible amount of research funding, state funding and tuition, by attracting high-quality undergrad and grad students, and faculty who are publicly recognized by awards and news stories, and by making alumni proud to come from this school, so that they donate large amounts of money and encourage talented students to come here.” (Sports may be part of the plan of keeping alumni happy and attracting quality students.)
Cynical? Perhaps. But these are all the measurables used in university rankings– average research dollars, average score of students, average alumni giving, number of awards to faculty, etc. It also corresponds to what I hear talked about by faculty and administration. I almost _never_ hear any discussion about making people “human” or “good” or whatever. I _do_ hear discussion about quality control– a student should not be allowed to graduate without knowing “x”, or at least 2 out of 3 of the set “x”, “y”, and “z”, because it would embarrass our school to have a person go out in the world not knowing that.
[Reply]
Dave Snoke
20 Feb 09 at 12:17 pm
The mission statement of University of Louisville: “The University of Louisville shall be a premier, nationally recognized metropolitan research university with a commitment to the liberal arts and sciences and to the intellectual, cultural, and economic development of our diverse communities and citizens through the pursuit of excellence in five interrelated strategic areas: (1) Educational Experience, (2) Research, Creative, and Scholarly Activity, (3) Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Communication, (4) Partnerships and Collaborations, and (5) Institutional Effectiveness of Programs and Services.”
According to UL, they desire to be a premier University in order to achieve recognition as a school for education of the future. My question to them is how? How do you plan to achieve premier status when most universities sufficate the mind of truth? If you premier, then I am safe to assume that this school values the truth.
The university states as well that they adore liberal education so they can enhance their understand of the world with an expanded knowledge of the fundementals of the human being. If you so seek to be liberal and want to understand the human better then I am assuming you do not deprive students of thinking. After all, thinking is our freedom to investigate the truth and follow it. If you truly liberal then your approaches do not sufficate the human mind to certain ideals such as no truth or open-mindedness. You encourage students to seek out the truth in their studies. After all, Liberal education desires to have students learn, and learning means to seek out truth. If you desire knowledge then you encourage students to apply truth to their communities.
Like most schools, you want intellectual students. You desire comptetent students for their love for knowledge and desire to apply their knowledge in the acedmemia world. If you love knowledge then you love truth. Correct? After all, one gets excited when they find that answer to that big question they struggled with. knowledge allows us to live freeing lives so we an give back to future students.
In conclusion, the University states in their mission that knowledge is the ideal componant to understanding the world. Knowledge is key becuase it leads us to the truth. Thus you encourage students and faculty to develop in the intellectual aspect of the truth. They wants students who desire to know the truth and spreads it to their students or children.
If this unversity does this, then they don’t value opinion and they seek out answers from greater minds then our own who know the answers, and this university does not sufficate students who know the truth. They encourage those students to be leaders of their student body.
If they do the following practices then I beleive their University is premier and can achieve premier status.
[Reply]
sergey
11 Mar 09 at 11:52 am
Excerpted from a draft on “The University as a ‘Community of Scholars,’” more posted at http://www.u-connectpgh.org/uconnect/files/1084.pdf … and some of this material has informed and becom incorporated into the draft ESN Curriculum. Let us know if you’re interested in the Curriculum. I’ll also dig more into this material in future posts.
According to C. Anderson in “Prescribing the Life of the Mind,” the University is expected to enculturate (i.e., pass on a tradition), citizen-ize (i.e., make students Americans, introduce living, working, moving in society), prepare (for career, social mobility, “place” in economy/society, character-ize (i.e., instill “Qualities of soul”). According to Robert Maynard Hutchins in “The Higher Learning of America,” the mission of the university is primarily dedicated to scholarship, professional education, the training of the mind (7) . . . single-minded pursuit of the intellectual virtues. As scholarship it is the single-minded devotion to the advancement of knowledge (32) and the pursuit of truth (33). The aim of education is to connect man with man, to connect the present with the past, and to advance the thinking of the race (71). Now this is focused on the undergraduate student population. The challenge is to shape young people for our culture and society. InterVarsity, alongside an engaged community of Christian Scholars and local congregations rooted in the historic faith, desires to be part of the developing college students and their perspective on the creation and their role in it.
The German Research Model pursues “creating” new knowledge, uncovering new ideas and ways to understand them. There is a desire not to corrupt research by making it practical and vocational, although the American version has sought a high degree of profitability and professional application. Elements of this include: wissenschaaft, love of learning as an end in itself; lehrfrehert, pursuit of the truth wherever it might lead unencumbered; economic facilitation for business, industry, manufacturing, Agriculture, etc.; security, defense and weaponry; medical, cures for disease; and research parks on campus with relationships between business and the university. Now this is focused on the graduate and faculty population, particularly at research schools. The challenge is to produce results to “save and advance the world.” InterVarsity, alongside an engaged community of Christian Scholars and local congregations rooted in the historic faith, desires to speak into and inside this milieu so that the Christian voice and way of life is not relegated to the margins or pushed out entirely.
Jaroslav Pelikan in “The Idea of the University: A Re-examination” proposes four, maybe five,legs of the university table: advancement of knowledge through research, the transmission of knowledge through teaching, the preservation of knowledge through scholarly collections (the embalming of dead genius), the diffusion of knowledge through publishing (p.16); p.76 training that involves both knowledge and professional skill in the university [i.e., the field of education: capacity to bring revolutionize (radically change the way things currently are, change the system – whole chapter dedicated to this topic)]. The university at its best should have all of these legs in play, all are vitally important to have the proper impact. InterVarsity, alongside an engaged community of Christian Scholars and local congregations rooted in the historic faith, has much to contribute in these areas.
[Reply]
Tom Grosh
11 Mar 09 at 8:56 pm