The 21st Century Public University

Today, state universities in many countries face a crushing dilemma. Public funding is diminishing, universities cannot charge students fees since access to universities is supposed to be free of charge, and many countries lack a history of philanthropic donations on the part of private enterprise or wealthy individuals.

In addition, most public universities are conservative in nature and resistant to change. In many cases, they are suspicious of private enterprise and see it as opposed to their mandate with is to provide a free education within a certain ideological framework. This results in most university senior managers rejecting novel ideas on how to raise funding in order not only to operate but, indeed, to actually survive.

The mission of the public university is to provide students with the tools to function in a highly competitive and rapidly challenging economy, where the arts and the sciences must be melded in order to provide students with the wherewithal to thrive in the modern economy.

Unfortunately, philanthropy is not a common mechanism for funding public universities, and this compels them to seek alternative models of funding their operations that provides the necessary resources without compromising their autonomous status.

A wise man once said, necessity is the mother of invention.

There is no doubt that this necessity is immediate, and the time to invent is now if public universities are to survive the coming or actual financial crunch.

I begin with the premise that, if universities want the public to support them, they must offer tangible goods and services to the public in exchange for this support.

Universities have tremendous yet underutilized resources that can become the bases for entrepreneurial endeavors.

Each faculty enjoys a cadre of professionals with their equipment, research facilities, texts, and students anxious to gain practical experience.

Merida is a rapidly growing city, becoming a major medical tourism center, educational center, agricultural center, and construction venue. It is attracting many foreigners and Mexicans anxious to enjoy the cultural life and safety, since Merida is the safest city in Mexico.

The Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY) is the major university in Merida, and offers degrees in medicine, dentistry, law, agricultural sciences, architecture, engineering and other specializations that could well be monetized.

What do I mean?

The UADY could establish a number of companies offering health services, agricultural consulting, engineering services, architectural support, and business consultancies.

These could employ the professional teaching staff and provide students with the hands-on practical experience necessary to find future employment when they graduate.

Medical students, physiotherapists, nutritionists, dentistry students, and nursing students could work hand in glove with their professors to serve not only the local community (thus making the university more relatable to the general public), but also capitalize on the medical tourism that is becoming a global brand for the city.

Engineering and architecture students and faculty could establish consultancies to provide affordable assistance to local builders and the many national and international companies settling in Merida.

The UADY could take advantage of the large numbers of foreigners visiting Merida for the winter months as well as moving here permanently to establish a Spanish and English language school. This school would teach both languages and provide cultural studies to the casual student not part of its academic population.

In addition, there are over 800,000 Maya speaking Yucatecans living on the peninsula. A comprehensive Mayan language and cultural academy, together with an archeological institution providing classes on Mayan history and taking advantage of the marvelous archeological sites on the peninsula could provide not only a showcase for this millennial culture and language, but also make the UADY a center for international Mayan studies.

Chinese is a language of interest to many, and the commercialization of the Confucius Institute to offer Chinese language training to the general public could be a significant source of income for the university.

It could also evolve to make The UADY an international center for Chinese studies -- very necessary in what is becoming a world where China promises to play a significant role in the decades to come and could well be a major source of investment for Yucatan.

Proceeds could be used in part to offset the costs of these marvelous teaching centers, and in part to fund university projects.

Marketing and communications faculty and staff could well undertake the global marketing campaign to attract local, national, and global interest to the project and to the services that the university would offer.

This is thinking outside the box.

It requires redefining the traditional role of the university that has lasted a millennium but that no longer makes sense.

It would mean conquering new intellectual spaces for an evolution of the ideas upon which traditional pedagogy is based and provide much needed impetus for the 21st century university.

It is a revolution of mentalities – those of the private sector, the public sector, and the academic community. It calls on the state to not only approve of this change, but actually become clients of the services provided by the entrepreneurial university.

The result would be the creation of a highly competent cadre of graduates, a financially sound public university, and a state budget released from the expense of funding a free public university.

A “win win” situation for all!

 
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Keep reading: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Edition: Estefanía Cardeña