On the other hand, Wolff sees the university as the pursuer of simple truths in various areas and the institution responsible for the preparation of young people for the pursuit of these simple truths. Finally, Readings envisions a scenario where the fragmentation of university as a factor that can be put be leveraged on and put to good use. While all these perspectives are true in their own rights, it is this paper’s contention that Kerr’s assertion is the most defensible. This paper will discuss why the university is a loose federation sufficing for the satisfaction of diverse needs.
It should be noted that universities as institutions higher learning, confer to its recipients and users the highest calibre and level of academic fulfilment. This spurs an enormous and substantive domain that is not limited to mere academic pursuits. Universities are deliberately created and entertained with core objectives in mind. In that vein, it is the expectation of society and the overall stakeholders that universities shall suffice for the delivery of a number of needs often necessary for the forward progress of society. These needs are as many as they are diverse. They vary from one constituency of stakeholders from the other. However, the university has to aggregate its missions and service delivery to the satisfaction of all these diverse interests. Some of these needs as expounded by Kerr are as follows, the provision of undergraduate education, the administration and overall delivery of pure research, professional training and credentialing and lastly service delivery to government, business and civil society manifested through provision of labor, consultancy and advisory services and the provisions of solutions to problems facing those domains. It is on this premise that it surmises that the university is a loose federation.
It is essential to explore the assertions by Kerr in illustrating the university as a loose federation. For starters, university accommodates the highest percentage of post-secondary graduates. These are the students who complete high school successfully and need to continue their insatiable appetites for knowledge. Often, these students need higher learning successfully conferred to them through undergraduate programs. This noble function often goes deep in entrenching information and knowledge in the society. It is imperative to draw a relation between the poverty index and the level of education of the affected persons. From the class struggles in America and the generally the entire world, it is true that members of the lower classes have minimum to no undergraduate education. Most of them attained high school education at the highest point. This is a big limitation on their economic abilities and performance. The converse also holds. Almost all members of the upper class poses post high school education often ranging from undergraduate studies to post graduate studies. Without over emphasis on the benefits of undergraduate education, from this brief exposition it is illustrative enough of the role of universities in the conferment and delivery of undergraduate education.
The university is the beacon and centre of pure research. Pure research contributes phenomenally to the development of the world and improvement of the living standards. University research is not limited to an academic context. The pure research aims to develop an infrastructure with political, economic and social characters. The innovation of the internet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a case in point. While the researchers were keen to develop a platform for military communication, the resultant product, that is, the internet has had fundamental effects that assume a political, economic and social character. Such passes out as one of the nobles of pure research under the province of universities. In the same breadth, institutions such as healthcare institutions, military organizations, and engineering and construction companies, among others in appreciation of the role of universities have continued to participate in joint research activities with universities utilising their students, faculty and technology. What has resulted is the fast tracked technological innovations and applications that continue to make living standards and the general lifestyles better and more accommodative to humanity.
It is the singular responsibility for the university to train professionals and carry out credentialing. The latter refers to the process of equipping manpower with the requisite credentials for various assignments and undertakings. Universities do these through a balanced curriculum that confers both soft and hard skills. Soft skills refer to etiquette, moral principles and ethical lessons given in the universities. These are meant to prepare personnel for a challenging terrain in the workplace. Often, the overall performance of personnel in the workplace is not limited to his competence and knowledge, but to the accompanying soft skills that would dictate his level of integrity, his values and convictions and adherence to ethical norms and societal code of conduct. Universities have player a huge role not only in the formulation of these soft skills but in the implementation and indoctrination of personnel through comprehensive learning programs manifested in seminars, workshops, lecturer lessons, group works, extra-curricular activities such as sports, charitable functions, among others. In the long run, universities have been the beacon and the custodians of professionalism.
On the other hand, universities through its comprehensive programs ensures students are equipped with essential credentials that in one way or another go deep in their overall output and performance in their future assignments and engagements. Students of different modes pursue diverse programs with the intention of gaining credentials necessary for productive output and interactive performance. An example could be seen in light of the prospects presented by globalization. The ease of mobility of labor, technology and capital have cumulatively conspired to compel universities to offer multilingual and multi-cultural training and credentialing that go into the preparation of manpower for the global world that demands for a multidimensional approach due to the underlying differences across different global regimes.
Finally, it is the position by Kerr that universities provide services to the government, business and civil society. This is much complex than it seems. Delivery of services is a blanket definition that entertains a number of functions. These include provision of consultancies and advisory services, development of academic infrastructure that can be properly used in the operations of the three sectors, preparation of manpower with the requisite knowledge and skills to drive the agendas of the mentioned sectors, oversight roles and regulatory services to the sectors, among other services. However, despite the blanket approach, it is factual that the role of universities in relation to the service delivery cannot be gainsaid. Universities seek to mitigate any deficits that arise in the melee of government, business and civil service operations. The approach often pursued assumes an academic character based on models that are scientifically practical. In this strain, it should be appreciated that government, civil service and the business community must and always work consistently with the universities with the objective of meeting their overall objectives.
In conclusion, one needs to examine the assertion by Kerr from a wider perspective. The paper has analysed the federation. The loose element arises by the fact the roles universities play are not definite and cast on stone. The university curricula is dynamic and organic. In that vein, universities are often appreciative of the contemporary demands of the society and reflect a dynamism in accommodation of the changing attributes in society. Even with that dynamic character, universities have consistently reflected a robust and inclusive character that addresses all the diverse needs of society. This must have been in the background of Kerr’s thoughts eventually leading to his assertion that universities are loose federations. This paper concurs with that assertion but appreciates the overall role of university as that of conferring knowledge.
Works Cited
Kerr, Clark. The Uses of the University. Boston: Harvard U.P., 1995.
Readings, Bill. The University in Ruines. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Wolff, Robert Paul. The Ideal of the University. New York: Transaction Publishers, 1992.
