Value of European university tradition worth defending

A crude cost-balance sheet is no way to judge the contribution of the university sector to society, writes Professor John Kelly…

A crude cost-balance sheet is no way to judge the contribution of the university sector to society, writes Professor John KellyThird level: No argument for Americanisation ofthird-level

In his adulation of the American university system, Dr Edward Walsh (The Irish Times, August 22nd) warns us that the United States, with its leading research universities, is winning the knowledge-economy race, leaving Europe, with its State-dominated universities, well behind.

In a similar negative vein, the Council of the European Union, in a recent paper to be discussed by the EU Ministers for Education in a few weeks' time, alleges that the European universities, in almost every sphere of academic activity, are not in the same league as universities elsewhere in the developed world, but especially in the United States.

The validity of the US economy, with its current deficit problems and recent industrial scandals, as the model is questionable and it must be acknowledged that the US universities, themselves, are a mixed bag and far from perfect. Many questions arise.

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Are the Irish and European universities really so inferior to the US ones that a radical overhaul, as called for by Dr Walsh, is urgently needed? Is the US private university system a model that the European universities should or could aspire to? Is the Irish economy in such bad shape that a metamorphosis of the universities in the direction of the US model is really the answer, and would it work? And where is the evidence for this alleged academic inferiority and what exactly is the knowledge-economy race?

The US universities are amongst the very best in the world, but in the private university sector, they are also amongst the worst. Initially created in the mould of the European university over 200 years ago, they have developed an ethos of their own, so that with their governance structures, their curricula and research programmes, they have kept much closer to and interactive with their local and national communities than has been the practice in Europe.

The much maligned "ivory tower", it could be said, did not survive the Atlantic crossing. In particular, the US State universities, one being located centrally in each State, were designed in their faculty and discipline structures to relate directly to the local industrial and commercial interests outside the university. These fine institutions have served their States and nation very well indeed, but they are now in hard times with severe financial cutbacks, often requiring serious academic surgery to maintain basic standards.

The top private universities are world leaders in many disciplines, especially in the science and technology areas where the endowments from industry tend to be directed. The tradition of generous alumni donations has been a vital part of their excellence in both research and teaching, and, unfortunately, this is a tradition which has not made the reverse Atlantic crossing, though there are some encouraging beginnings. For the most part, research funds from a commercial sponsor or a foundation are directed towards a nominated research topic, so that the university has no freedom to use such funds for what it might consider worthwhile academic research. This, of course, is universal practice. Academic freedom is a myth everywhere.

The academic philosophies of the European universities, though by no means uniform, have been different from the US universities, with more emphasis on undergraduate education and less on graduate programmes and research. Whilst this has changed in recent years with increased interest in graduate courses, such as the ubiquitous MBA, and the availability of research funding from both national and EU sources, the major feature of European universities' activities over these recent decades has been the expansion of undergraduate numbers.

In Ireland, this expansion was augmented by the establishment of the nine Regional Technical Colleges, later to become the Institutes of Technology, in 1969. In both the universities and RTCs, the number increases were concentrated in the science, technology and business-related areas, so that the Industrial Development Authority, operating in key cities throughout the world, but with most emphasis in the US, targeted hi-tech companies to set up operations in Ireland. It was a great success and this programme of co-operation between government and academe, unique to Ireland in its intensity and focus, was lauded internationally.

The primary function of a university is the education of students, not research. Research is important, indeed vital, in so far as it contributes to the education of students, whether at undergraduate or graduate levels. The European universities may not compete with the US universities in the weight of research publications, but they do in the quality of their graduates and in the contribution which those graduates make in their society. Unfortunately, whilst a university's research output and funding can be accurately quantified and compared, assessing the quality of its graduates is more difficult, though it is a more important criterion.

Europe has its own university integrity and ethos and it would be nonsense to attempt to follow the US model. Globalisation may remove the trade barriers across the nations of the world, but it will be a sad day if the university world converges to a uniform model, particularly if it is based on the contribution through research to the national economy, rather than to the betterment of society through the quality of its education.

John Kelly is Professor Emeritus at University College Dublin